Put the fear of squad into them
Maitland insists victory in Paris will prove Scots have true depth
SEAN MAITLAND believes Scotland can lay down a World Cup marker by overcoming a nightmare injury list against France.
A staggering 26 players have now been sidelined with playmaker Finn Russell, who is suffering from concussion, the latest to be pulled out.
But the Dark Blues wing is convinced triumphing over adversity will provide proof of a new-found depth of talent ahead of Japan 2019.
The absence of on-field leaders such as Russell and Stuart Hogg will be an obvious loss at the Stade de France and Maitland insists the stand-ins can cope.
He said: “If you look at the guys that are out at the moment it’s crazy to think how many leaders are missing.
“I’ve got full confidence in whoever gets picked to fill Finn’s shoes.
“You’ve got to have depth. That’s one thing people say Scotland is lacking but it’s important in World Cup year these guys step up.
“We’ve lost a few big personalities and big talents. It’s definitely going to test us but when you play international rugby you get used to guys getting injured and others stepping up.
“Everyone’s been injured through their rugby careers and the Six Nations doesn’t have a long turnaround time so it’s tough but it’s part of the game.”
Maitland is adamant the move to rule Russell out of Saturday’s clash was the correct call and he’s convinced there’s more than enough cover to fill the void.
He said: “The call’s been made early with Finn. There was a short turnaround and he only gets one brain so that’s a pretty good decision there.
“But with Peter Horne coming in, or Duncy Weir or Adam Hastings or whoever, we have three talented guys who can execute the gameplan.
“The last two days we’ve been playing well and at least it’s better than the Australia game where Stuart Hogg went down in the warm-up and I ended up at full-back. At least this is better because we’ve got cover.”
Scotland opened their campaign with a win over Italy before losing to Ireland in a display littered with errors as well as the failure to capitalise on several scoring chances.
It’s that lack of killer instinct Maitland believes has to be cured in time for the trip to Paris.
He said: “There was a lot of effort against Ireland. Our defence was great for 95 per cent of the game it was just that five per cent where we weren’t there. Ireland are a world-class team and that will expose you if you slip off. “The big thing is just finishing our chances when we get down to their 22. In that first half we had three or four times we got to the 22 and just needed to convert. “The effort was there but finishing our chances is the big one.” France are being filleted by their media and fans for two shambolic opening defeats to Wales and England but Maitland expects Jacques Brunel’s side to be bursting to make amends by using brute force. He said: “There’s been a lot of focus on who France are playing, particularly in their backline.
“There are a lot of teams using their kicking game as an attacking weapon so you’ve seen a lot of tries being scored, especially the way England have been playing by kicking a lot of little grubbers through.
“France have named a new full-back and I’m sure they’ve been preparing over the last two weeks and looking at what they need to improve on.
“They’re under the pump from their media so they have a lot to prove and the first 15 minutes is huge for us.”
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend is set to recall Blair Kinghorn for Hogg at full-back and Maitland is adamant it’s a bonus to have the Edinburgh flying machine waiting in the wings.
He said: “Blair’s had a great start to the tournament. Hoggy’s one of the best full-backs in the world but Blair coming in is great for us.”
Meanwhile, forward Josh Strauss will be available for Scotland in Paris.
He was a doubt after his South African passport went missing, with it being too late to get a replacement, but SRU have confirmed the situation has been resolved.