HOGG’S WAR CRY
Japan win is a warning to rest of the world
STUART HOGG insists the five-try win over Japan has ‘sent a message’ to the rest of the World Cup teams that Scotland are now a force to be reckoned with.
Under Andy Robinson, the Scots failed to make the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time four years ago in New Zealand but dynamic full-back Hogg says he is confident Vern Cotter’s side are capable of reaching the quarter-finals at the very least.
‘It was so important to get a win in our first game as we’ve targeted getting out of the pool stages,’ said the 23-year-old. ‘To get a win as well as a bonus point was exactly what we were after. Now it’s a case of working hard again and moving
right on to our next job against the USA on Sunday. ‘We’ve definitely sent out a message with that performance. We know what we’re capable of and now it’s about going out there in the rest of the World Cup and expressing ourselves and showing everyone else what we can do. ‘It’s looking good for us. We have good attacking players, Vern has a good structure in place and I’m sure we’ll get to the quarters.’ Hogg, who won his 34th cap against Japan, said the 45-10 scoreline did not flatter Scotland and simply showed the potential of a team who are also still to face South Africa and Samoa as well as the USA. ‘We knew we were capable of a result like that and we were chuffed to bits to come away with that size of win,’ said Hogg, who declared before the competition started that Scotland had to go in thinking they could win it. ‘Maybe we were a bit fortunate to have scored a few breakaway tries but it was off the back of some very good defensive pressure.’ Japan head coach Eddie Jones had claimed before the game in Gloucester that his side were capable of running the Scots ragged but Hogg said Cotter’s men possessed the necessary fitness levels to go head-to-head with any side. ‘We watched them (Japan) going off at half-time and we did feel they were tiring,’ said the Glasgow Warriors star. ‘We were creating chances in the first half but we didn’t finish them off. ‘In the second half it was completely different and we ultimately got some tries on the board to win the game. ‘We work hard during training to create these opportunities. We will continue to work hard and stay grounded, and will go into the game against the USA full of confidence.’ That attitude was endorsed by new cap Josh Strauss, who stressed that Scotland will not slump like the Japanese did in the second half, when they were running on empty after their heroics against South Africa four days earlier. ‘Our conditioning staff are very good and they have things in place for us to do to get the best results out of our recovery,’ said the South African, who was given his first run-out off the bench against the Brave Blossoms after passing the three-year residency requirements. ‘We’ve already implemented a few aspects of that after the game with things like our warm-down. ‘We’ve got the full 31-man squad to use and, so long as we get the rest we need, we should be OK.’