SPIRITED SCOTS CAN JOIN US
Boks’ breakdown guru Gray backs countrymen to clinch knockout spot
HAVE no fear about any meaningless matches or bloodless carve-ups. Do not doubt the commitment of either side for one fleeting moment.
Rest assured, both Wales and Australia will be going hell for leather in pursuit of top spot in Pool A this weekend. Because the almost certain price of failure, a quarter-final against the Springboks, hardly bears thinking about.
Just ask Scotland. Once their heads stop ringing from the brutal collisions and colossal hits dished out on Saturday, a few of their survivors might well testify to the limb-loosening horror of facing a Boks side reborn in the aftermath of that shock opening loss to Japan.
Fortunately for Vern Cotter’s men, they need no longer worry about South Africa; were the teams to meet again in this tournament, it would be on the final weekend, by which point all Scots would be so delirious with joy that not even being simultaneously scragged by half a dozen of Heyneke Meyer’s most rabid ruckers would dampen the mood.
The good news keeps on coming for the boys in blue, too. Because the only thing standing between them and a place in the last eight are a Samoa side without hope, cohesion, direction or, it would seem, a remaining scrap of rugby sense. All together, then: ‘Nothing could possibly go wrong now...’
OK, OK, t his i s Scotland. Scotland and international sport. Taking anything for granted is like expecting Lodewyk De Jager to stop making ground just because he’s got three tacklers hanging on to him.
Having survived Saturday’s 34-16 loss with pride just about intact, though, there is no reason not to believe in this team’s ability to get the job done against the Samoans — and then march into the quarterfinals in both the mood and the shape to make some mischief.
‘You would back Scotland to go through,’ insists the ‘other’ Richie Gray, the Galashiels-born coach who has turned the Springboks into masters of the breakdown.
‘After Samoa losing to Japan, that’s their World Cup over. So it’s how they motivate themselves this week now. It’s down to Scotland now to go and win that.
‘Samoa will still be physical and Scotland will have to count the knocks they’ve picked up in a bruising encounter against us.
‘But I think Scotland are not far away from being a very good team. It’s been building for the last three years, not just in the past six or eight weeks. They’ve got a strong core of players, that group from Glasgow who are used to winning.
‘I’ve been involved with Scottish rugby for many years — and losing can be a habit as much as winning. Gregor Townsend has done a great job at Glasgow, developed a real winning mentality, and that’s come down to the Scotland set-up.
‘They are a very competitive unit. A lot will come down to how they avoid injuries but I think they have a team there that can do a lot of damage. They’re very dangerous to play, put on a lot of width, good steppers, good basic skills and passers. They’re a difficult side.’
Kind words casually thrown in the direction of his compatriots, or a hard-headed assessment of a team who have so far beaten the teams they should have beaten, and lost the one game they were always going to lose? We’ll soon find out.
Cotter could do nothing other than concede that his team got exactly what they deserved on Saturday, although he seemed more relaxed in the aftermath of this loss than he had been after victories of Japan and the USA.
It was hard for anyone in the Scotland camp to f eel overly distraught about losing out to the South Africans in this kind of destructive, dominating and intimidating form.
As predicted, they bashed our boys up front. Then continued to bash away at them until holes appeared in a bravely resolute defence. The sound of nearly 51,000 people wincing is hard to describe but, once heard, it’s unlikely to be forgotten.
Their first try was all about forward power and, if they at least allowed wingers to finish off their second and third touchdowns, don’t be mistaken into believing that these scores were the result of free-wheeling back-line moves. That’s not the Springbok way.
Scotland’s scoring response was more enjoyable for the sensation seekers, Tommy Seymour eventually touching down after a Duncan Weir intercept and 80-yard scamper upfield, the stand- in stand- off going as fast as his little legs would take him.
In between the tries, there was some good goal-kicking, a lot of mauling, a couple of interminable refereeing decisions and some hits that threatened to dislodge teeth, eyeballs and maybe a few foundation stones in the older part of the stadium.
Cotter’s XV — no arguments about first or second string, this was the team he picked for a third game in 10 days — couldn’t get close to playing on the front foot. And it became obvious as the game went on that the coaching team were already switching focus to this coming weekend, withdrawing some from the firing line in order to live and fight another day.
First- choice loosehead prop Al Dickinson, who actually came on to steady the scrum early in the second half, speaks for many in the squad when he points out both the size of the challenge confronting Scotland — and the motivation driving them on.
‘We’ve got a massive incentive now,’ he says. ‘It’s our cup final, that game against Samoa.
‘We know how good Samoa are, they are tough to beat, but we’ve got everything to play for.
‘We’re not going to hang our heads because we didn’t perform well enough against South Africa. We stand together and f i ght another day.
‘It wasn’t a massacre on Saturday. We’re still disappointed that we didn’t adapt to how physical South Africa were. But you can’t afford to get too downhearted.
‘It was tough to play three games i n 10 days, don’t f orget that, especially with how tough Japan and the USA are.
‘That’s no excuse for how we performed. With seven days to prepare properly, it should make a difference.
‘There is absolutely no way we will underestimate Samoa. They are another class team, they can play as well as they hit — and they’ve got some dangerous players.
‘ But we’ r e still in this tournament, still able to reach the quarter-finals. We just have to concentrate on that.
‘There probably isn’t another t eam in t he world l i ke t he Springboks, with how big and physical they are.’
It’s a good thing for the game’s medical corps that there is only one team quite like South Africa. And a bonus for Scotland that, for all the undoubted physical power possessed by the Samoans, there is likely to be only one team fully motivated at St James’ Park this Saturday.