Hogg braced for ‘hell’ from Scots coaches

STUART HOGG has admitted he is expecting ‘hell’ from the Scotland coaches today after his side’s defensive display against Samoa on Saturday. Despite being an entertaining and open affair at Murrayfield, Gregor Townsend’s men flirted with disaster as they ran out 44-38 winners. While they were pleased to run in six tries, it was the concession of five scores to the visitors that will have caused alarm bells to ring within the Scotland camp ahead of Saturday’s clash with the All Blacks in Edinburgh. And Hogg, who grabbed the

first try against Samoa, admits that defence coach Matt Taylor will likely make clear his feelings on where they must improve when the squad meets up today. ‘Matt didn’t say much (afterwards) — but that’s probably a bad thing,’ said the full-back. ‘That means he’s fully prepared to unleash hell on Monday. ‘Our basic skills let us down at times. We pulled the boys in just before half-time and said we needed to go back to basics. ‘We’re fully aware of what the All Blacks are capable of. We just have to be fully focused on ourselves and getting our game plan spot on.’ The Scots are likely to go into the match without tight-head prop Willem Nel, who is a major doubt after picking up an arm injury in the first half against Samoa. British and Irish Lion Tommy Seymour is also in danger of missing out after limping off with a toe injury. The odds are already stacked against the Scots as the All Blacks are in great form after beating France 38-18 in Paris at the weekend. They will face a French XV in Lyon tomorrow night before travelling to Scotland. Despite their tough schedule, Townsend does not expect them to be put at any disadvantage. ‘They’ll just be more battlehardened when they come to us,’ he said. ‘They’ve got a big group with them. We expect it will be their first team that plays against us. ‘We’ll have to be at our very best to beat them. If we are not, New Zealand will score points against us, as they can against any defence. ‘We weren’t at our best against Samoa but it’s a win and there’s confidence in how we played at certain points. We’ve just got to work to make sure we’re better all-round to face the All Blacks and at our best to have a chance to win.’ Townsend was pleased with the debuts of loose-head Darryl Marfo, who started, as well as centre Chris Harris, prop Jamie Bhatti and hooker George Turner, who all came off the bench. For Turner, it was a dream come true after four years at Edinburgh when he hardly played. He was deemed surplus to requirements over the summer and sent on loan to Glasgow Warriors. ‘Since I moved to Glasgow I have played every game except one,’ he said. ‘It gave me much more confidence. And now this has happened.’