THRILLS, SPILLS AND NEAR MISSES

As Gregor Townsend prepares to announce his squad for Japan, Sportsmail takes a look back at Scotland’s chequered history in the World Cup...

SCOTLAND’S countdown to the World Cup in Japan will truly begin when Gregor Townsend names his 31-strong squad today ahead of Friday’s final warm-up game against Georgia at Murrayfield.

This will be the ninth edition of a tournament which has provided its fair share of thrills, spills and heartaches for the men in dark blue. Here, Sportsmail rugby correspondent ROB ROBERTSON looks at how they have fared in the past — and what lies ahead.

1987

NEW ZEALAND and Australia were the hosts for the first-ever Rugby World Cup. Only 16 teams were invited to take part and Scotland were drawn in Pool 4 along with Zimbabwe, Romania and France.

Matt Duncan emerged as the hero in the Scots’ first match, his late try earning a 20-20 draw with

Les Bleus in Christchurch. It came at a heavy cost, however, as Scotland fly-half John Rutherford — one of the greatest tens ever to play for his country — was forced off early with a knee injury and never played again.

With Douglas Wyllie replacing him, big wins followed over minnows Zimbabwe (60-21) and Romania (55-28).

That took Scotland through to a quarter-final meeting with the All Blacks. Although their team boasted the likes of Gavin Hastings, Roy Laidlaw, David Sole and Finlay Calder, they were outplayed in a 30-3 defeat, with their only points coming from a Hastings penalty.

New Zealand went on to triumph 29-9 against France in a one-sided final at Eden Park in Auckland.

1991

A FOURTH-PLACED finish remains Scotland’s best-ever performance at a World Cup, but it could have been so much better if Gavin Hastings hadn’t missed an easy penalty against England in the semi-finals.

The majority of the games were played in England, with others held all over Britain and some in France. Scotland were in Pool 2, where they were drawn with Ireland, Japan and Zimbabwe. The way the draw was set up meant they played all of their matches at Murrayfield until their losing last-four appearance.

Japan (47-9), Zimbabwe (51-12) and Ireland (24-15) were easily beaten in the pool stage. Western Samoa were brushed aside 28-6 in the quarters. Next up were England.

Alas, the game will always be remembered for that penalty hash by the normally reliable Hastings when the scores were level at 6-6. Rob Andrew put over a drop goal that won the game for the Auld Enemy and broke Scottish hearts.

A golden generation of players including David Sole, Tony Stanger, Sean Lineen, Craig Chalmers and Gary Armstrong had won the Five Nations the year before, but had to be content with a thirdfourth place play-off which they lost 13-6 to New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park. Australia went on to win the tournament by beating England 12-6 at Twickenham.

1995

SOUTH AFRICA had been readmitted to World Rugby at the end of the apartheid era and this was the first major sporting event held in the country since then.

The enduring image of this World Cup was Nelson Mandela celebrating in a Springboks jersey at the final whistle after they defeated New Zealand.

Unfortunately, Scotland only got as far as the quarter-finals, where they lost to the All Blacks.

They had two easy group games, beating Ivory Coast (89-0) then Tonga (41-5) before losing to France 22-19.

Although the Scots put up a decent performance against New Zealand, they had no answer to the power of a team led by Jonah Lomu and were eventually rolled aside 48-30.

It was the end of an era for the men in dark blue, with former captain Gavin Hastings retiring from international rugby after the game.

1999

WALES were the official hosts but part of the horse-trading that led to them staging the tournament was that Scotland could play all their pool games at Murrayfield.

They lost the first one 46-29 to South Africa but got back on track with a 43-12 win over Uruguay.

Spain were also brushed aside 48-0 but Samoa proved a tougher nut to crack before the South Sea Islanders went down 35-20.

Unfortunately, the Scots ran into their old friends the All Blacks in the quarters again and lost 30-18.

It was the final Scotland game for legendary scrum-half Gary Armstrong, who left the field in tears.

Australia lifted the trophy in Cardiff with a 35-12 victory over France.

2003

THIS was a disappointing tournament for Scotland in Australia even though they made the quarter-finals again.

Too many of their players were nearing the end of their careers, with Kenny Logan, Bryan Redpath and current Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend all retiring from international rugby at the end of the tournament.

Wins over Japan (32-11) and the USA (39-15) were followed by a humiliating 51-9 defeat to France.

There was a tense 22-20 win over Fiji in the final group game, which was only secured by a late Tom Smith try converted by Chris Paterson. Hosts

Australia were next up in the last eight but the Scots were never in the game and the Wallabies won 33-16 in Brisbane.

England won the tournament thanks to a famous Jonny Wilkinson drop goal that beat the Aussies 20-17 after extra-time in Sydney. 2007

SCOTLAND turned themselves into muscle men on the orders of head coach Frank Hadden, who felt his team had been bullied in the previous Six Nations when they finished bottom of the table.

Their physical approach saw off Portugal (56-10) with ease in France, where the majority of the matches took place.

They then defeated Romania (42-0) at Murrayfield before Hadden provoked controversy by fielding a second-string team against the All Blacks who won 40-0 at Murrayfield. Hadden had intentionally kept his best players in reserve for the final qualification game against Italy, and breathed a sigh of relief in Saint Etienne when his team squeezed home 18-16 against the Azzurri to make the knockout stages.

The star man was Chris Paterson, who kicked six penalties out of six to win the match.

Next up was Argentina who, unfortunately for the Scots, were enjoying a golden period with the likes of Agustin Pichot, Felipe Contepomi, Mario Ledesma and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe all breaking through on the world stage.

In a tight quarter-final, the Pumas survived a late Scottish onslaught to win 19-13.

The South Americans lost their semi-final to the Springboks, who went on to defeat England in the final at the Stade de France.

2011

NEW ZEALAND was the setting again, but this was the low point of Scotland’s World Cup history as Andy Robinson’s side failed to make the knockout stage for the first time.

They struggled against the unknown men of Romania, eventually winning 34-24 as two late tries from Simon Danielli put a gloss on the final score.

Things didn’t improve much with a 15-6 win over Georgia before Argentina haunted them again with a 13-12 win.

That left Robinson’s men having to beat England by more than seven points, while denying the Auld Enemy a bonus point, to qualify for the knockout stages.

They put up a decent display and were 12-3 up early in the second half before an England team inspired by Jonny Wilkinson and Chris Ashton fought back to win 16-12 and send the Scots home.

The All Blacks won in front of a frenzied home audience with an 8-7 victory over France in Auckland.

2015

ENGLAND once again hosted the tournament which ended in the most controversial and frustrating fashion for the Scots.

Referee Craig Joubert wrongly awarded a last-minute penalty to Australia in what had been a pulsating quarter-final, which gave them a 35-34 victory over Vern Cotter’s side at Twickenham.

Scotland had worked hard to get out of their group, beating Japan 45-10 in their first game in Gloucester, followed by a 39-16 victory over the USA.

However, they were given a fright by Samoa in their final group game before squeezing home 36-33 in Newcastle.

Their last-eight match against the Aussies swung one way then the other, and Scotland thought they had won it when Mark Bennett scored a try with six minutes to go.

But they lost a line-out in the last minute when Jon Welsh was wrongly penalised by Joubert for offside when the ball went loose.

Bernard Foley kicked the penalty to win the game and left the Scots fuming, with boos ringing round Twickenham.

Joubert ran straight off the pitch before the Scotland players led by captain Greig Laidlaw could protest.

The Aussies beat Argentina in the semis before falling 34-17 to New Zealand in the final.

AND 2019?

GREGOR TOWNSEND’S Scots should be looking to make the knockout stages in Japan but it won’t be easy.

First up is Ireland, which is clearly the toughest match of their group.

Russia should be easily beaten but the same can’t be said of Samoa.

Ordinarily, Scotland would be firm favourites to beat Japan in their final group fixture, but this is no ordinary game, with the host nation targeting a victory against Townsend’s side to take them into the next stage.

Things won’t get any easier after that. Should Scotland finish first or second in their pool, they will then advance to face either South Africa or New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

Well, World Cups aren’t supposed to be straightforward for Scotland, are they?