LAIDLAW: WE CAN’T CONTROL THE ELEMENTS BUT WE CAN TAKE CARE OF JAPAN
We can’t control the elements but we can take care of Japan, says skipper Laidlaw
SO that’s it, then. With no safety net of a 24-hour extension, Scotland’s clash with Japan takes place in Yokohama on schedule or it doesn’t take place at all.
Ask the opinion of local weather watchers, those in the know in the country’s second biggest city, and they remain confident the International Stadium will be ready tomorrow — and Typhoon Hagibis long gone — in time for the teams to take to the field.
Reports last night confirmed that an inspection will take place at 6am, with a decision two hours later. For everyone back home in Blighty, that means we should all know what is happening by midnight tonight.
At least there will be clarity one way or the other given the chaotic machinations of the week gone by.
Scotland, of course, want the game played. Japan share that determination. There is a mood in the hosts’ camp that their position has been ignored in all this.
‘We feel we’ve played and won three Test matches and that’s put us in the best position to win this pool,’ said Japan coach Jamie Joseph.
‘Just in the past few days through the media reports I’ve read, I feel they’ve undermined the achievements of the Japanese national team and the significance of Sunday’s Test for Japan.
‘We’ve earned the right to be considered one of the elite teams in the world. It’s important for us to wake up on Monday morning and understand we’re a worthy top-eight team or we’re not.
‘The key difference here between us and Scotland is that we’re driven and supported by the whole country. My team is motivated by achieving something great, not avoiding embarrassment.’
Scotland counterpart Gregor Townsend refused to rise to that ‘embarrassment’ comment and instead deftly side-stepped the pre-match banter.
‘I did see Jamie’s comments,’ he said. ‘We know it wouldn’t be an embarrassment to lose to Japan, we know they are an excellent side and we will have to play very well to win. I had a good laugh about them. You may know coaches use press conferences to put messages out and get a response. Sometimes you don’t get one.’
What both coaches do want is a game. What Townsend described as ‘a straight shootout for the quarter-finals’.
‘It is a game you dream to be involved in,’ he added.
For Townsend’s team to be in control of their own destiny is all the coach and his players ask.
‘We will play this game anywhere and we have to prepare like it is going to happen because we can’t be unprepared,’ said Greig Laidlaw, who will start as captain after Stuart McInally’s surprise demotion to the bench.
‘As a leadership group, we have tried to prepare the boys as much as we can. They all want to play on Sunday wherever we can. It is a knockout game and the players are already highly motivated and ready to go.
‘Japan have been excellent at this tournament and it is certainly not their fault the weather is coming in. They want to play the game on Sunday and so do we.
‘You work so hard to come to competitions likes this and play in these type of games. We want a chance to play.’
The Scotland squad were due to spend Saturday — like the 3.7 million people in Yokohama — safely indoors on advice of experts who fear the damage this typhoon will do.
Windows have been shuttered throughout the city, transport grounded, while shops were sold out of basic provisions like bread by Friday evening, given
they are not allowed to open on safety grounds the following day.
Instead of the pre-match run at the stadium, the players will walk through planned moves in the ballroom of their five-star team hotel.
At times like this, you need your experienced players to stand up — even if they have never experienced anything like this in their lives.
It may be why Townsend’s decision to bench McInally and start with Laidlaw as captain may turn out to be a master stroke. The scrum-half is hugely respected and, in what will be his final World Cup, has the cool head required to get the team properly prepared for the biggest game of many of their lives.
‘I am probably the most experienced player in the team and it is a big game and I am more than happy to take on the responsibility,’ said Laidlaw.
‘Being captain changes nothing in my mind as we have got a Test match to win and that’s all we are concentrating on.
‘With the typhoon coming in and the team run cancelled, it is certainly different to a normal build-up to a test match. We’re obviously hoping it is going to go ahead and, first and foremost, we hope everyone is safe in Japan.
‘As players, we can only control what we can control. We have to prepare well and we are looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead.
‘We have to beat them by four points and we have to win well — and winning with a bonus point is at the back of our minds.
‘It is clear cut, which helps us in one sense in that we are going to have to defend extremely well.
‘We are definitely ready for the game. We could probably play tomorrow but want it played on Sunday wherever it can be. I am not looking at it as an away game. There will be plenty of Scots there. I think it is more of a neutral game. It will be a great occasion.’
Now all we have to do is wait. Fans, players, coaches... all must ride out the storm both metaphorically and physically. Only then will we know what damage has been done.