The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Testing opener will focus the minds
However, the Scots’ task four days before against Spain or Romania – one of whose current coaches, Rob Moffat, is a Scot – gives head coach Gregor Townsend some scope to rest frontline players, dependent of course on how the Scots go in the previous two pool games.
After opening against the Irish, Scotland head to the Kobe Misaki Stadium on September 30 to face the as-yet known playoff winner – likely to be Samoa, who finished third in the Oceania qualifying and will have to play a further match against the second placed team in the Europe qualifier to reach the finals.
The Scots will then play the Europe 1 qualifier, which will be known in March of next year, at the Shizuoka Stadium in Ecopa. Currently Romania and Spain are at the top of the qualifying group with three wins from four games, with four still to play.
If Scotland qualify from their pool they will play either the winner or runner-up from Pool B, where defending champions New Zealand have been drawn with twice winners South Africa.
Townsend was happy with the schedule even with such a formidable tournament opener.
“Obviously there’s a lot of excitement that comes with knowing who you’re playing, when and at what venues.
“We’ll face a real challenge in all of our games, starting with Ireland, who are currently ranked fourth in the world.
“Facing Ireland in the opening round really focuses the mind on just how big a challenge this tournament is going to be, on top of the prospect of facing the hosts, who had a brilliant World Cup in 2015.”
Townsend will travel to Japan after the Autumn Internationals to continue the logistical planning and preparations for the tournament.
Scotland already have a strategic alliance with the Japanese City of Nagasaki, who will host a holding camp for the national team’s World Cup squad in 2019 on the eve of the tournament.
It will enable the squad to acclimatise to Japanese conditions and the time differences before heading into their official tournament camp.
He added: “The tournament is very much on the horizon for our players and staff. The important thing will be to continue building and improving over the next two years.”