Chance to tackle Irish before they build up head of steam: Hogg

Now is the time to take on Ireland in the Rugby World Cup, believes Scotland star man Stuart Hogg.

The premier game of Pool A is the first one, with the two teams favoured by most to reach the quarter-finals locking horns in the Yokohama International Stadium, but Hogg is quite happy it isn’t being saved for the finale.

“In Test match rugby there is no such thing as an easy game but if there’s a time to take on Ireland I believe it’s now, before they build up a head of steam,” he said yesterday as Scotland finally arrived in Tokyo to complete final preparations for their first game.

“We are fully aware of the challenge they will bring. But we are very much focused on ourselves and we’re determined to ensure we bring our ‘A’ game to the party.

“Defensively we will have to be spot on. We believe defensive play will win the World Cup.”

The Scots seem a relaxed bunch despite the pressure building towards the opening game, and it probably stems from this being the first time in 18 months they’ve been able to pick an unquestioned first-choice team.

“We are in a good place,” agreed Hogg. “It’s the first time in a long time we have a really full squad to choose from. Everyone is fit and gunning for a starting jersey. The quality and standard in training has been right up there with the best I have ever been involved in.

“There are some characters in the squad who’ve been keeping us going. There’s always bus entertainment. There is joke of the day and there’s a fair amount of songs to be sung, but it comes on the back of some hard work on the training ground.

“It’s the best atmosphere in a squad I’ve been involved with. We’re across the other side of the world from where we’re used to being. We’ve not got our friends or family close by but we very much talk about being a family within the squad.

“We’re enjoying each other’s company. There’s a good bit of craic happening. We want to make sure we’re in the best frame of mind, as well as physical condition, we can be to win a World Cup.

“We’ve had some fun but we’re in Test week and it’s all about getting our campaign off to a good start with a win against Ireland.”

It seems certain to be Hogg’s 70th cap on Sunday but he doesn’t look upon it any differently.

“Every time you get the opportunity to play for Scotland there’s no better feeling than winning in that jersey,” he said.

“I take as much pride in every game I play. Hopefully on Sunday it will be my 70th cap but it will mean just as much as my first did back in 2012.

“It’s exciting times to be part of this team. I truly believe that it’s going to be more than words that are in our performances.

“Our game plan has a lot of different parts to the puzzle. Without giving too much away, we’re just concentrating on ourselves and making sure we don’t beat ourselves or make too many silly errors.

“We might get five or six opportunities in a game to put points on the board, and we need to make the most of every single one of them.”

Picture: SNS/SRU. Stuart Hogg said the squad is “in a good place”.