Maitland winning his race to face Japan

Scotland are confident Sean Maitland will be fit to face Japan in Sunday’s potential quarterfinal decider in Yokohama.

The Saracens wing has missed the Scots’ last two training sessions with a tight groin.

But defence coach Matt Taylor believes both Maitland – who opened the scoring against Samoa last week before forcing the Pacific Islanders into conceding a penalty try which sealed their all-important bonus-point win – and prop Allan Dell will be ready to go against the Brave Blossoms.

Dell had to be replaced early against Samoa after suffering a head knock but has passed his concussion protocol checks and returned to full contact work in training.

Taylor said: “Sean has a little bit of a tight groin and we are working our way through that at the moment.

“We are very confident that he will play a part against Japan – he is just going through the protocols.

“We are confident he is going to be fine for Sunday.

“And Delly is in a good spot. He has just done a bout of hard contact with me and came through it really well.”

The clash with Japan is understandably continuing to dominate the minds of the Scotland faithful considering what will likely be at stake in the final game of the group.

But today’s clash with Russia remains just as vital for now.

The Bears – ranked 20th in the world – sit bottom of Pool A without a point but their pack have certainly not disgraced themselves with their work on the ground.