Double boost

“Some things we will take on board, some things we maybe won’t. Hoggy liked the sound of Lee Westwood’s Ryder Cup warm-ups!

“Some things will be transferable to what guys believe and think they’ll do, and some won’t, but they’re good fun along the way.

“He spoke very positively about his Ryder Cup experience. He said he enjoyed it.

“He said the players were looked after really well, and how they talked about the score over the piece, not just the fact they’d won four times in a row.”

With the rest of the world also staging World Cup warm-up matches, the other part of Blair’s job is poring over the video to try to put together a plan for tackling their pool rivals Ireland, Russia, Samoa and dangerous hosts Japan.

“I’ve not watched the Japan game from this week yet, but I’ve watched them the last couple of weeks and they are a very skilful team who play with a lot of tempo, tackle low in defence, put a lot of pressure on you,” said Blair.

“Over the next couple of weeks this is our project to be doing, looking at the teams we are playing against and putting together a plan.

“We have a few ideas already but we can tweak them taking in more recent games.” AS the Scotland team gear up for their first Test in preparation for the Rugby World Cup, they have been boosted by assurances from two of their injured players that they should be fit to get some game time in before the team heads for Japan.

Both Fraser Brown, the hooker who damaged a foot during the Guinness PRO14 final in May, and Sam Johnson, the centre who hurt an ankle in training, are on the verge of playing again and both are targeting the double header against Georgia for a comeback.

“My aim has always been to be involved in the latter games and that is unchanged,” said Brown. “I am on track, maybe a little ahead of schedule. It will depend on the next couple of weeks and how much running I can get under my belt.”

He was by far the more serious concern after picking up an injury when Glasgow Warriors lost to Leinster in the final at Celtic Park. The injury to his foot required surgery.

“They medical staff set out the recovery plan from the minute I got injured. We were pretty clear on when I was hoping to be fit and the markers I had to hit. It has been