SPRINGBOKS BEWARE! Results were poor but, to my eyes, they have improved in a number of areas under Cotter
Woodward is sure Scots can turn section upside down by shocking South Africa
SIR CLIVE WOODWARD insists Scotland have the ability to stun the rugby world and cause a real upset by beating South Africa in their crucial Pool B encounter. Even though the results produced by our national side have been far from impressive in recent months, the man who masterminded England’s World Cup triumph in 2003 has been impressed by what he has seen from Vern Cotter’s squad and believes that progress could be underlined with an impressive showing over the coming weeks.
‘You don’t get many shock results or major surprises in the World Cup — Fiji and Samoa against Wales and Tonga against France are the only ones that come to mind — but I’ve got a strong gut feeling that Scotland may pull off a famous win over South Africa and turn Pool B on its head,’ said the former British & Irish Lions coach.
‘Not that Scotland are minnows as such but after a whitewash in the last Six Nations many pundits seem to be writing them off in Pool B, suggesting that they might struggle badly to qualify for the quarter-final ahead of Samoa with South Africa certain to go through undefeated.
‘On the contrary, I think they could go very well. That Six Nations outcome was very misleading last season as Vern Cotter set about making changes.
‘The results were poor but to my eyes they have improved in a number of areas. The backs looked more inventive with Finn Russell calling the shots and the forwards played with a deal of passion.
‘They ran out of steam on the final weekend against Ireland but they could easily have won their matches against Wales and France and could have beaten France again last week.’
Many would argue that Scotland’s ambition to go for the win is what cost them taking something out of the Paris meeting last week. Woodward argues, however, that Scotland will be particularly potent if they stick to their natural game.
The fact that a substantial chunk of the squad guided Glasgow to Pro12 glory earlier this year won’t hurt, either.
‘Scotland are always at their best when they play at 100mph, challenging in-your-face rugby when structure goes out of the window and you play on your wits and intuition,’ said Woodward. ‘They are among the cleverest, most natural players around and they often thrive on organised chaos.
‘Some of the best rugby I saw last season came from Gregor Townsend’s Glasgow team and they are a massive influence contributing no less than 15 players to the national squad.
‘Yes, it’s good that the emergence of Jonny Gray alongside brother Richie gives them power in the scrum and a solid line-out but they are very talented loose forwards as well.
‘The schedule falls nicely for Scotland. They start with Japan and USA and they must not be coy about those fixtures. They are must wins, these “banker” games, before having a full-on tilt against South Africa at St James’ Park Newcastle on October 3.
‘That head-to-head has the potential to be one of the great occasions of this World Cup. The Scottish fans will pour over the border into Newcastle and make it into a home match and the crowd could lift them.
The venue will lift the Scots whereas South Africa will be out of their comfort zone. They are used to huge encounters on the road at Eden Park, Sydney, Twickenham, Cardiff and Murrayfield but this will have a very different feel to it.
‘Scotland won’t start as favourites in Newcastle, but they have a major shout and a Scots win would turn the tournament on its head.’ Meanwhile, former Scotland internationalist Ian Robertson believes Cotter will get things right on the big stage.
The BBC Radio 5 live commentator said: ‘I am a big fan of Cotter. When it was announced that he was becoming coach I was really excited because I had heard good reports about him and obviously seen what he had done in France.
‘He got off to a great start with Scotland and they played some good rugby in the Autumn Tests last year. He has widened the base of top-level players there are available for the country and also worked out who is good enough and who is not.
‘I think we saw in the home win over Italy a few weeks ago that the players are starting to click and play the way that he wants.’