Oz oldies ready for Scots

LONDON: Australia captain Stephen Moore and centre Matt Giteau are poised to win their 100th caps in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland but will not be dwelling on the personal milestones.

The Wallabies won all four of their Pool A games to top the group and set up a lasteight showdown at Twickenham on Sunday.

“For me, it’s not really a week to be reflecting on things,” 32-year-old Moore said yesterday.

“We’ve got a great opportunity to play in the quarter-final of a World Cup and that’s more than enough to play for. These personal achievements are things you probably look at when you hang up your boots.”

Giteau, 33, made his debut against England at Twickenham in 2002.

“We lost by a point,” he said. “I think I went on with about eight minutes to go.

“(Coach) Eddie Jones had a score system where you got a point for every positive thing you did and lost a point for every negative. I think I was the only player to finish with a minus. After that game, I never thought I’d get to a hundred (caps). I didn’t think I’d get past one.”

The Wallabies have been impressed by Scotland, who finished as Pool B runners-up by winning three of their four games. “Their set-piece game looks very strong. They’ve got a great goalkicker and captain who leads them around really well,” Giteau said. “They look like a very confident team who know what they want and know the style of rugby they want to play, and they’ve been executing it very well.”

Back-row forward David Pocock will be available to face Scotland after avoiding a citing and flanker Michael Hooper returns after suspension ruled him out for the win over Wales.

“It’s good to have everyone on deck,” Moore said. “We’ve already lost a couple of important players to injury. Every team goes through that and it’s a challenge of a World Cup.

“It’s good that Dave’s all good for the weekend, he’s an important player for us.”

Australia have bad memories of a 9-6 defeat by Scotland on home soil in 2012.

“I opened the curtains during the day and I think I saw one of the bins rolling down the middle of the street and thought: ‘Oh yeah, this is going to be good’,” said Moore, who added that conditions were up there with the toughest he has encountered in his long career. “The wind was howling, it was raining sideways, and they played well in those conditions.” – Reuters