Scots will learn more from the Springboks than trio of victories
IT would be churlish not to congratulate Scotland for putting together three wins in a row — but they will learn more from one match against South Africa this weekend than they ever will from the victories over USA, Canada and an under-strength Argentina.
Scotland, who are eighth in the world rankings, should always be able to beat the USA and Canada, 18th and 19th respectively.
A victory over the 12th-ranked Pumas, especially when they were without Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and all their star Europeanbased players, should hardly have come as a surprise either.
Saturday’s g a me with t he Springboks, No 2 in the world, will be the acid test for new coach Vern Cotter’s side.
It’s vital to play the top teams as often as possible, especially with the World Cup just over a year away, and that’s why this match is significant.
England supremo Stuart Lancaster called it right when he was asked what his side had got out of three defeats on the spin to New Zealand.
Lancaster said the experience of taking on the best in the world would be stored away by his players. They would realise how far behind the All Blacks they were and grasp just what they had to do to close the gap before the World Cup on home soil. They would now go away — players and management — and
work on how to improve so they were ready to take on the cream of the crop at next year’s tournament. Scotland willl earn similar lessons against South Africa — and, although both sides will field weakened sides in Port Elizabeth, it is still going to be a vital learning process for Cotter.
He’ll want to see how his men perform against a team with such high standards that they took huge criticism for only beating Wales by a point last weekend.
And, just like Lancaster against the All Blacks, it will give him an indication of how much work he has to do to make sure his team can at least be competitive against the southern hemisphere giants. The match will also show Cotter who has done enough on the tour to merit a place among his first picks in the run up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
I’m particularly intrigued to see who Cotter starts with in the hugely problematic stand- off spot on Saturday. Finn Russell did no more than OK against USA and Canada, while Ruaridh Jackson got just 19 minutes of action across the two Tests before having to go off in Toronto with concussion.
Duncan Weir took the jersey for the match against Argentina and, although he kicked the winning penalty, he had a mixed game. I expect Weir to retain his starting place against South Africa, with Tom Heathcote of Edinburgh Rugby coming off the bench.
Weir (below) has a great chance to show Cotter that he should be his first- choice No 10 by putting in an impressive display.
It’s a much different proposition to attempt to boss the game against the Springboks than it was against a weak Argentina side — and a strong performance this weekend could be the making of the Glasgow Warriors man. Let’s hope he delivers the goods because it’s a big worry for Scottish rugby that no one has made the No 10 jersey their o wn with a World Cup on the horizon.
Grant Gilchrist is another who could enhance his reputation.
Cotter clearly rates him highly as he made him captain for the Argentina game even before he has skippered Edinburgh. Dominating the line-out against t he Springboks — even although t hey will be without the likes of the great Bakkies Botha and Eben Etzebeth — will mean he has a chance of pushing either Richie Gray or Jim Hamilton out of the Scotland starting line-up in the long-term. The Scots will want to end their arduous summer tour on a high. Beating South Africa away from home would be a landmark result and a huge feather in Cotter’s cap. Let’s hope it can happen.