Scots will handle the heat in Kobe, insists skipper McInally
Ireland and it reminds you that anyone can beat anyone. We know we have to win this one well.’ McInally admitted that the host nation’s famous victory over the Irish was not what he wanted and had made Scotland’s chances of qualification for the knockout stages more difficult. ‘I was very impressed by the Japanese side,’ said the Scotland hooker. ‘I thought they played exceptionally well and deserved to win. They played very fast, they were very direct, and they looked after the ball well. ‘They defended very well as well, and when you play like they did, I’m not surprised that they won. ‘It was obviously a disappointing result for Scotland but it was great to see what it did for Japan and to see how much it means to the country as a whole as obviously they’ve put a lot into the World Cup. ‘The task is still the same for us. It may be a little harder in terms of needing bonus points now, but we’re still going to need to win all of our games to get out of the pool. ‘That wouldn’t have changed whether we’d beaten Ireland or not because you don’t know what else is going to happen in this group.’ McInally believes it will be the survival of the fittest inside the Kobe Misaki stadium, which has a capacity of around 30,000. The roof will be closed for the game, which effectively turns it into a hot-house. Both England and the USA, who played in the stadium earlier in the World Cup, said they had never felt humidity like it. The ball
will be very slippy, which is why Gregor Townsend’s (right) Scots have been training with one they had covered in shampoo to make it harder to catch. ‘Yeah, it’s pretty hot,’ said McInally. ‘The fact it’s an indoor stadium keeps the heat and the moisture in. ‘We didn’t do too much running around in the team run just to save the legs and we were definitely sweating. But it’s something we’ve been aware of and it’s not something that’s surprised us. ‘We’ve been working in these hot conditions for three weeks now, so we’re all used to it and it does make it slightly harder but it’s the same for both teams. ‘It’s just another challenge and the pitch and the conditions are the same for both teams. We just can’t wait to get out there.’ McInally believes his team-mates have got the defeat to Ireland out of their system and that they will bounce back with a win over the Samoans. ‘It was definitely a tough couple of days straight after the Ireland game,’ he continued. ‘You invest a lot in one game and to come up as short as we did was disappointing. ‘Such is the nature of the tournament, you have to get back on the horse. We’ve worked hard and made sure we learned our lesson from the Ireland game. ‘We turned to Samoa very quickly because that is the only thing that matters now. ‘We’ve got a big challenge against a tough Samoan team but we’re in a much better place now than we were a few days out after the game.’ McInally said his side did lack consistency but tended to bounce back from a bad defeat with a good win and that was what he expected his team to deliver. ‘I’m not sure why we turn in performances that are below par sometimes,’ he said. ‘It’s not something we enjoy doing but as you’ve alluded to, one thing I like about the squad is we tend to get a reaction and we demand it of ourselves after a poor performance because we know what we’re capable of. ‘When we fall below that standard it really hurts us, like it did last week.’