It’s time to get our campaign up and running
It’s been a horrible start to the Rugby World Cup for scotland. Horrible. Worse than just about every other team — and that includes Fiji, who lost so surprisingly to Uruguay.
the performance last week against Ireland was terrible and unacceptable. It was passive, it was tactically naive and Ireland didn’t have to do too much to get the easy bonus-point win.
It will have been a long week for the scotland players, who will be anxious to get back out on the pitch and repair their damaged reputations.
the reality of the situation was always that, even if Gregor townsend’s men lost the opener, if they won their remaining three matches, then they would still make the knockout stages. Well, that scenario changed dramatically on saturday when Japan, quite remarkably, beat Ireland.
It now means that scotland not only need to win all three matches, but also ensure they grab bonus points in all of them to have a chance.
If scotland were to beat samoa today and then Russia without securing bonus points, and Japan beat samoa with a bonus point, then that final pool match against the hosts would be irrelevant. the scots would be on the plane home.
that is not a proposition we would want to even think about and the players cannot either — they need to focus on the job today. But they must ensure that they don’t repeat the mistakes of that opening match.
It has been a tough week for townsend, as well, which wasn’t helped with his comments that the team lacked energy last week.
For the first game of the World Cup, this was also unacceptable but he has, at least, addressed some of the issues with this selection.
I stated in this column last week that I wanted Darcy Graham and Blade thomson in the team and that has happened for the samoan game.
there are a few more changes, especially in the back row with Magnus Bradbury and Jamie Ritchie in for John Barclay and Ryan Wilson.
Ritchie replaces the injured Hamish Watson in the side. Bradbury, who replaced Edinburgh team-mate Watson in the squad, now finds himself going straight into the starting XV.
thomson and Bradbury need to bring their physicality to the game, which was badly lacking last week, but the rest of the pack need to stand up as well.
the front five were so passive last week, losing nearly all the collisions which are so important to get on the front foot.
they should have the firepower to bully the samoan pack and give the backs something to play with this week. If they do, then the back line will have to play so much smarter than they did against Ireland.
they need to bring variety to the attack and not be as predictable as they were against Ireland. samoa will have done their homework and know that Finn Russell and stuart Hogg are scotland’s two key attackers and will target them in defence just like Ireland did.
they will fly out of the line, so Russell has to play very smart today and show some good decisionmaking and rugby nous. He should attack the line as he does very well but choose the recipient with more variety than just hitting Hogg in the wide channel.
this is where Graham can bring his energy to the team as I want him to be offering himself up every time scotland are attacking.
When you play samoa, you know that you will get smashed at some point in the game. But with smart play, this will allow a team-mate to be put away into space.
this is a real test for one of the most attacking stand-offs in the World Cup; the test being can he proactively manage the attack and the game with good decision making and execution?
He can — and scotland really need this today.
the state of the group is not something that scotland should be worrying about. they should look to control what they can control and that means winning this game first and foremost, and with a bonus point. It is all about having the right attitude and game plan.
Japan may have made scotland’s task of qualifying so much harder but this game is about getting some credibility back in this team; from their supporters, from the media and from the rest of the teams at this World Cup.
today must be the day that scotland actually arrive in this World Cup and get this campaign back on track before we need to face the next hurdle.