Forget the table - just win
● Captain Mcinally tells Scotland players to keep focus on game in hand v Samoa
Captain Stuart Mcinally says Scotland have “done the numbers” after Japan blew Rugby World Cup Pool A wide open by stunning Ireland 19-12 on Saturday but insists their focus can’t stray beyond beating Samoa in Kobe this morning.
Scotland have played only one game, a 27-3 loss to Ireland in Yokohama last weekend, but the Brave Blossoms’ victory over the world No 2 side, which will take them above now ninth-placed Scotland when the new rankings come out tomorrow, means the calculators are already out.
There are numerous permutations but, in the most realistic scenarios, Ireland still remain in pole position and bonus-point wins over Samoa and Russia would probably see them top the group with 16 points. Scotland can now only reach 15 points – with three bonus-point wins.
Japan could go into the final pool match against the Scots on 14 if they beat Samoa with four tries.
In that case, a win would be enough for Scotland to finish ahead of Japan on head-tohead and reach the quarterfinals – unless Japan get a losing bonus point.
Gregor Townsend’s men could still be eliminated even if they beat Japan with a bonus point but the hosts lose by seven or fewer and score four tries, thereby gaining two bonus points.
The flipside is that there is also an unlikely but not impossible way for Scotland to top the group in the four-way battle with the Irish, Japanese and Samoans.
But, after yesterday’s team run at the retractable-roofed Kobe Misaki Stadium, Mcinally was trying to keep things simple.
“We watched the Japan game and we’ve done the numbers,” said the skipper. “We know the implications and what it could mean for us. But we just have to go out and win the game [against Samoa] first and foremost. In my experience if you start chasing anything else before the game starts then you can get into a bit of trouble.
“So we’ll go out, try to win the game and, if we’re in a position in the last 20 minutes to go for that bonus point, then of course we’re aware of what we have to do.”
For all that it wasn’t an ideal result for Scotland, Mcinally acknowledged the momentousness of the events in Shizuoka. The Edinburgh hooker added: “I was very impressed by the Japanese side. 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 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 they’ve put a lot into the World Cup.
“But I feel that nothing changes for us. The task is still the same. It may be a little harder in terms of needing bonus points now, but ultimately we’re just 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, we still need to win all our games because you don’t know what else is going to happen. Nothing changes for us as a group.”
It was put to assistant coach Danny Wilson that, for all the team not getting ahead of themselves in terms of needing four tries is a sensible approach, the fact is that an extra point from today’s game is not really a “bonus” but more of a necessity and he was asked if things would be tweaked, for example kicking penalties to the corners rather than the posts earlier than might have been the case.
“There’s three more games to play and there’s a lot more permutations in terms of what will, or won’t be needed,” said the forwards boss.
“There are a lot of assumptions of what the results are going to be and what that will lead to but we’re fully aware that first and foremost is winning the game and then putting ourselves in a position to go after a bonus point.
“That doesn’t really change. We know that will be a hard task, so our mindset will be about performing both sides of the ball to give us an opportunity to win the game first and foremost, and then that will hopefully lead on to opportunities for a bonus point.”
Wilson reported a clean bill of health after a final session at the venue for today’s match.
“No worries as far as I know coming out of that,” he said. “Everyone is good, raring to go. As the boys have alluded to we’re in a place where our whole focus is physically and mentally on this next performance and hopefully we’ll bounce back well and give ourselves something to build on.”
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