Scotland XV for Autumn Internationals

First topic message reminder :

Right let's get down to business shall we?!

9/11/13
Scotland vs Japan
KO - 2.30pm

17/11/13
Scotland vs South Africa
KO - 3pm

23/11/13
Scotland vs Australia
KO - 6pm

First of all, the schedule for these three matches is super. Unlike last few years, Scotland will play a less formidable team first before two tough matches against SA and Aus. SA are on a roll at the moment and will be a good, stern test for Scotland before Australia. Injuries may be an issue however as we saw in the summer.

If Scotland beat Australia that will make it 3 wins in a row vs the Wallabies which would be a fantastic achievement. But obviously wins over any of these three teams will be great.

Players

Backs M Bennett (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Glasgow), De Luca (Edinburgh), A Dunbar (Glasgow), M Evans (Castres), T Heathcote (Bath), R Jackson (Glasgow), S Lamont (Glasgow), G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), S Maitland (Glasgow), H Pyrgos (Glasgow), M Scott (Edinburgh), T Seymour (Glasgow), D Taylor (Saracens), G Tonks (Edinburgh), T Visser (Edinburgh), D Weir (Glasgow).
Forwards J Barclay (Scarlets), J Beattie (Montpellier), K Brown (Saracens), B Cowan (London Irish), G Cross (Edinburgh), D Denton (Edinburgh), A Dickinson (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), C Fusaro (Glasgow), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh) R Grant (Glasgow), J Gray (Glasgow), R Gray (Castres), J Hamilton (Montpellier), R Harley (Glasgow), A Kellock (Glasgow), S Lawson (Newcastle), K Low (London Irish), M Low (Glasgow), P MacArthur (Glasgow), E Murray (Worcester), A Strokosch (Perpignan), T Swinson (Glasgow), J Welsh (Glasgow)

*Sorry for not updating this sooner. My girlfriend and I broke up a few weeks ago after four and a half years, three living together. I've been in a pretty bad place. However, I'm getting better and looking forward to these games so I'll continue to contribute when I can

teh_Dingmeister wrote:the quote boxes.. haven't seen a yellow box so far. Feel free to delete my posts as well if they're just clogging up the board

Aw hey, wait a minute you in the burgundy corduroys! How come this Jonny come lately gets the OU tutorial treatment and I get to be the monkey with typewriter hoping for Hamlet?
You're hoping that if you're really nice to him he wont kick the MFL while they're down aren't you? Well it's too late, he's seen the future and knows its name is  

RDW_Scotland wrote:

GLove39 wrote:Here's the Japanese team for Saturday.

Japan: 15 Ayumu Goromaru,
14 Toshiaki Hirose (c),
13 Male Sau,
12 Craig Wing,
11 Kenki Fukuoka,
10 Kosei Ono,
9 Fumiaki Tanaka,

8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani,
7 Michael Broadhurst,
6 Hendrik Tui,
5 Shinya Makabe,
4 Luke Thompson,
3 Kensuke Hatakeyama,
2 Shota Horie,
1 Masataka Mikami.


Replacements: 16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Yusuke Nagae, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Hitoshi Ono, 20 Takashi Kikutani, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita.

Gotta be honest bar their scrum half & their openside, who really stood out against Wales in the summer, I don't recognise any of these players. Anyone able to shed any light?

Surely their number 12 is playing in the wrong position?  

       

jimbopip wrote:

teh_Dingmeister wrote:the quote boxes.. haven't seen a yellow box so far. Feel free to delete my posts as well if they're just clogging up the board

Aw hey, wait a minute you in the burgundy corduroys! How come this Jonny come lately gets the OU tutorial treatment and I get to be the monkey with typewriter hoping for Hamlet?
You're hoping that if you're really nice to him he wont kick the MFL while they're down aren't you? Well it's too late, he's seen the future and knows its name is  

In my defence I'm pretty sure I did try to help you, but I can't do everything, you need to have some kind of basic technical ability in the first place!  

Curiously enough I'm sure you heard Grumpy Solomons say exactly these words to Tim Visser after tackle practice.
 

Solid8 wrote:

BigGee wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:I actually started blogging on a cycling fourm first. Cycling being my other pasion and as my playing days are many years behind me, my main activity these days. In that forum there is the banter and the wit and the skill of the blogging without the national and international rivilaries obscuring things at times. This is definitely a step up and you are right, more of a bear pit at times. Hopefully I am ready for it now!

BigGee, what cycling forum do you post on?

I post on cyclechat. Mainly about the Friday night rides to the coast (FNRttC). That is an informal club of cyclists who meet up once a month or so at Hyde Park Corner and ride overnight to the seaside, usually Brighton, Bognor, Southend and Whitstable. I sort of stumbled upon it after reading an article in the Guardian about them and it appealed to my sense of eccentricity. Night time cycling, once you get out of London and onto the country roads is a fabulous experience and one that I would recommend to anyone to try, though it is better done in a group such as this.

Cyclechat is a mine of information for anything about cycling and lots of other things as well. As long as you stick clear of anything about Lance Armstrong or drugs in general you will generally have a pretty good and civilised conversation. I don't get to much involved with them, but there is a pretty active Scottish contingent on there as well.

jimbopip wrote:Curiously enough I'm sure you heard Grumpy Solomons say exactly these words to Tim Visser after tackle practice.
 

Apparently tackling practice has been discontinued due to the large number of compensation claims for ripped tights and broken nails, not to mention Dozer's coiffure rebuilding bill.

No
Name
Club Team
Graduate of - (cm) - (kg) - D.O.B - Caps

1
Masataka MIKAMI
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus
Tokai Univ. 178 115 1988/6/4 10
2
Shota HORIE
PANASONIC Wild Knights
Teikyo Univ. 180 105 1986/1/21 24
3
Kensuke HATAKEYAMA
SUNTORY Sungoliath
Waseda Univ. 178 115 1985/8/2 47
4
Luke THOMPSON
KINTETSU Liners
Lincoln Univ.(NZ) 196 108 1981/4/16 40
5
Shinya MAKABE
SUNTORY Sungoliath
Chuo Univ. 192 118 1987/3/26 17
6
Hendrik TUI
SUNTORY Sungoliath
Teikyo Univ. 189 107 1987/12/13 15
7
Michael BROADHURST
RICOH BlackRams
Campion College (NZ) 196 111 1986/10/30 13
8
Ryu Koliniasi HOLANI
PANASONIC Wild Knights
Saitama Institute of
Technology Univ. 188 112 1981/10/25 26
9
Fumiaki TANAKA
PANASONIC Wild Knights
Kyoto Sangyo Univ. 166 71 1985/1/3 38
10
Kosei ONO
SUNTORY Sungoliath
Christchurch Boys HS (NZ) 171 83 1987/4/17 19
11
Kenki FUKUOKA
Univ.of Tsukuba (2nd Year)
Fukuoka HS 175 83 1992/9/7 8
12
Craig WING
KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers
Univ. of New South Wales.(AUS) 180 90 1979/12/26 6
13
Male SAU
YAMAHA Jubilo
Tangaroa College 183 97 1987/10/13 10
14
Toshiaki HIROSE *
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus
Keio Univ. 173 82 1981/10/17 16
15
Ayumu GOROMARU
YAMAHA Jubilo
Waseda Univ. 185 99 1986/3/1 30
16
Yusuke AOKI
SUNTORY Sungoliath
Waseda Univ. 176 97 1983/6/19 29
17
Yusuke NAGAE
RICOH BlackRams
Kyoto Sangyo Univ. 171 107 1985/7/19 14
18
Hiroshi YAMASHITA
KOBE STEEL Kobelco Steelers
Kyoto Sangyo Univ. 183 122 1986/1/1 26
19
Hitoshi ONO
TOSHIBA Brave Lupus
Nihon Univ. 192 106 1978/5/6 74
20
Takashi KIKUTANI
TOYOTA Verblitz
Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences 187 106 1980/2/24 64
21
Atsushi HIWASA
SUNTORY Sungoliath
Hosei Univ. 166 72 1987/5/22 27
22
Yu TAMURA
NEC Green Rockets
Meiji Univ. 181 92 1989/1/9 14
23
Yoshikazu FUJITA
Waseda Univ.(2nd Year)
Higashi Fukuoka HS 184 90 1993/9/8 10

GLove39 wrote:Here's the Japanese team for Saturday.

Japan: 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Toshiaki Hirose (c), 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Shinya Makabe, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Yusuke Nagae, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Hitoshi Ono, 20 Takashi Kikutani, 21 Atsushi Hiwasa, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita.

Gotta be honest bar their scrum half & their openside, who really stood out against Wales in the summer, I don't recognise any of these players. Anyone able to shed any light?

In comparison to the side that faced the ABs last weekend:

Japan: 15 Ayumu Goromaru, 14 Toshiaki Hirose, 13 Male Sau, 12 Craig Wing, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Harumichi Tatekawa, 9 Fumiaki Tanaka, 8 Ryu Koliniasi Holani, 7 Michael Broadhurst, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Hitoshi Ono, 4 Shoji Ito, 3 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 2 Shota Horie, 1 Masataka Mikami.
Replacements: 16 Yusuke Aoki, 17 Yusuke Nagae, 18 Hiroshi Yamashita, 19 Luke Thompson, 20 Takashi Kikutani, 21 Kosei Ono, 22 Yu Tamura, 23 Yoshikazu Fujita.

I've highlighted those that were not in the previous starting XV, incl. completely fresh boilerhouse pairing

Top League Table for season 12/13

Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Suntory Sungoliath 13 13 0 0 481 258 +223 11 0 63
2 Toshiba Brave Lupus 13 10 0 3 478 266 +212 8 2 50
3 Panasonic Wild Knights 13 10 0 3 509 275 +234 8 1 49
4 Kobe Steel KobSteelers 13 9 1 3 468 255 +213 9 2 49
5 Toyota Verblitz 13 9 1 3 343 291 +52 4 1 43
6 Yamaha Júbilo 13 8 0 5 430 311 +119 7 3 42
7 Kintetsu Liners 13 6 0 7 356 308 +48 6 3 33
8 NEC Green Rockets 13 6 0 7 399 375 +24 7 1 32
9 NTT Shining Arcs 13 7 0 6 240 313 –73 1 2 31
10 Ricoh Black Rams 13 5 0 8 322 360 –38 5 3 28
11 Canon Eagles 13 3 0 10 287 382 –95 5 2 19
12 Kyuden Voltex 13 2 0 11 238 593 –355 5 3 16
13 NTT Docom Hurricanes 13 1 0 12 217 524 –307 2 2 8
14 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 13 1 0 12 256 513 –257 2 1 7

Their most recent league so you get a sense of clubs that they play for

BigGee wrote:

Solid8 wrote:

BigGee wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:I actually started blogging on a cycling fourm first. Cycling being my other pasion and as my playing days are many years behind me, my main activity these days. In that forum there is the banter and the wit and the skill of the blogging without the national and international rivilaries obscuring things at times. This is definitely a step up and you are right, more of a bear pit at times. Hopefully I am ready for it now!

BigGee, what cycling forum do you post on?

I post on cyclechat. Mainly about the Friday night rides to the coast (FNRttC). That is an informal club of cyclists who meet up once a month or so at Hyde Park Corner and ride overnight to the seaside, usually Brighton, Bognor, Southend and Whitstable. I sort of stumbled upon it after reading an article in the Guardian about them and it appealed to my sense of eccentricity. Night time cycling, once you get out of London and onto the country roads is a fabulous experience and one that I would recommend to anyone to try, though it is better done in a group such as this.

Cyclechat is a mine of information for anything about cycling and lots of other things as well. As long as you stick clear of anything about Lance Armstrong or drugs in general you will generally have a pretty good and civilised conversation. I don't get to much involved with them, but there is a pretty active Scottish contingent on there as well.

Taking the thread WAAAAAAYYYY off topic I know, apologies to anyone offended.

I post on LFGSS, going by your description of the site I thought that you may too, it sounds fairly similar but on LFGSS the language is not for those easily offended by the liberal use of the C-bomb.

I know what you mean about night cycling I do the Dunwich Dynamo every year (semi organised 120 miler to Dunwich on the Norfolk coast) and love it, a couple of years ago I did it there and back in a day, cycled out at night and back in the day. The night time ride was a million times more enjoyable.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

jimbopip wrote:

teh_Dingmeister wrote:the quote boxes.. haven't seen a yellow box so far. Feel free to delete my posts as well if they're just clogging up the board

Aw hey, wait a minute you in the burgundy corduroys! How come this Jonny come lately gets the OU tutorial treatment and I get to be the monkey with typewriter hoping for Hamlet?
You're hoping that if you're really nice to him he wont kick the MFL while they're down aren't you? Well it's too late, he's seen the future and knows its name is  

In my defence I'm pretty sure I did try to help you, but I can't do everything, you need to have some kind of basic technical ability in the first place!  

Finally figured out how to use it, there seemed to be a problem with my BBcode.. whatever that is. As a student I feel deeply ashamed about being lectured on my technical abilities in relation to internet forums..  

On a side note, that kind of ruthless antagonism is what dissuades potentially lurkers from posting. You should be ashamed of yourselves   

And I do support Edinburgh, no matter how many Pro 12's the soap dodgers win they won't compare to that glorious Heineken Cup semi final

BigGee wrote:

Solid8 wrote:

BigGee wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:I actually started blogging on a cycling fourm first. Cycling being my other pasion and as my playing days are many years behind me, my main activity these days. In that forum there is the banter and the wit and the skill of the blogging without the national and international rivilaries obscuring things at times. This is definitely a step up and you are right, more of a bear pit at times. Hopefully I am ready for it now!

BigGee, what cycling forum do you post on?

I post on cyclechat. Mainly about the Friday night rides to the coast (FNRttC). That is an informal club of cyclists who meet up once a month or so at Hyde Park Corner and ride overnight to the seaside, usually Brighton, Bognor, Southend and Whitstable. I sort of stumbled upon it after reading an article in the Guardian about them and it appealed to my sense of eccentricity. Night time cycling, once you get out of London and onto the country roads is a fabulous experience and one that I would recommend to anyone to try, though it is better done in a group such as this.

Cyclechat is a mine of information for anything about cycling and lots of other things as well. As long as you stick clear of anything about Lance Armstrong or drugs in general you will generally have a pretty good and civilised conversation. I don't get to much involved with them, but there is a pretty active Scottish contingent on there as well.

DUDE I did this a couple years ago when I was in London. Now I'm back I was considering doing it again. I might have met you before without realising.

In other news, the reason I don't post so much and lurk a lot is when I post I come back and look for responses (don't want to be rude or anything) and considering I procrastinate enough with my work (as a freelancer, v easy to do) it just adds another element of , not timewasting, but time-I-really-should-be-working-in.

I'll find a balance.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Top League Table for season 12/13

Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Suntory Sungoliath 13 13 0 0 481 258 +223 11 0 63
2 Toshiba Brave Lupus 13 10 0 3 478 266 +212 8 2 50
3 Panasonic Wild Knights 13 10 0 3 509 275 +234 8 1 49
4 Kobe Steel KobSteelers 13 9 1 3 468 255 +213 9 2 49
5 Toyota Verblitz 13 9 1 3 343 291 +52 4 1 43
6 Yamaha Júbilo 13 8 0 5 430 311 +119 7 3 42
7 Kintetsu Liners 13 6 0 7 356 308 +48 6 3 33
8 NEC Green Rockets 13 6 0 7 399 375 +24 7 1 32
9 NTT Shining Arcs 13 7 0 6 240 313 –73 1 2 31
10 Ricoh Black Rams 13 5 0 8 322 360 –38 5 3 28
11 Canon Eagles 13 3 0 10 287 382 –95 5 2 19
12 Kyuden Voltex 13 2 0 11 238 593 –355 5 3 16
13 NTT Docom Hurricanes 13 1 0 12 217 524 –307 2 2 8
14 Fukuoka Sanix Blues 13 1 0 12 256 513 –257 2 1 7

Their most recent league so you get a sense of clubs that they play for

Love how much sponsorship there is for rugby in Japan compared to Scotland despite the fact we're going to be grubbing them in about 24 hours.

...he hopes.

[quote="Solid8
Taking the thread WAAAAAAYYYY off topic I know, apologies to anyone offended.  

I post on LFGSS, going by your description of the site I thought that you may too, it sounds fairly similar but on LFGSS the language is not for those easily offended by the liberal use of the C-bomb.

I know what you mean about night cycling I do the Dunwich Dynamo every year (semi organised 120 miler to Dunwich on the Norfolk coast) and love it, a couple of years ago I did it there and back in a day, cycled out at night and back in the day.  The night time ride was a million times more enjoyable.[/quote]

Yes I have done the Dunwich Dynamo as well. Its a bit chaotic and I am always amazed that there are not more accidents. A lot of inexperienced cyclists do it who don't realise that it is not a good idea to suddenly stop in the middle of the road with a multitude of other cyclist bearing down on you at high speed. You certainly need to keep your wits about you on that ride but it is still great fun. The FNRttC is a lot smaller than that, usually between 40-100 per ride and more traditional cycling etiquette is definitely required! They are a good bunch though, very diverse and a lot of fun.

Anyway probably best get back to the rugby!

Don't worry guys - if we only talked about rugby on here it would be a hell of a boring place.

As long as we get back to rugby eventually no harm done!

Panasonic Wild Knights - is it just me or is that name not particularly Japanese?

I have never heard of the City/Town of panasonic in Japan....

Ineffable wrote:
DUDE I did this a couple years ago when I was in London. Now I'm back I was considering doing it again. I might have met you before without realising.

It really is a small world is it not. I am often wearing a Braveheart Cycling Jersey when I ride them. Let me know if you are doing one next year and we will definitely catch up.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Panasonic Wild Knights - is it just me or is that name not particularly Japanese?

I have never heard of the City/Town of panasonic in Japan....

Not really surprising given that around 20% of Japan's 130 million population live in and around Tokyo it could get a little confusing if the Team's location featured in the name.

It's a good job Edinburgh don't take the name of their major sponsor from last season.

Aberdeen Asset Management Rugby.

Still Tokyo has districts that they could be named after?

Hmm, Roppongi Ladies of Pleasure? Has a certain ring to it ...

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:It's a good job Edinburgh don't take the name of their major sponsor from last season.

Aberdeen Asset Management Rugby.

Now that's got a nice ring to it.

This could start something else but could the MFLs not be the Mothercare Metrosexual Festival Luvvies ?  

It's a good thing that's not what the naming convention for each club would be, or else Glasgow wouldn't have had a name last year!

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:This could start something else but could the MFLs not be the Mothercare Metrosexual Festival Luvvies ?  

It's gameday!!!   

Doveskincare Metrosexual Festival Luvvies, surely Schiz old man.
It's just a personal preference but I have a leaning toward the Southern General A&E Glasgow Warriors.
However, Toyota Verblitz really does top it all. Kamikaze krauts screaming over the top of a ruck FFS:shock: 

On a side note, that kind of ruthless antagonism is what dissuades potentially lurkers from posting. You should be ashamed of yourselves   [/quote]Dingmeister, you wait till DeLuca has a brainfart and costs us a try today, or Dozer spends the game flicking his lock "coz he's worth it", or the MFL refuse to lie down and gift us two BP's in the annual festive gubbing thereby denying us a home play-off THEN you'll hear Schiz get ruthlessly antagonistic. The rest of us will be sanguine and philosophical about it.

Good morning everyone!!
It's a new season! A fresh start!

[sniffs]

Yup, this definitely smells like the year!!

OK, my predictions:
Tries from Schlong, Swinson, Laidlaw, Brown, and a two-yard pop-pass screamer from De Luca, with assists from Scott, Maitland and Hamilton.

Scotland 44-15 Japan

Number of times I attempt an inappropriate accent while reading the match-day programme: 7

jimbopip wrote:
On a side note, that kind of ruthless antagonism is what dissuades potentially lurkers from posting. You should be ashamed of yourselves   

Dingmeister, you wait till DeLuca has a brainfart and costs us a try today, or Dozer spends the game flicking his lock "coz he's worth it", or the MFL refuse to lie down and gift us two BP's in the annual festive gubbing thereby denying us a home play-off THEN you'll hear Schiz get ruthlessly antagonistic. The rest of us will be sanguine and philosophical about it.[/quote]
Fair point jimbo... I have little to no hope in Nick having a good game today, it would have been nice to see Gray Junior or the  get a run instead of presumably against the Bokke or Wallabies. And on a side note beware the Japanese set piece with 'Lineout King' Borthers on the coaching side.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/steve-borthwick-relishing-his-role-in-land-of-the-rising-scrum-8928116.html

In the mist shrouding Peffermill Playing Fields on the south-east side of Edinburgh, sandwiched in between a Honda garage and the Nairn oatcake factory, it was difficult to pick out the two sets of forwards packing down against each other on the far side of the main pitch. As the sun started to shine through, one of the coaches overseeing the morning toil became familiarly clear.

There was a time when Steve Borthwick had the red rose emblem firmly pressed against his left breast. "That feels like a long time ago," the former England captain remarked, three years on from the last of the 57 caps he collected over a nine year period. These days, when international windows release him from Saracens playing duty, the veteran lock can be found sporting the Cherry Blossom tracksuit badge.

While Stuart Lancaster, Chris Robshaw and co go about the business of preparing England for a home World Cup the year after next, Borthwick – as part-time lineout coach – is helping Japan lay the foundations for what will be a groundbreaking staging of the global extravaganza.

The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be the first time the tournament has been held outside one of the established top-tier nations. And, six years out, the signs are looking good. There is every indication that Japan has become the Land of the Rising Scrum.

True, the Brave Blossoms did wilt under a half century of All Black points in Tokyo last weekend (they lost 54-6) but then Scotland shipped 51 points against the reigning world champions at Murrayfield 12 months ago and Ireland were humped 60-0 in Hamilton last year. Against the more mortal members of the international scene, Japan are not the pushovers they once were.

The last time they played Scotland, at McDiarmid Park in Perth back in 2004, they were thrashed by a full century, 100-8. Nine years on, as they prepare to open their 2013 European tour against the Scots at Murrayfield tomorrow, they are seeking to build on the platform of a momentous 23-8 victory against Wales in Tokyo in June. Admittedly, the reigning European champions were without their Lions players that day but they still had the likes of Dan Biggar and Bradley Davies in their ranks –and Lou Reed, the Cardiff Blues lock.

It was a day of perfection for Eddie Jones, the man who has masterminded the rise of the Japanese national team in his two years as head coach. Thankfully, the wily Aussie, who guided the Wallabies to a home World Cup final in 2003, is recovering from the mild stroke that he suffered a month ago. He has handed over head coach duties to Scott Wisemantel for the duration of the European tour – which continues against Gloucester at Kingsholm next Tuesday, Russia in neutral Colwyn Bay three days later and Spain in Madrid on 23 September – but intends to pick up the reins thereafter.

"I think what Eddie is building with this team is really exciting for Japan's future," said Borthwick, sporting nasal stitches from his part in the 40-3 home win that kept Sarries top of the Aviva Premiership pile last Sunday. "He signed me for Saracens from Bath in 2007 and he's the reason why I'm helping out. He's a phenomenal coach. The opportunity to learn under him on the coaching side was something I jumped at.

"I was involved in the summer, during the period of the win against Wales, and that result was a sign of how the team is developing. I see people who are incredibly passionate about rugby and who work very, very hard. There are a lot of talented guys in this group too."

That much has become clear over the course of Jones' tenure – which has also yielded wins against Georgia, Romania, Canada and the USA and a clean sweep of this year's Asian Five Nations' Championship. Jones' mother hails from the Land of the Rising Sun and, upon his appointment, he dispensed with the policy of naturalising overseas-born players that hallmarked John Kirwan's reign (only a handful remain) in favour of developing home grown talent with dynamic native Japanese qualities.

Scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka has become the first Japanese player to play Super Rugby, vying for the No 9 shirt at the Highlanders with All Black Aaron Smith. Hooker Shota Horie has followed in his footsteps, cementing the No 2 jersey at the Melbourne Rebels.

The profile of the sport in Japan is steadily rising ahead of the 2019 World Cup. The country has 48,470 senior male players, compared to 13,873 in Scotland. The popularity of the university and the industry-backed club game is third only to baseball and football. Tickets for last weekend's All Blacks game sold out in less than an hour.

With another Sarries old boy, former scrum-half-cum-full back Kensuke Iwabuchi, as general manager, the Japanese Rugby Football Union is using the home World Cup to develop the game beyond its borders. Backed by the Japanese government, the JRFU has launched a 'Scrum' project to popularise the game throughout the Asian continent.

"It is not just about our nation," said Tatsuzo Yabe, chairman of the JRFU. "It will be a World Cup for the whole of Asia. We have a huge responsibility to contribute to the growth of rugby in Asia. It's out aim to leave a lasting legacy long after the tournament has finished."

Just dragged myself out of bed to get ready for the game. First cuppa down and just about starting to focus!

I was working last night, so I do have some excuse!

Come on Scotland!

This is exactly the sort of game that traditionally we would have made quite hard work of, Hopefully the memory of the Tonga game last year will make those sorts of performances a thing of the past, especially with several players allegedly playing for their futures.

I am not really contemplating us losing today and that in no way disrespects our opponents. This is a match we should and must win and we need to do so with some sort of a performance. I can accept a bit of rustiness but I would like to see signs of the style we will bring to the games against the bigger fish ahead.

The schedule for once has fallen a lot better for us with this game up first so come and lets make the most of it!

link anybody ?

Bloody parasites.

got 1 !!

Rhubarb not looking particularly good atm.. fair number of passes going to ground

Far from impressed so far

Beautiful line by Maitland

That's better from Scotland.

That Japan winger has some zip about him. Could cause a few problems.

Knock on nick cutting angles and Sean lamont finishing. What's happening in the world.

Awwww. Poor Sean.

I wish Andy Nicolwould find another job

Not a bad first half. Set piece and territorial domination but left a few points behind. Murray winning the scrums, Denton and Swinson carrying well and a very well worked try.

Need to keep the intensity up and the scores will come, once there is a bit of daylight in the scoreline the game will probably open right up

Not the best start for Scotland. Good try but I thought it was knocked on

Alright lads.

Three words : FFS

WHY does it seem easier for JAPAN to score tries than us? Ridiculous. Mindset is all wrong.

I think every one of Laidlaw's three tries for Scotland has come from 1m out! Was just about to say I haven't been impressed with his delivery - as I haven't - but I guess he's redeemed himself. He's more of a general than a SH sometimes

Can we get Kellock and Ford off

Great try from Japan!