Scotland v South Africa, 3 October

       
SCOTLAND V SOUTH AFRICA
3 October 2015
KO: 16:45 BST
St. James' Park, Newcastle

Live on [tbc]

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Chris Pollock (New Zealand) & Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)

A. Head to Head

25 Played 25
5 Won 20
0 Drawn 0
20 Lost 5
270 Points 652

B. Recent Form

28 June 2014
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
55 – 6 to South Africa

17 November 2013
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
0 – 28 to South Africa

15 June 2013
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
30 – 17 to South Africa

17 November 2012
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
10 – 21 to South Africa

20 November 2010
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
21 – 17 to Scotland

15 November 2008
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
10 – 14 to South Africa

C. Teams

SCOTLAND
 
15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps; 9 tries, 2 pens, 51 points

14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps; 8 tries, 40 points
13 Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps
12 Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby) – 31 caps; 4 tries, 20 points
11 Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 22 caps; 10 tries, 50 points

10 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps; 2 tries, 6 cons, 9 pens, 1 drop, 52 points
09 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester) – 43 caps; 3 tries, 51 cons, 92 pens, 393 points


01 Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps
02 Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps
03 Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps; 1 try, 5 points
04 Richie Gray (Castres) – 48 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
05 Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 16 caps; 1 try, 5 points
06 Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps
07 Blair Cowan (London Irish) – 13 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
08 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) – 29 caps


16 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 91 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
17 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 49 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
18 Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 9 caps; 1 try, 5 points
19 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps
20 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps
22 Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps; 1 try, 1 con, 1 pen, 10 points
23 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) – 98 caps; 14 tries, 70 points

SOUTH AFRICA

01. Tendai Mtawarira
02. Bismarck Du Plessis
03. Jannie Du Plessis
04. Eben Etzebeth
05. Lodewyk De Jager
06. Francois Louw
07. Schalk Burger
08. Duane Vermeulen

09. Fourie Du Preez (captain)
10. Handre Pollard
11. Bryan Habana
12. Damian De Allende
13. Jesse Kriel
14. JP Pietersen
15. Willie Le Roux

16. Adriaan Strauss
17. Trevor Nyakane
18. Frans Malherbe
19. Pieter-Steph Du Toit
20. Willem Alberts
21. Ruan Pienaar
22. Pat Lambie
23. Jan Serfontein

Can I request Charlize Theron instead?

Concerns for this game:

- scrum. Ford can't hook, so we need to get a bit of a shove on to get it back. Can we do that against a massive Bok pack? Going to be tough.

- maul - still not convinced. We didn't get overly far with our own maul yesterday and still looked vulnerable defending. SA are going to ruthlessly target us there

- kicking game. We're ok defending kicks, but our kick- chase yesterday was terrible. No aggression in the defensive line chasing, and our wingers just don't compete up and unders. Maitland had a few terrible ones where he ran like crazy to chase the kick but miss-timed the jump so badly that he was no where near it, and their defender could take a clean catch. Seymour aside, we're so bad at this and miles behind the likes of Wales, Ireland, Australia and England.

- restarts. No more needs said.

Well you need not worry, we had a decent performance, next one will be poor again.

Complacency and all, you know

RDW_Scotland wrote:Can I request Charlize Theron instead?

Concerns for this game:

- scrum. Ford can't hook, so we need to get a bit of a shove on to get it back. Can we do that against a massive Bok pack? Going to be tough.

- maul - still not convinced. We didn't get overly far with our own maul yesterday and still looked vulnerable defending. SA are going to ruthlessly target us there

- kicking game. We're ok defending kicks, but our kick- chase yesterday was terrible. No aggression in the defensive line chasing, and our wingers just don't compete up and unders. Maitland had a few terrible ones where he ran like crazy to chase the kick but miss-timed the jump so badly that he was no where near it, and their defender could take a clean catch. Seymour aside, we're so bad at this and miles behind the likes of Wales, Ireland, Australia and England.

- restarts. No more needs said.

At least WP Nel and Strauss will understand the Bok lineout calls...

2nd row is a concern too for the rest of the world cup given Gilchrist's injury. If he is ruled out then given Ben Toolis' recent injury and Hamilton's retirement, Rob Harley is our only option for call up

It's a real shame Hamilton has retired - this is the one international team he is perfect to play against!

RDW_Scotland wrote:- kicking game. We're ok defending kicks, but our kick- chase yesterday was terrible. No aggression in the defensive line chasing, and our wingers just don't compete up and unders. Maitland had a few terrible ones where he ran like crazy to chase the kick but miss-timed the jump so badly that he was no where near it, and their defender could take a clean catch. Seymour aside, we're so bad at this and miles behind the likes of Wales, Ireland, Australia and England.

I went to a coaches workshop run by Mossy. The kicking game they are playing is to manufacture the "chaos" play Scotland (and Glasgow) are trying to create. By kicking and a solid defensive line running up the opposition will have to kick back as there are no running options. After the oppo kick the opposition are currently running back to get onside and possibly out of position. This allows the receiving back to find the mismatches or a broken line.

That's a very simplistic view and pro coach would be able to explain it better.

I've tried the solid running D line with my club and it works. Forces the oppo to panic and kick back possession, either via a lineout or back to our fast running backs.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Can I request Charlize Theron instead?

Weeeell, all right then.

cp10 wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:- kicking game. We're ok defending kicks, but our kick- chase yesterday was terrible. No aggression in the defensive line chasing, and our wingers just don't compete up and unders. Maitland had a few terrible ones where he ran like crazy to chase the kick but miss-timed the jump so badly that he was no where near it, and their defender could take a clean catch. Seymour aside, we're so bad at this and miles behind the likes of Wales, Ireland, Australia and England.

I went to a coaches workshop run by Mossy. The kicking game they are playing is to manufacture the "chaos" play Scotland (and Glasgow) are trying to create. By kicking and a solid defensive line running up the opposition will have to kick back as there are no running options. After the oppo kick the opposition are currently running back to get onside and possibly out of position. This allows the receiving back to find the mismatches or a broken line.

That's a very simplistic view and pro coach would be able to explain it better.

I've tried the solid running D line with my club and it works. Forces the oppo to panic and kick back possession, either via a lineout or back to our fast running backs.

That's all fine and well in theory but our defensive line wasn't aggressive enough IMO so we didn't put them under pressure.

The advantage of competing for the ball is that even if they gather it it probably won't be clean ball and there will probably be one or two players there to stop them and form a ruck. It is very high risk to not compete and just rely on your defensive line to be chasing up as a flat line - if you don't do that then you've given the cathcgrr time and space.

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Can I request Charlize Theron instead?

Weeeell, all right then.

Much better!

JDV's enforced retirement means De Allende and Kriel will be the starting Boks centres, a much  more potent attacking combo. On the bright side Bennett will find it easier to make ground against Kriel, IF Scotland can win quick ball and IF Russell is fully fit.

Why sensisball?

The defensive pressure Kriel was under was due to Jean de Villiers being out of place in the Japanese natch, leaving Kriel to cover inside shoulder and outside shoulder, the poor guy didn't know where to defend.

Watch the Japanese match and look at where de Villiers defend.

I have a feeling this is going to be one heck of a fixture if both teams don't have injury issues. My team to face the mighty Boks

Dickinson, Ford, Nel, Gray, Gray, Denton, Hardie, Strauss, Laidlaw, Russell, Lamont, Scott, Bennett, Seymour, Hogg.

Brown, Grant, Welsh, Gilchrist, Strockosh, Prygos, Horne, Maitland.

However, I'm thinking cotter may have a few players on bench for important late game impact.

Likely SA team.

Beast
Bismarck
Malherbe
Etzebeth
Matfield
Louw
Burger
Vermeulen
Du Preez
Pollard
Habana
De Allende
Kriel
JP
Le Roux

Bench
Trevor Nyakane
Schalk Brits
Jannie
Lood
Kolisi
Pienaar
Lambie
Serfontein

Biltong wrote:Likely SA team.

Beast
Bismarck
Malherbe
Etzebeth
Matfield
Louw
Burger
Vermeulen
Du Preez
Pollard
Habana
De Allende
Kriel
JP
Le Roux

Bench
Trevor Nyakane
Schalk Brits
Jannie
Lood
Kolisi
Pienaar
Lambie
Serfontein

Easy!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Can I request Charlize Theron instead?

Concerns for this game:

- scrum. Ford can't hook, so we need to get a bit of a shove on to get it back. Can we do that against a massive Bok pack? Going to be tough.

- maul - still not convinced. We didn't get overly far with our own maul yesterday and still looked vulnerable defending. SA are going to ruthlessly target us there

- kicking game. We're ok defending kicks, but our kick- chase yesterday was terrible. No aggression in the defensive line chasing, and our wingers just don't compete up and unders. Maitland had a few terrible ones where he ran like crazy to chase the kick but miss-timed the jump so badly that he was no where near it, and their defender could take a clean catch. Seymour aside, we're so bad at this and miles behind the likes of Wales, Ireland, Australia and England.

- restarts. No more needs said.

Theron's a bit old now though mind and I hate that pseudo american accent... Genevieve Morton is the way to go!

fa0019 wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Can I request Charlize Theron instead?

Concerns for this game:

- scrum. Ford can't hook, so we need to get a bit of a shove on to get it back. Can we do that against a massive Bok pack? Going to be tough.

- maul - still not convinced. We didn't get overly far with our own maul yesterday and still looked vulnerable defending. SA are going to ruthlessly target us there

- kicking game. We're ok defending kicks, but our kick- chase yesterday was terrible. No aggression in the defensive line chasing, and our wingers just don't compete up and unders. Maitland had a few terrible ones where he ran like crazy to chase the kick but miss-timed the jump so badly that he was no where near it, and their defender could take a clean catch. Seymour aside, we're so bad at this and miles behind the likes of Wales, Ireland, Australia and England.

- restarts. No more needs said.

Theron's a bit old now though mind and I hate that pseudo american accent... Genevieve Morton is the way to go!

Sh!tting hell. That recommendation should have come with a NSFW warning...

Now I cannot un-see that.

Where to start.

Support Scotland - blood.

Support the boks - self preservation.

That said the taunts are much less than expected. People are worried for the first time, not worried worried but enough to not simply give the typical bokke verbals i.e. you have zero chance.

Anyhow, bok team will be more settled but I think Scotland can take it to them. Scotland should compete well in scrums and lineouts but need more dog in the ruck. Who plays 6 is a big call, I know he's not a fan favourite but I keep on looking to Strokosch when thinking who has the best game to upset the boks at 6.

Gilchrist out, Russell with a sprained ankle.

I will feel like removing my own arm and hitting myself with it if we need to play Weir against the Springboks.
If it was Russell, then we could have given them a good game.

George Carlin wrote:

fa0019 wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Can I request Charlize Theron instead?

Concerns for this game:

- scrum. Ford can't hook, so we need to get a bit of a shove on to get it back. Can we do that against a massive Bok pack? Going to be tough.

- maul - still not convinced. We didn't get overly far with our own maul yesterday and still looked vulnerable defending. SA are going to ruthlessly target us there

- kicking game. We're ok defending kicks, but our kick- chase yesterday was terrible. No aggression in the defensive line chasing, and our wingers just don't compete up and unders. Maitland had a few terrible ones where he ran like crazy to chase the kick but miss-timed the jump so badly that he was no where near it, and their defender could take a clean catch. Seymour aside, we're so bad at this and miles behind the likes of Wales, Ireland, Australia and England.

- restarts. No more needs said.

Theron's a bit old now though mind and I hate that pseudo american accent... Genevieve Morton is the way to go!

Sh!tting hell. That recommendation should have come with a NSFW warning...

Now I cannot un-see that.

She's an SI girl, doesn't do anything bad from knowledge. Shame that

There was an article on the BBC that suggested that both SA centres were unlikely to make this game, both came off against Samoa, forcing JDV to come back on to play with a broken jaw. How tough is that!

It suggested that Pieterson or Pollard may play in the centre. They certainly did not come out of their game unscathed either!

Just put Strockosh in the team, he knows how to get under the skin of the SA pack.

Pietersen at 13 may not be a bad idea.

Biltong wrote:Just put Strockosh in the team, he knows how to get under the skin of the SA pack.

Thats the thing BB.

Strokosch's game suits the boks to a T.  Everytime he plays them he's impressive. He has a quite a bit of respect here. People acknowledge him... believe me that's a compliment in SA.

Strokosch starting and Strauss coming off the bench, I have seen and heard more wacky theories than that, it may even work!

Add Hamilton into the fray in the lat quater, he also knows how to pi... The boks off

In all seriousness, if Scotland wnat to beat the Boks they have to go attrition rugby, I don't think they can run us around.

They need to be niggly, on our faces and disrupt the rythm of the match, the aspringboks fail more often than not against negative tactics.

Biltong wrote:Add Hamilton into the fray in the lat quater, he also knows how to pi... The boks off

He know's how to pi$$ everyone off, including himself.

Biltong wrote:In all seriousness, if Scotland wnat to beat the Boks they have to go attrition rugby, I don't think they can run us around.

They need to be niggly, on our faces and disrupt the rythm of the match, the aspringboks fail more often than not against negative tactics.

Scotland want beat the boks, playing free flowing nice rugby. They can beat them by fighting over every blade of grass for 80 mins. Strokosch isn't a dirty player but he has the dog in him which are needed in match ups such as these.

fa0019 wrote:

Biltong wrote:Just put Strockosh in the team, he knows how to get under the skin of the SA pack.

Thats the thing BB.

Strokosch's game suits the boks to a T.  Everytime he plays them he's impressive. He has a quite a bit of respect here. People acknowledge him... believe me that's a compliment in SA.

I said this just after the Scottish squad was announced and my skirted brethren said I was talking nonsense.  I think Strokosch was put in the squad almost for this match alone.

We need some big hard barstewards against the Boks.

I would start Strokosch and keep Denton on the bench as an impact sub.

1 Dickinson
2 Ford
3 Nel
4 Gray
5 Gray
6 Strokosch
7 Hardie
8 Strauss

16 Grant
17 Brown
18 Welsh
19 Swinson
20 Denton

is what I would like to see.

Tiny Tim kept asleep in a match box on the sidelines out of harm's way and Dozer ready to resemble an annoyed labradoodle in the last 25 minutes.

Just to confirm to our Bok brothers that Jim Hamilton wasn't selected for the RWC squad and so like a snubbed Oscar nominee announced his international retirement. That's painted himself into a corner a little bit as it's quite clear that we need him now in the absence of Ben Toolis and in light of the fact that Robert Harley really isn't a lock, regardless of the sticky label that Vern put on him over the past 4 months.

Biltong
I was thinking about some of Kriel's defending in the rugby championship, not the Japan game, I thought he looked a bit suspect at times against the Blackness and Australia. In his defense that was his first involvement with the Boks squad and he may have been getting used to the defensive patterns.
He is a frightening prospect going forward and more than worthy of a starting place, if he is fit.

I wouldn't play strauss... he's like bok-2.

Kriel is a defensive worry. no doubt about it.

IMO Strauss needs to start. He's probably our go to ball carrier along with Denton and will be chomping at the bit for this game.

The match up in midfield could be exciting with Russell, Scott & Bennett up against Pollart, De Allende & Kriel but Scott would be the most experienced (with 31 caps) and the oldest at 24!

sensisball wrote:Biltong
I was thinking about some of Kriel's defending in the rugby championship, not the Japan game, I thought he looked a bit suspect at times against the Blackness and Australia. In his defense that was his first involvement with the Boks squad and he may have been getting used to the defensive patterns.
He is a frightening prospect going forward and more than worthy of a starting place, if he is fit.

Yeah look, Kriel played fullback for the Bulls during the Super rugby season, then was suddenly called into the Bok squad, so there was little time for him to play with De Allende, also consider the fact that with Meyer arsing about with his centre combinations he has messed the partnership about as well.

In Super rugby this past season Kriel had a close to 80% tackle succes rate, considering fullbacks one on one should be beaten more than they stop players, I think that is a decent return.

Biltong wrote:

sensisball wrote:Biltong
I was thinking about some of Kriel's defending in the rugby championship, not the Japan game, I thought he looked a bit suspect at times against the Blackness and Australia. In his defense that was his first involvement with the Boks squad and he may have been getting used to the defensive patterns.
He is a frightening prospect going forward and more than worthy of a starting place, if he is fit.

Yeah look, Kriel played fullback for the Bulls during the Super rugby season, then was suddenly called into the Bok squad, so there was little time for him to play with De Allende, also consider the fact that with Meyer arsing about with his centre combinations he has messed the partnership about as well.

In Super rugby this past season Kriel had a close to 80% tackle succes rate, considering fullbacks one on one should be beaten more than they stop players, I think that is a decent return.

Who are your options at if Kriel doesn't play? JP and whoever gets called up in place of JDV (wil that be Serfontein?). Surely the problem of combinations etc will still be a problem with either of them. For me, Kriel offers too much with ball in hand to leave him out.

Kriel really should play. I watched this effort on debut and a bit of weewee came out:

Yeah Kriel has tremendous acceleration through a gap, and he isn't too small either, what I like about him is the fact that he does not run straight, he goes for the gap.

With Willie le Roux next to him in a play spells danger

This Strauss ball carrying is a myth in the Scotland Jersey at the moment. Denton was much more effective in his outing against Japan.

He starts with Strauss coming in from the bench.

These four guys excite me to no end

fa0019 wrote:

Biltong wrote:In all seriousness, if Scotland wnat to beat the Boks they have to go attrition rugby, I don't think they can run us around.

They need to be niggly, on our faces and disrupt the rythm of the match, the aspringboks fail more often than not against negative tactics.

Scotland want beat the boks, playing free flowing nice rugby. They can beat them by fighting over every blade of grass for 80 mins. Strokosch isn't a dirty player but he has the dog in him which are needed in match ups such as these.

agree. we absolutley want to play attrition but also an expansive game. to me the boks forwards look slow and thats where our backs and forwards can capitalise.

the japanese game wasnt a fluke, their fast attacking rugby worked extremely well vs the boks.

Absolutely - Japan won because they executed basic skills clinically, were very fit and crucially moved the point of attack all over the field. Scotland needs to learn from that.

History means nothing here. The Scotland team is a completely different animal than that which played (and got hammered by) the Boks last.

alive555 wrote:

fa0019 wrote:

Biltong wrote:In all seriousness, if Scotland wnat to beat the Boks they have to go attrition rugby, I don't think they can run us around.

They need to be niggly, on our faces and disrupt the rythm of the match, the aspringboks fail more often than not against negative tactics.

Scotland want beat the boks, playing free flowing nice rugby. They can beat them by fighting over every blade of grass for 80 mins. Strokosch isn't a dirty player but he has the dog in him which are needed in match ups such as these.

agree. we absolutley want to play attrition but also an expansive game. to me the boks forwards look slow and thats where our backs and forwards can capitalise.

the japanese game wasnt a fluke, their fast attacking rugby worked extremely well vs the boks.

If you think that is the reason the Japanese beat the Boks and that the same tactics will work against the boks , you are mistaken.

The Boks underestimated the Japanese, had no intensity, nor urgency, they simply didn't believe they would lose, until it was too late.

Unfortunately that has become a common occurrence in our performances.

But I very much doubt Meyer would allow any Bok team under him underestimate ANY team again, ever.

Besides that, if you want to run the Boks around, you need the ability to run the Boks around. And that I have heard many a time, there is always someone who will run the bok pack around, yet it rarely if ever happens.

The myth of "the big bok pack" is just that, a myth.

As much as I dislike VIctor Matfield, he is super fit, I am still waiting for someone to run Burger around, or Vermeulen, or Etzebeth.

More importantly after watching the Boks and Samoa and especially the coverage of Meyer...someone should start a competition as to what time Meyers head will explode during a game.

Biltong wrote:

alive555 wrote:

fa0019 wrote:

Biltong wrote:In all seriousness, if Scotland wnat to beat the Boks they have to go attrition rugby, I don't think they can run us around.

They need to be niggly, on our faces and disrupt the rythm of the match, the aspringboks fail more often than not against negative tactics.

Scotland want beat the boks, playing free flowing nice rugby. They can beat them by fighting over every blade of grass for 80 mins. Strokosch isn't a dirty player but he has the dog in him which are needed in match ups such as these.

agree. we absolutley want to play attrition but also an expansive game. to me the boks forwards look slow and thats where our backs and forwards can capitalise.

the japanese game wasnt a fluke, their fast attacking rugby worked extremely well vs the boks.

If you think that is the reason the Japanese beat the Boks and that the same tactics will work against the boks , you are mistaken.

The Boks underestimated the Japanese, had no intensity, nor urgency, they simply didn't believe they would lose, until it was too late.

Unfortunately that has become a common occurrence in our performances.

But I very much doubt Meyer would allow any Bok team under him underestimate ANY team again, ever.

Besides that, if you want to run the Boks around, you need the ability to run the Boks around. And that I have heard many a time, there is always someone who will run the bok pack around, yet it rarely if ever happens.

The myth of "the big bok pack" is just that, a myth.

As much as I dislike VIctor Matfield, he is super fit, I am still waiting for someone to run Burger around, or Vermeulen, or Etzebeth.

Bilt - just to be clear, Vern Cotter will not change tactics as a result of the Japan game or any other.

More than any other Scotland coach in recent times, VC has been absolutely consistent in developing a game plan which plays to the strengths of this squad and it involves a fast offloading game - the same sort that Glasgow won the championship with a few months ago. You can tell the lazy journalists who know nothing about Scottish rugby because they bang on incorrectly about the Scottish forwards being stodgy and everyone praying for rain. Those cliches are about 3-5 years out of date. The majority of our tries come through a talented backline making breaks and have a fly half for the first time in 20 years who can stand flat and attack the gainline calmly.

I'm afraid that I don't agree that SA only lost because they underestimated the Japanese. That would explain their first half performance but it certainly does not explain the second half where they lacked intensity and looked flat. Japan won because they were braver, hungrier and more skillful. South Africa are still one of the biggest beasts in the tournament but I don't think that they have that aura of invincibility any more. Let's see.

George Carlin wrote:

Biltong wrote:

alive555 wrote:

fa0019 wrote:

Biltong wrote:In all seriousness, if Scotland wnat to beat the Boks they have to go attrition rugby, I don't think they can run us around.

They need to be niggly, on our faces and disrupt the rythm of the match, the aspringboks fail more often than not against negative tactics.

Scotland want beat the boks, playing free flowing nice rugby. They can beat them by fighting over every blade of grass for 80 mins. Strokosch isn't a dirty player but he has the dog in him which are needed in match ups such as these.

agree. we absolutley want to play attrition but also an expansive game. to me the boks forwards look slow and thats where our backs and forwards can capitalise.

the japanese game wasnt a fluke, their fast attacking rugby worked extremely well vs the boks.

If you think that is the reason the Japanese beat the Boks and that the same tactics will work against the boks , you are mistaken.

The Boks underestimated the Japanese, had no intensity, nor urgency, they simply didn't believe they would lose, until it was too late.

Unfortunately that has become a common occurrence in our performances.

But I very much doubt Meyer would allow any Bok team under him underestimate ANY team again, ever.

Besides that, if you want to run the Boks around, you need the ability to run the Boks around. And that I have heard many a time, there is always someone who will run the bok pack around, yet it rarely if ever happens.

The myth of "the big bok pack" is just that, a myth.

As much as I dislike VIctor Matfield, he is super fit, I am still waiting for someone to run Burger around, or Vermeulen, or Etzebeth.

Bilt - just to be clear, Vern Cotter will not change tactics as a result of the Japan game or any other.

More than any other Scotland coach in recent times, VC has been absolutely consistent in developing a game plan which plays to the strengths of this squad and it involves a fast offloading game - the same sort that Glasgow won the championship with a few months ago. You can tell the lazy journalists who know nothing about Scottish rugby because they bang on incorrectly about the Scottish forwards being stodgy and everyone praying for rain. Those cliches are about 3-5 years out of date. The majority of our tries come through a talented backline making breaks and have a fly half for the first time in 20 years who can stand flat and attack the gainline calmly.

I'm afraid that I don't agree that SA only lost because they underestimated the Japanese. That would explain their first half performance but it certainly does not explain the second half where they lacked intensity and looked flat. Japan won because they were braver, hungrier and more skillful. South Africa are still one of the biggest beasts in the tournament but I don't think that they have that aura of invincibility any more. Let's see.

Yes, Meyer has done much damage to the Bok legacy, of that I have no doubt, therefor the humiliation of that loss to Japan should never be forgotten.

Agree with Bilts the springboks forwards are incredible athletes but as a side they badly underestimated Japan.

If the they play like they did against Samoa they'll smash Scotland to pieces otherwise Scotland are good enough to pull off an upset if they aren't switched on.

I think the boks will win by a score but will be put under real pressure by Scotland.