“It definitely is a good chance for us to qualify”, said the former Otago Highlander.
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“This is a massive test for our team”.
Victory in their final game against Samoa would secure a place in the quarter-finals, though that would be no foregone conclusion against the proud Pacific Islanders. Their schedule has meant they have faced careworn sides in Japan and the USA.
He said: “I don’t understand why people are saying it’s a second string”. I’ve always said if we’re playing to our strengths, nobody in the world can beat us. If we’re to progress to the knockout stage, we need to stay together as a group, like we did against South Africa, and that is what we can do’.
“We couldn’t play the expansive game we like to play”. In the forwards hooker Fraser Brown gets his first start and is joined by WP Nel, who switches roles with Jon Welsh.
“Next week will be next week”. “The fourth would have been a blessing, but we just needed to win by one point. We didn’t get beyond the gain line”.
Saturday’s match will be just the Glasgow man’s third worldwide start at 13 since converting from the back row but his midfield partner for the afternoon Matt Scott denies he is going up against one of the world’s strongest outfits with a rookie by his side.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity”. “He’s a quick learner, so he takes on information easily”.
“Schalk went to school with my cousin, so I know him a bit through that”, he said.
“He’s not an additional burden on me at all“.
Denton was one of the few Scotland players who could claim to have played consistently over the 80 minutes – the others being Duncan Weir, Blair Cowan and Richie Gray, who is starting to look back to his best.
And, as an addendum, when we were leaving the stadium we were treated to a hugely emotional rendition of South Africa’s National Anthem “Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika”, delivered by several hundred of their supporters.
But from the off there was little doubt they would follow up last weekend’s morale-restoring success over Samoa with another victory. Without the ageing lineout maestro Victor Matfield, Scotland will be looking to put pressure on locks Eben Etsebeth and Lood de Jaeger.
That stance, however, underlined his best qualities – loyalty, commitment and the ethical backbone to do the right thing.
“We were losing the collisions (against South Africa) and the breakdown was a mess – too many errors crept into our game”. Defensively, South Africa simply did not allow Scotland any go-forward and employed a “gang tackle” technique by committing two or three players to the tackle to force Scotland’s ball-runners backwards.
Russell’s absence is a major blow to the unbeaten Scots.
The Boks suffered a setback in the 33rd minute when prop Jannie du Plessis was yellow-carded for not using his arms when going into a ruck but despite the one-man advantage Scotland were unable to prevent a second try by the South Africans four minutes later.
“Their line-out is very effective and simple”.
“It wasn’t a final squad or anything but I got to know a lot of players and the current coaching staff. It was a good experience”.
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“We’ll certainly be finding out why we don’t seem to have the confidence to start well”.
