Knowing what South Africa will bring is no mystery, but stopping the “big, angry men” playing their game is the key, says Scotland captain Stuart Hogg.
The skipper hasn’t taken much from his experiences against the Springboks in the summer for the Lions – ‘what I say could get me into potential trouble, so I will just say I didn’t learn a huge amount’ he said pointedly, declining to elaborate.
But the team and players had plenty of experience dealing with the Springboks and South African team mates at their clubs, and there is absolutely no secret about wat makes them tick.
‘They are world champions for a reason’
“We’ve played with South Africans in club rugby, we have all played against South Africans at some stage in our careers,” he said.
“They are big angry men that want to try and dominate you physically.
“They have game plan unique to themselves that works incredibly well for them. And they’ve had it forever. They are world champions for a reason.
“They have talked a lot about their physicality this week, and it is a massive strength of theirs but there will be massive opportunities within it as well.
“As a back three and defending the backfield we’re going to find ourselves under high balls, and that’s something we’ve worked hard on all week and I’m looking forward to. They’ve got jackal threats throughout the whole team and our attacking breakdown has to be squeaky clean.
“We have to stay calm and composed. They are a great side but like everything there are weaknesses and we can exploit them.
“We need to be patient in what we’re trying to do, but stand up to their physicality. If we do that we give ourselves every opportunity to win it.”
‘The best versions of ourselves’
Ready for the weekend 💪🏴
Our Scotland players training hard ahead of fixtures in Edinburgh tomorrow and Sunday.#AsOne pic.twitter.com/Qam9ECn4Uk
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) November 12, 2021
Scotland are focusing on what they want to do and how to execute it, anyway, and the captain feels they are ready to show “the best versions of ourselves” despite the short six-day turnaround.
“We are a team that prides ourselves into bring a bit of speed and tempo into the game, and challenging our skills set,” he said. “Being able to adapt to defences in front of us.
“We have got a game plan that can go through teams or around teams and we want to play behind teams all at the same time.
“Why change when we have a game plan that works to our strengths? It is one I am looking forward to and one that hopefully causes South Africa a lot of stress.”
The Scots all well versed in turning around quickly, having done six days between Italy and France at the end of the Six Nations, and just three-day between Samoa and Russia at the World Cup. They won all four games.
“We knew fine that this would be like this,” he said. “Our training sessions have been shorter but just as intense.
“It is tough on the body, but we have the best S&C people and medics, and we are fitter than ever. We are a team that work incredibly hard to finish off games, but we can’t wait 50-60 minutes to get into a game, we have to start the best way possible.”
‘He’s here because he is good enough’
Eyeing up your second start for Scotland against the @Springboks 👀🏴 pic.twitter.com/DuSo3AahAe
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) November 12, 2021
He’s looking forward to linking up with another Borderer for the first time in Rufus McLean.
“He’s full of beans, full of energy,” said Hogg. “After a bit of time playing for Glasgow he has been very, very impressive.
“He is here for a reason, because he is good enough. We want him to be himself tomorrow, to bring out his talents. He is a terrific runner with the ball.
“He will be challenged at times but he is fully aware of that but he is excited. I just want him to get some ball in space and show the world what he is about.”