Scotland open their Rugby World Cup campaign this afternoon with a match against the new fans favourites, Japan.
The Brave Blossoms have become the darlings of the World Cup since beating South Africa in Brighton on Saturday.
Eddie Jones’ troops left the Springboks stunned with an approach that was as cavalier as it was brave, twice turning down penalty goals in stoppage time to earn a draw as they instead chased after the winning try.
Scotland have won all four previous encounters with Japan but Scotland coach Vern Cotter knows his team face a stern test after Japan showed their quality on Saturday.
Japan head coach Jones claimed his side are fitter than Scotland, however, and warned Cotter they are ready to run the Dark Blues off their feet.
The former Australia boss turned up the mind-games ahead of their Kingsholm duel and, despite having had just four days’ rest, Jones insists his team will have the legs on Scotland.
Jones, who has made six changes to his starting XV, said: “If you look at Scotland’s scoring profile they are very heavily a first-half scoring team.
“They get outscored consistently in the second half. We know we are a fit team so if we can stick with them in the first 30 minutes and we are in the game at half-time, we will run them off their feet.
“Are we fitter? Definitely. Definitely.”
What you need to know…
Where is the game being played?
The game will be played at the 16,500 seater Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester
What time is kick off?
The action gets under way at 2.30pm this afternoon.
How can I watch the match live?
As with all of the best of the Rugby World Cup, the match will be shown live on STV and ITV. The coverage started at 2pm.
What are the teams?
Scotland: Hogg; Seymour, Bennett, Scott, Lamont; Russell, Laidlaw; Dickinson, Ford, Nel, Gilchrist, J. Gray, Wilson, Hardie, Denton.
Replacements: Brown, Grant, Welsh, R. Gray, Strauss, Pyrgos, Horne, Maitland.
Japan: Ayumu Goromaru; Kotaro Matsushima, Male Sau, Yu Tamura, Kenki Fukuoka; Harumichi Tatekawa, Fumiaki Tanaka; Amanaki Mafi, Michael Broadhurst, Michael Leitch; Justin Ives, Luke Thompson; Hiroshi Yamashita, Shota Horie, Keita Inagaki
Replacements: Takeshi Kizu, Masataka Mikami, Kensuke Hatakeyama, Shinya Makabe, Shoji Ito, Hendrik Tui, Atsushi Hiwasa, Karne Hesketh
Who is going to win?
Despite Japan’s win over South Africa, Scotland go into the match as hot 1/8 favourites with the bookies, Japan are 11/2 and the draw is 33/1.
