Best finish
Semi-finalists in 1991, when they lost to England at Murrayfield and were then beaten in the third-place play-off match by New Zealand.
Last time
Failed to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time, losing out to England and Argentina to finish third in their pool.
Coach
Vern Cotter, a New Zealander, took over in the summer of 2014 after several successful seasons at Clermont in France, and had an immediate impact on the team’s form. He had a tough Six Nations Championship, however, with his team losing all five games, but he now appears to have galvanised his squad during their training camp and warm-up series. A demanding coach who sets high standards, he has won the respect of his squad for making them better players.
Key player
Finn Russell is a running 10 whose natural instinct is to attack, but is also strong in defence - an area of the game which, unlike some other Scotland stand-offs of the recent past, he has always enjoyed. His fearless, direct approach should enable his outside backs, particularly Mark Bennett at centre, to realise their potential.
Strengths
The defence, orchestrated by assistant coach Matt Taylor and based on his work with Glasgow Warriors, is now extremely well drilled and seems sure to function well even against the best opponents. The front row of Ally Dickinson, Ross Ford and WP Nel is a formidable unit that plays together for Edinburgh.
Greig Laidlaw, the scrum-half and captain, is one of the most accurate place-kickers in the tournament. And the back division contains a good blend of creative attackers and out-and-out finishers, with full-back Stuart Hogg combining both attributes.
Weaknesses
As was shown in their last warm-up game in Paris, they can lack composure in attack, especially when under pressure to get a quick score. They have reached the World Cup relatively unscathed, with centre Alex Dunbar and hooker Stuart McInally being the most prominent players to miss out through injury, but they nonetheless have little cover in some positions and are therefore likely to suffer disproportionately from a single injury.
Prospects
Scotland’s steady improvement during the warm-up games suggests they are going into the tournament in good shape - something that looked far from certain after they ended the Six Nations with a big defeat by Ireland. They ran the Irish close in their first warm-up match, then beat Italy home and away before losing narrowly in Paris in the last and most encouraging outing of the series.
They are certainly in good enough form as things stand to be confident of qualifying, but their biggest problem could come in the scheduling of matches: only four days separate their first outing, against Japan in Gloucester, from their second, against the United States in Leeds. At least they will have a week after their game against South Africa before the potentially decisive match against Samoa. It will be a close thing, but they should make it through as runners-up to the Springboks.
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