SOME Scotland players, not to mention supporters, might have been concerned by what they saw when Japan stunned South Africa on Saturday. Perhaps others preferred to watch the game in a studious frame of mind, trying to identify weak points in the Japanese team. For Matt Scott, however, the 34-32 triumph over the Springboks was simply a great sporting occasion, one to celebrate and cherish.
“As a game of rugby and as a spectacle I was a fan, and I’ve not felt like that for a while watching a game of rugby to be honest,” the Edinburgh centre said after being named in the team to play against the Japanese tomorrow. “It’s been a while since I’ve been that emotionally involved in a game.
“I was really rooting for Japan just in the way a neutral fan would. I was rooting for the underdog and it was a fantastic end to the game.
“We had one eye on our game against them as well. To be honest our analysis of the Japanese has been spot on: we expected them to have a quick ball out of the scrum, kick and go around the rucks and you saw from the first line break they had there was quick ball out the scrum and pick and go. They came blind and made a quick break and that set the tone for the game.
“We had pinpointed those things in our analysis. We knew those things were coming, so I’m confident we have a clear picture of what they do now. It’s up to us to stop them.
“We need to prepare as though they’re going to come out and play even better. We need to try and stop them, but also play our own game.”
After naming his team yesterday, Japan coach Eddie Jones predicted the match would not be as aesthetically pleasing as Saturday’s was. "Scotland are going to maul and high punt - it's probably not going to be a pretty game,” he said.
“We have to front up physically in the set pieces, and if we do that we’ll put ourselves in the game. Test-match rugby is about fronting up in the first 30 minutes, and if we are still in it after 30 minutes then I reckon we can win the game.”
Jones has made six changes to his starting line-up, four in the pack. The most notable alteration sees Amanaki Mafi come in at No 8 for Hendrik Tui.
Japan: A Goromaru; K Matsushima, M Sa’u, Y Tamura, K Fukuoka; H Tatekawa, F Tanaka; K Inagaki, S Horie, H Yamashita, L Thompson, J Ives, M Leitch, M Broadhurst, A Mafi. Substitutes: T Kizu, M Mikami, K Hatakeyama, S Makabe, S Ito, H Tui, A Hiwasa, K Hesketh.
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