Even though they play Russia on Wednesday, Scotland have issued an injury update for Sunday's showdown with Japan
Scotland are confident Sean Maitland will be fit to face Japan in Sunday’s pool concluding clash in Yokohama. The Saracens wing has missed the Scots’ last two training sessions with a tight groin.
But defence coach Matt Taylor believes both Maitland, who opened the scoring against Samoa last week before forcing the Pacific Islanders into conceding a penalty try which sealed their all-important bonus point win, and prop Allan Dell will be ready to go against the Brave Blossoms.
Dell had to be replaced early against Samoa after suffering a head knock but has passed his concussion protocol checks and has returned to full contact work in training. Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Russia in Shizuoka, Taylor said: “Sean has a little bit of a tight groin and we are working our way through that at the moment.
“We are very confident that he will play a part against Japan, he is just going through the protocols. We are confident he is going to be fine for Sunday. And Allan is in a good spot. He has just done a bout of hard contact with me and came through it really well.”
The clash with Japan is understandably continuing to dominate the minds of the Scotland faithful considering what will be at stake in the final game of the group. But the showdown with Russia remains just as vital for now.
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Gregor Townsend’s men need to extract the full five points on offer so they can maximise their chances of pipping the hosts to the last eight when they face off at the weekend. The Bears – ranked 20th in the world – sit bottom of Pool A without a point but their pack have certainly not disgraced themselves with their work on the ground.
But Taylor says Scotland must expect an aerial bombardment from stand-off Yury Kushnarev, who has kicked more ball than any other player in the tournament so far. “We understand that they kick a lot, I believe the most in the competition at the moment. That is the kind of game plan they are playing,” said Taylor.
Johnson pleads patience as Scotland prepare for Russia.https://t.co/SW6dL872Yq
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 5, 2019
“From a defensive point of view, you don’t want to give them front foot ball because then they are kicking and not coming forward on the ball. The other thing is that we want to put higher pressure on their nine and 10 when they kick.
“If we do that, it hopefully presents us with some good counter-attack ball but the initial hits in contact… we have to make sure we are really good at that and we have to pressure their kicking game. Lastly, you have to make sure you are good in the air. You have got to take those.
“It is like another set-piece for us, another ability to attack from. Tommy Seymour is massive for us in that sense. He’s very good in the air, one of the reasons why he has got the nod. He is excellent in the air, maybe even our best player in the air, he is huge.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Gregor Townsend’s media conference ahead of Scotland’s match against Russia
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments