Forget baby oil - Scotland opt for an altogether cleaner lubricant
Scotland have brushed up their act ahead of Sunday’s wet and wild World Cup opener with Ireland – by practising with balls soaked in shampoo.
Gregor Townsend’s team are forecast to kick-off their campaign in Yokohama amid a torrential thunderstorm this weekend.
But the Dark Blues coach has been expecting things to get slippery regardless while his team are sweating it out in Japan.
The Scots have been based in Nagasaki as they complete their final preparations for the tournament, where temperatures of up to 33 degrees and humidity levels of almost 75 per cent have been recorded.
Now assistant coach Mike Blair has revealed the lengths they have gone to ensure there are no spills when they square off against Joe Schmidt’s number one ranked side in the world.
He said: “We had the shampoo and conditioner out over the ball when we were back in Edinburgh. Since coming here to Nagasaki it’s mainly just been water because the sweat is more of an issue.
“The wet is obviously not ideal, but the sweat is difficult to deal with.
“The conditions here in Nagasaki have been tough with the heat. It is likely to be wet and a bit cooler in Tokyo, but I never trust the weather forecast.
🇯🇵🏴 Scotland's official welcoming ceremony to #RWC2019! #AsOne pic.twitter.com/avO6ZdTPc4
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) September 15, 2019
“Yesterday it said there was a 100 per cent chance of rain (on Sunday) and today it says a 50 to 60 per cent chance, which means it wasn’t a 100 per cent chance the day before!
“So there will be a drop in temperature but difficult conditions to play in. It is good they have been training in the heat here, so they will be able to adapt to that as well.”
Take a look at the Scotland squad getting ready for another training session in Nagasaki 🏴 #AsOne pic.twitter.com/WHJwaCPyNq
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) September 14, 2019
A downpour will favour Ireland with their structured approach certainly more than Townsend’s free-flowing Scots.
But Blair insists the Dark Blues have a gameplan that will allow them to make a splash of their own.
“In every game we go in with different strategies depending on who we are playing and what the conditions are.” he explained. “We have got a lot of personnel in our team who are very good in (wet) conditions like that as well.
“This had been building up inside of me for four to five months."
@dentweezy retires at 29 https://t.co/i43o4tN8qg
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 16, 2019
“We are known as a team who want to play a lot of rugby and move the ball around quickly, and we feel very comfortable doing that. But we also feel we have got guys in the squad who are capable of playing in different conditions as required.”
Ireland have had the recent bragging rights over Scotland, winning six out of the last seven contests between the teams.
But with both squads familiar with each other due to their frequent clashes on club and Test duty, Scotland stand-off Adam Hastings is predicting a feisty affair.
“They are a really well-drilled team and they have got a really good set-piece, and some good half-backs who try to control the game very well,” he said.
“They are a big side as well so we have just to be really brutal around the contact area and try to rumble up their set-piece a bit. If we can slow down their ball and make life hard for their half-backs, that will bode well for us.
“In any international it is going to be feisty, but there are obviously rivalries there in these games. It will be an intense game and there will be a lot of big shots going in, which is what people want to see and it is what you want as a player as well, so I am looking forward to it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to comments