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'First and foremost, you have to pitch up against South Africa'
Steve Tandy insisted Scotland have the muscle to front up to South Africa as he warned his team the Springboks would “try to come through the front door” in Sunday’s mouth-watering World Cup showdown in Marseille.
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The Stade Velodrome encounter promises to be a culture clash with the brutish Boks renowned for their formidable power game and the Scots having developed into one of the most swashbuckling attacking teams in the world.
Tandy admits Scotland must brace themselves for the full force of the South Africans – who destroyed New Zealand in their last warm-up game two weeks ago – but the assistant coach is adamant they are equipped to handle it.
“You know they are going to try to come through the front door so physically we have to be on the money,” he said on Saturday.
“But we believe in our physicality and the way we want to go about imposing that physicality whether it is at the breakdown or in the tackle contest.
“Their game has gone to another level when you look at their transition play, the threat of their back three and (stand-off Manie) Libbok’s kicking game – his crossfield kicks, little dinks and things like that – so we have to be on the money in that transitional phase.
“But, first and foremost, you have to pitch up against South Africa, otherwise you are going to be on the back foot.”
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Asked if he had any worries that Scotland might be overpowered by their opponents, Tandy said: “None. I have no concerns with this group.
“I see them work every day, I see them in the gym, I see them physically, I see them doing close-quarters skills, I see them defensively, I see them at the breakdown and the way they play and no, there are no doubts about this group.”
Scotland scrum-half Ben White is relishing the chance to experience the atmosphere inside Marseille’s iconic 67,000-capacity Stade Velodrome.
“It’s an amazing stadium,” said the 25-year-old. “France put on a great show. The opening game was amazing and all the stadiums, all the facilities, the way they run things here is amazing.
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“They absolutely love their rugby in the south and it’ll be a great spectacle. You’ve got two good teams who are playing good rugby and it’ll be a great match.”
White, who will be playing his club rugby in France following the World Cup after signing for Toulon, is relishing the chance to start the biggest game of his career in the number nine jersey just 19 months after making his international debut.
“It’s pretty special, it’s the biggest stage, the one you dream of when you’re a kid,” said the former London Irish player. “I’ve worked hard to get here, it’s not been a straight rise, there have been ebbs and flows and ups and downs.
“I want to make sure that I do everything I can, work as hard as I can, compete in every moment and play to the best of my ability to make sure the team wins and we do the country proud.
“There are a lot of people who have a lot of belief in us as a team and we want to go out there and show what we can do.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
41 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
41 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
41 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments