Beating Samoa Is Now Our Primary Target

Scotland team to play South Africa at St James' Park in round 3 of Rugby World Cup Pool B

Saturday 3 October (kick-off 4.45pm) - live on ITV

15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps; 9 tries, 2 pens, 51 points 14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps; 8 tries, 40 points 13 Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps 12 Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby) – 31 caps; 4 tries, 20 points 11 Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 22 caps; 10 tries, 50 points 10 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) – 20 caps; 2 tries, 6 cons, 9 pens, 1 drop, 52 points 9 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester) – 43 caps; 3 tries, 51 cons, 92 pens, 393 points 1 Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps 2 Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps 3 Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps; 1 try, 5 points 4 Richie Gray (Castres) – 48 caps; 2 tries, 10 points 5 Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 16 caps; 1 try, 5 points 6 Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps 7 Blair Cowan (London Irish) – 13 caps, 2 tries, 10 points 8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) – 29 caps Substitutes 16 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 91 caps; 2 tries, 10 points 17 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 49 caps; 2 tries, 10 points 18 Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) – 9 caps; 1 try, 5 points 19 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps 20 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps 22 Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps; 1 try, 1 con, 1 pen, 10 points 23 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) – 98 caps; 14 tries, 70 points   What that XV tells me is - Big Vern Cotter views the final Pool B game, against Samoa, is the more-important of the two remaining matches.   The absence of the likes of Mark Bennett, Alasdair Dickinson and Ross Ford from the starting XV, not to forget the decision not to rush Finn Russell and John Hardie back for the Boks, I would suggest, points towards the final pool game being seen as the more-winnable.   This is not to suggest that we will "lie down" before the Bokke. We will, I am sure, be aiming for the best-possible result at St James Park on Saturday, but, if we have to settle for a losing bonus point (provided the Saffers fail to get a four-try bonus), I don't think BVC will be too-bothered.   If we lose this match by enough to garner a losing bonus, we will retain top spot in the table. We do not need to beat South Africa to qualify, but, if we could, we would all but guarantee topping the pool.   We are in a good place, so, there is no need to put out all our big guns for this one.   I am delighted to see Gordon Reid getting his first outing of the competition at loose-head - he will not let us down. Pleased too for Richie Vernon, who is being given a run in the centre to rest Mark Bennett.   BVC has picked a good squad.        CAN I draw your attention to the Australian website Green & Gold Rugby. This site has come up with, in the course of its Rugby World Cup coverage, a nice investigation into the goings-on at the scrum in the England v Wales match, in Pool A of the Rugby World Cup.   Their feature in an in-depth dissertaion on the difficulties facing referees in today's high-profile, high-pressure rugby at the top level. Most-illuminating.   I did like the suggestion put forward by one of the SRU's Refereeing Department's senior figures when we discussed the hotch-potch which is today's scrums, before a recent BT Premiership gme.   His suggestion - do away completely with scrum penalties. If a side is pinged for illegalities, give the opposition possession from a tapped kick, with the opposition required to be ten metres back.   This move, just might result in scrums again being all about restarting play after a technical offence, which is what scrums are supposed to be all about. Worth trying, I would say.