Rugby World Cup: Grant Gilchrist fuelled by Japan disappointment as he calls for a best ever Scotland performance

The chance to right the wrongs of 2019 has been a powerful motivating tool for Grant Gilchrist as he sweats it out ahead of Scotland’s 2023 World Cup opener against South Africa in Marseille.

This will be the Edinburgh’s lock third crack at the tournament and probably his last and he is determined to grasp the opportunity with both hands. Scotland’s last World Cup campaign ended badly in Japan with group stage elimination at the hands of the hosts. It turned out to be the end of the road for a number of senior players and there was also an overhaul of Gregor Townsend’s coaching staff. Gilchrist, 33, remains a key pillar and is expected to partner Richie Gray in the second row when the Scots take on the Springboks on Sunday in Pool B. There is a determination to atone for the disappointment of four years ago.

“We weren’t horrific in that Japanese game but we knew it was a game we had to win and we all took it hard,” said Gilchrist. “We went out in the pool stage in a game I believe we should have won. We are a better side than Japan but we didn’t put our best performance out there and we got what we deserved on the day. It was a point for the whole squad where you have to go away individually and collectively and regroup, build your form back. I’m obviously over the moon that four years later I’m still in the squad and still pushing to be starting in this Test match because it would have been easy for a lot of guys to fall out of favour on the back of that. We had to prove ourselves again to Gregor and the new coaches coming that we were worth keeping in the squad.”

Temperatures touched 30 degrees in Nice on Wednesday and Gilchrist said he wished it was 10 degrees cooler but is delighted to be in the south of France for one last tilt at the tournament. “This is going to be my last World Cup, unless I’m fortunate enough to be like WP Nel and be a 37-year-old at a World Cup so I’m going to grab it with both hands and give it everything I’ve got, as I try to do every time I take the field for Scotland,” he said. “I’ve been lucky. To get one cap would have been a dream but I’m sitting here at my third World Cup. The 2019 tournament was a big moment for this group. Individually and collectively we were really disappointed at how we performed in Japan. Since then we have been on this journey towards this moment. We know the challenge on Sunday and it will take one of our best ever performances of any Scotland team to win.”

Grant Gilchrist, centre, consoles Greg Laidlaw, with Stuart McInally, right, after Scotland's defeat by Japan at the 2019 Rugby World Cup at the Yokohama International Stadium (Photo by Gary Hutchison/ SNS Group)

Gilchrist hopes to bring his experience to bear over the next few weeks as Scotland seek to negotiate their way through a treacherous group. “Things will go wrong, games will go wrong but the true test of us and where we’ve been strong is when we’ve had adversity we’ve fought back and that’s something we’ll need when we play South Africa, Tonga, Romania and Ireland.”