Scotland ‘have have all the belief in the world’ they can beat South Africa - prop’s bold claim

If rugby is a 23-man game, then South Africa are the masters of making the extra personnel count.

Javan Sebastian won his sixth cap off the bench in Scotland's 33-6 win over Georgia at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The Springboks pioneered the 6-2 split of forwards and backs on the bench, and raised the stakes against New Zealand on Friday with an unprecedented 7-1 combination. It was partly forced upon them by an injury to full-back Willie le Roux in the warm-up – the veteran flanker Kwagga Smith took his place on the bench – but no-one was questioning its effectiveness in the aftermath of the stunning 35-7 thrashing at Twickenham. All seven of the Springboks’ substitute forwards came on in one second-half swoop and Scotland know their own reserves will have a significant role to play when they open their Rugby World Cup campaign against the holders in Marseille a week on Sunday.

“One hundred per cent that is going to be crucial against South Africa,” said Javan Sebastian, the Scotland prop who replaced WP Nel in the 53rd minute of Saturday’s win over Georgia, the final dress rehearsal for Gregor Townsend’s side. “The impact the bench have made over the past couple of weeks has been quite impressive. When we go on, all Gregor asks from us is speed and to play with intent and that’s what boys have shown.”

Georgia was a useful tune-up but South Africa pose an altogether more daunting test. Their record-breaking win over 14-man New Zealand was a startling performance, and one which the Scotland squad watched with interest in their hotel. Impressive though it was, Sebastian is adamant no-one is intimidated at the prospect of taking on the three-time winners.

“Us boys have all the belief in the world that we can beat the number one team in the world. We won’t back down to anybody,” said the six-times capped Sebastian, who has joined Edinburgh for next season. “They are only human, they can be beaten by anyone on any given day. They’ve got a very big forward pack, so if you meet them physically up front, you stand a chance of putting in a good fight against them. The Georgians are big strong men as well, and we fronted up quite well against them at the weekend, especially in the set piece. They are known for their scrum and lineout and I think we nullified them at source. That was good.”

Sebastian, 28, is one of three tightheads in the squad and has taken advantage of Zander Fagerson’s two-game suspension to get some minutes under his belt as a replacement in Scotland’s last couple of warm-up games. Fagerson, who was sent off in the home win over France, will be free to face South Africa and is expected to start but Sebastian will continue to press his case in training as he looks to be involved. Sebastian, who also played as a second-half substitute in the narrow defeat by France in Saint-Etienne and the home win over Italy, knows it’s a three-way fight with Fagerson and Nel to make the match-day squad.

“I thought I put my hand up against Georgia,” he said. “Again, I think I did alright off the bench and put my hand up for selection for that first game. I’ve just got to wait and see and keep training hard.”