We'll Pitt Canada to the sword – De Luca

Published on Thursday 20 November 2008 09:09

NICK DE LUCA is targeting the biggest win of coach Frank Hadden's international coaching reign when Scotland tackle Canada at Aberdeen's Pittodrie Stadium on Saturday.

De Luca paid to the progress made by the North Americans, who went down 34-13 in Cardiff at the weekend.

He said: "They pushed Wales and look as if they have tightened their defence."

But the Edinburgh centre couldn't resist setting a big target for Hadden's men.

He said: "Ireland set the benchmark by putting 55 on Canada and really nailing them at the start of their tour.

"So, that's the benchmark we have to go for. We want to shut up shop defensively and score plenty of tries."

The previous record-winning margin in the 35 matches since Hadden took over from Matt Williams, is a 56-10 World Cup victory over Portugal in St Etienne while Romania have twice been seen off by 42-point margins.

Six-times-capped De Luca feels that can be surpassed partly through Scotland having plenty of moves left in their armoury after the frustration they felt after facing first world No.1s New Zealand and then global champs South Africa in the Bank of Scotland Corporate-sponsored Autumn Test series so far.

De Luca said: "We've still got weaponry and new avenues to attack.

"There are a high percentage of our moves intact due to circumstances. There were times over the past fortnight when we called the moves but didn't go through with them."

Scotland kept their powder dry reluctantly and the implication from De Luca is that things were just too tight against the rugby super-powers.

More scope is sure to exist against the No.15-ranked team in the world – even on a narrower pitch designed for football.

"The narrower pitch will affect us slightly but we will still have the same plan, which is running hard," added De Luca.

Scotland have yet to post a win in the current Test series but De Luca claims the fact standards have nevertheless been set high should ensure they get off the mark against Canada.

He said: "We should have beaten South Africa so there is now nothing to fear from any team we play."

The 24-year-old also believes it is time for he and his midfield Ben Cairns to throw off the shackles.

He said: "Our partnership has been solid more than anything else. We've both done our defensive duties well.

"But we need to make more breaks, support each other and score more tries." The touchdown by Nathan Hines last weekend got the monkey of having scored just one home try in 14 months off Scotland's back.

And, according to De Luca, that can act as the catalyst for many more.

He said: "One try in 14 months is not a great strike rate, even if there were only four matches played at Murrayfield in that time.

"Hopefully against Canada we will get a bit more ball and space so that Ben and I, along with the back three, run off each other a bit better.

"We'll go with the same mindset as in the past two weeks and, hopefully, finish off a bit more.

"We look forward to testing Canada's improved defence, especially with our set piece going well. It's taken us a couple of weeks to realise we are getting quality ball and, hopefully, we can show faith in ourselves to do more damage to the opposition."

According to ex-Edinburgh Accies and Heriot's ace De Luca, incentives extend well into the new year and the forthcoming Six Nations Championship.

He said "If things go wrong, we will spend the next few months dwelling on that.

"So we aim to get it right in order to take things up a level and keep progressing through January and into our first match (at home to Wales) in February.

"We'll certainly be able to do our homework. We have footage of both Canada's recent games and I'm among the Scots who beat Canada on the way to the final of their annual Churchill Cup competition in 2006."

The others in Saturday's match 22 who figured in that 15-10 win are Nikki Walker, Phil Godman, Rory Lawson, Ally Dickinson, Scott Gray, Allan Jacobsen, Alasdair Strokosch and Rory Lamont.

Meanwhile, Saturday's clash means De Luca and Cairns will team up with a familiar face in the three-quarter line – Edinburgh wing Simon Webster.

"We know each other well and will want to get the ball to Simon to do some damage," said De Luca

De Luca's enthusiasm over his colleague's recall after injury for a 36th cap is understandable.

In six outings together for Edinburgh in their international positions, De Luca, Cairns and Webster have lost just once – a statistic which they aim to improve this weekend.