Here to win: Inside Scotland captain's pre-match message as 'two things' needed to defeat Springboks

Taking on the world champions at Murrayfield is an occasion to savour for Scotland but also an opportunity to show tangible progress after a stuttering World Cup campaign and a Six Nations in which they lost more than they won.

Gregor Townsend has achieved some notable victories during his seven-year reign but a win over the Springboks on Sunday would surely top them all and infuse his squad with a confidence which could be transformative.

Both the coach and his new captain, Sione Tuipulotu, have spoken this week of how important it is that Scotland approach the match with the correct mindset. Townsend has hired the British Olympic team’s top sports psychologist and a mental skills expert to help in that regard and Tuipulotu stressed how vital it was that they are not cowed by their opponents’ reputation.

Sione Tuipulotu passes out the back to Dylan Richardson during a Scotland training session at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. | SNS Group / SRU

“The most important thing is that we hop off that bus tomorrow and be here to win,” said Tuipulotu. “The mindset from the group has been really good this week that we are here to do that. A lot of those games against the Springboks are lost before the whistle even gets blown. Our job is to make sure that’s not us tomorrow.”

The visitors have arrived in Europe with a well earned reputation for abrasiveness which helped them win the World Cup in 2019 and retain it four years later. Those were triumphs founded on an unflinching ability to outlast opponents, to stay in the fight until the very end. As Gregor Townsend pointed out this week, they don’t tend to blow teams away in the big matches but they always do enough. Last year’s World Cup was a case in point as they beat France 29-28 in the quarter-finals, England 16-15 in the semis and New Zealand 12-11 in the final.

“To have that level of intensity and focus and not drop off, that’s what makes you world champions,” said Townsend. “But to do it two seasons in a row, two World Cups in a row, is fantastic.”

South Africa have dabbled with style and personnel since the triumph in Paris last October and there has been no discernible diminution in their results. They won five of their six games in the recent Rugby Championship to lift the southern hemisphere title for the first time in five years. The addition of former All Blacks stand-off Tony Brown as attack coach has given them a little more adventure and something extra for opposition teams to worry about.

Finn Russell during a Scotland training session at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. | SNS Group / SRU

“I suppose they have started to use the ball a little bit more with Tony Brown,” said Tuipulotu. “It’s not the same South African team where you just have to gear up physically. There are a lot of different pictures you have to look at, they are playing more wide-wide, getting the ball to some of their dangerous back players in the backline.

“It makes them a harder team to read but also offers us opportunities in our defence, something we’ve been pretty good at under Steve Tandy - our defence is a massive strength for us. It’s challenging but it’s also an opportunity for us.”

Townsend has warned that Scotland need to be alive to threats out wide as well as through the middle and his skipper has also stressed the importance of matching their opponents physically and emotionally. Argentina did that in the one Rugby Championship match the Springboks lost. The Pumas prevailed 29-28 in Santiago del Estero to give a glimmer of hope to Scotland and other Test rivals, although it should be pointed out that South Africa won the return match 48-7 in Mbombela a week later.

“There are little parts of that Argentina game that we saw that worked a lot for them,” said Tuipulotu. “But I think most importantly in that Argentina game, what worked most for them was they were up for that game, physically, emotionally, and they’re two things that we have to be up for tomorrow.”

“I think we also need to know that the game’s not going to be like the game against Fiji,” added Tuipulotu. “It’s going to be a very different game to that. I suppose we’ve got to be pretty open as a backline to doing the dirty stuff because it’s going to be what's needed to be a really good team like South Africa.

“The challenge is trying to get the ball to our back three but it’s not our only out in this game. I suppose we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves and try to do a lot of the dirty work around the field as well.”

Duhan van der Merwe is wrapped up warm to prepare for the visit of the Springboks. | SNS Group / SRU

Fiji were swatted aside 57-17 last week, with Scotland scoring eight tries. This match is likely to bear little resemblance. It’s the opening game of a three-Test trip for South Africa which also includes matches against England and Wales. Any notion that the tourists might get caught cold at Murrayfield was quickly dismissed by Tuipulotu.

“I think they have a coach and assistant there where they get up for every game,” said the centre. “I’m expecting the best from the Springbok side tomorrow and I think we all should be. I don't think the weather or anything like that will play a part.

“I do think our crowd will play a part though and that's something I'm really looking forward to: them getting behind us and us trying to get this win that we've been searching for for a long time.”

Scotland: T Jordan; B Kinghorn, H Jones, S Tuipulotu (capt) D van der Merwe; F Russell, B White; P Schoeman, E Ashman, Z Fagerson, G Gilchrist, S Cummings, M Fagerson, R Darge, J Dempsey. Replacements: D Richardson, R Sutherland, E Millar Mills, M Williamson, J Bayliss, J Ritchie, J Dobie, S McDowall.

South Africa: W Le Roux; C Moodie, L Am, A Esterhuizen, M Mapimpi; H Pollard, J Hendrikse; O Nche, B Mbonambi, T du Toit, E Etzebeth, F Mostert, M van Staden, E Louw, K Smith. Replacements: M Marx, G Steenekamp, V Koch, RG Snyman, S Kolisi, PS du Toit, J Wiese, G Williams.

Referee: Christophe Ridley (Eng).