Scotland coach rubbishes talk of 'vulnerability' against Japan
Tuesday 22 September 2015 15:04, UK
Scotland assistant Matt Taylor has hit back at Japan coach Eddie Jones' claim that his side will be vulnerable if they don't claim an early lead in Wednesday's World Cup showdown.
The Scots will face Japan at Kingsholm and the match now has a huge profile after the Brave Blossoms incredibly defeated South Africa 34-32 on Saturday.
It was Japan's first win at a World Cup since 1991 but Jones is determined that they follow it up with another victory in Gloucester.
And the head coach, who was famous for his mind games when he coached Australia, has suggested that the opening 30 minutes could prove critical as the 'Scots struggle to overcome deficits'.
Jones said: "If you look at the Scots' record over the last 15 years you'll see that, unless they get a lead, they struggle to win matches."
But Taylor hit back saying: "That's something that he believes in. I suppose everyone has opinions on how games go.
"But usually, by the end of the 80 minutes, the team that is ahead wins the game, rather than who's ahead after 30 minutes. We'll be concentrating on making sure we're ahead at the 80th minute."
Scotland will not be getting the low-key World Cup opener they may have been expecting but Taylor says they are unperturbed about the hype that has sprung up around the game.
"I wouldn't say we are under any extra pressure," he said. "We're just looking forward to the opportunity.
"For us, we have been watching all these other games while we're one of the last ones to play. We're pretty excited.
"The guys are looking forward to putting all their hard work over the last couple of years and, in particular, the last two months together, into a performance that the country can be proud of."
Taylor is in charge of the Scotland defence and is confident that they can handle the dangerous Japan backs.
He said: "When we look right across their backline - nine, 10, 14, 15 - they are exceptional players and our guys know that.
"We will have to be at the top of our game defensively. But we are confident we can do that job, we have prepared exceptionally well.
"We understand some of their patterns but we won't be sitting there watching them play. We'll be going at them defensively."
