Tuesday 30 June 2015 16:00, UK
Richie Gray says Scotland coach Vern Cotter is pushing his players to their limits to ensure they are mentally and physically prepared to overcome adversity at the World Cup.
The Castres second-rower is three weeks into a gruelling pre-tournament training schedule designed to have the Scots playing to their maximum by the time they take on Japan in their Pool B opener on September 23.
Cotter has taken things back to basics, even hiring French commandos to lead this 46-man squad up a 1,800-metre mountain hike during their recent stay at Fort Romeu in the French Pyrenees.
Once they reached the top, the players were ordered to spend the night on an exposed summit as part of an exercise that taxed not only their physical capabilities, but their reserves of mental strength.
Gray admits the exercises have tested his resolve but he is confident a Scotland squad which failed to win a game in the Six Nations will come out stronger for it.
"I've been through these camps with Scotland and the Lions and they don't get any easier,” Gray said.
“This one has been pretty brutal. The first two weeks with the testing and then going up to the mountains in France was really tough.
"It was tough on your body but also tough mentally, just trying to keep yourself going. But now we're back here at Murrayfield and we feel all the better for it.
"Vern and the other coaches have said they want to make us comfortable in uncomfortable situations and that is what these past few weeks have all been about.
"It's so that if we are in a bit of bother, say the 79th minute of a Test match needing a drop-goal to win the game, we have got the tools to deal with it.
"I wouldn't say Vern is radically different to other coaches but the big difference to his approach is that he is so focused on bringing us together and making us remember who we are, that we are playing for our country.
"He isn't letting us lose focus from the fact that the teams in our pool are training just as hard as we are - if not harder - so we have to keep pushing ourselves."
After facing Japan in Gloucester, Scotland will take on the USA in Leeds before playing two games at St James’ Park against South Africa and Samoa.
Gray was part of the first ever Scotland side which failed to make the quarter-finals of a World Cup four years ago in New Zealand and he is keen to avoid a repeat this time around.
"This year's Six Nations was a real tough one for the fans and for ourselves," he said. "I mean, how many times have we sat and talked about positive signs but not results?
"We started the first two games well but came up just short. Like the World Cup, it's a tournament that is all about momentum and if you can get that it can take you right through.
"The message after the Six Nations was to go back to our clubs and do something.
“We had the Glasgow guys who went and won the PRO12, the Edinburgh boys who reached the Challenge Cup final, and even the lads from Saracens, who won the league down south.
"So these guys have pushed on and now they have brought that confidence back here. It's a fresh start now and now we need to make the most of it.
"Maybe we went in a bit under-cooked four years ago. I still feel we should have won the Argentina game; it was a pretty cruel result. After that we were up against it but those are the small margins.
"This time we need to start well and then pick up some confidence."
