No-one thinks they can beat the All Blacks but Gregor Paul says the Scots may yet play a key role in New Zealand's World Cup campaign.
KEY POINTS:
Scotland
Snowballs have more chance in hell than Scotland do of causing a major upset against the All Blacks. But one thing they can be confident about is giving the All Blacks a physical encounter.
For years Scotland have been cursed by a rotten gene pool that
turns out endless numbers of slightly built athletes who just can't make any headway in a game dominated by explosive behemoths.
The choice for the Scots was to accept their lot or get their players in the gym and stick some muscle on them. They have chosen the latter and, by all accounts, most of their World Cup squad went into hibernation at the end of the northern hemisphere season in May and emerged a few weeks ago considerably bigger and stronger.
Take Scott Murray, the once gangly lock who used to look like he would snap in a stiff wind. He's now 118kg. His second row partner, Jim Hamilton, stands at 2.03m and weighs 126kg.
In the front row both Euan Murray and Craig Smith are 125kg. That's the same weight as Neemia Tialata, the heaviest player in the All Black squad.
Even out wide there is some real bulk now. Wing Nikki Walker is 110kg, centre Rob Dewey is 112kg and the Lamont brothers, Sean and Rory, are both 100kg.
There is no debate that the Scots lack the vision and flair of the All Blacks. They won't be able to play at the same breakneck pace and they won't be able to produce the skilled, close quarter touches that mark the All Blacks as special.
But what they will be able to do is throw themselves at New Zealand for 80 minutes. They will hit rucks hard. They will keep the ball tight and drive with good body positions. They will be efficient and aggressive at the lineout, they will hang in at scrum time and they will defend with passion.
Whatever the scoreline at the final whistle, the All Blacks will know they have been in a game.
As Victor Matfield, the South Africa captain, said to The Scotsman after the Boks 27-3 defeat of Scotland a few weeks ago: "We always expect Scotland to play with great heart - they always do - and this was a real hard test match for us. I don't know if they hit harder than last year, because the second test in Port Elizabeth in 2006 was very physical, but our guys are going to be very sore this week.
"I think Scotland can definitely compete with anyone in the World Cup physically."
If Scotland had stayed focused for the full 80 minutes, they would have given South Africa more than just a few bruises. They would have given them a real game as the Boks pretty much tied things up in a three-try blitz midway through the first half.
For 10 minutes the Scots seemed to lose concentration. Their defensive screen collapsed and bang, bang, bang, South Africa fired three deadly bullets and Scotland were gone.
Coach Frank Hadden put some of that down to the fact Scotland have opted for a reasonably light warm-up schedule. They played just two tests against Ireland and South Africa and there was a sense of them being undercooked when they came up against a Boks side that has played a lot of football in the last three months.
What Hadden will be hoping to see in the early pool games against Portugal and Romania is continuation of the understanding brewing between Mike Blair at halfback and Chris Paterson at first five.
Blair is a supremely talented running halfback who was recently likened by former British Lion Roy Laidlaw to the great Dave Loveridge. Blair is the type of player who can spark something out of not much and make it go a long way.
Paterson is also a livewire with a touch of magic. Unfortunately for the 28-year-old he has been denied the platform to showcase his skills for most of his test career.
He was destined for stardom as a teenager when he took club rugby by storm in the No 10 jersey. When he broke into the test team, though, the mercurial Gregor Townsend was blocking his path so the selectors switched him to fullback and then decided he was better suited to the wing where he could pick and choose his point of attack.
It never really worked out that way and Paterson has for too long been a frustrated spectator on the wing, watching Scotland drift out of games because they haven't taken control.
Hadden has finally decided that Paterson deserves his big chance. Other men such as Dan Parks, Phil Godman and Gordon Ross have all been used without ever really convincing.
So that gives the Scots an element of excitment and surprise and Blair and Paterson combined well for most of the South African test.
The other areas of strength for Scotland are their backrow where Simon Taylor, Ali Hogg and Jason White are a mobile, skilled and aggressive unit.
Skipper White is one of the hardest tacklers in Europe and Taylor was good enough to make Graham Henry's Lions squad as a 21-year-old in a year when he was only semi-professional.
The lineout, too, has been an area of expertise for Scotland. They are reputedly the side that takes the least amount of time to get the ball back into play and they are a side that really believes in attacking the opposition throw.
All this is good news for the All Blacks who will need, and who will no doubt relish, a really physical encounter ahead of the knock-out rounds.
They will also be keen to test their lineout which has been a perennial concern under the current regime.
There is, though, one major uncertainty that could yet reduce the clash between Scotland and New Zealand to the one-sided romp no one particularly wants to see.
Scotland play Italy six days after the All Blacks and Hadden has hinted that he may preserve his top XV so they can be fresh to play Italy.
That policy is effectively an admission that Scotland have no hope of beating the All Blacks so they would be better to prioritise the game against Italy which will decide who else in the group progresses.
Italy are a much improved side and beat Scotland comfortably in the recent Six Nations. Having made the knockout rounds at every World Cup, Scotland are determined to maintain that record and know they will face a very big test in trying to beat the Italians.
The All Blacks will be hoping the Scots decide that the best way to beat the Italians is to build their form and combinations by giving them every chance to gel.
- HoS
