Greig Laidlaw says Scotland have adjusted their preparation specifically to hit the ground running as they launch the international season against Australia at BT Murrayfield in the first Autumn Test on Saturday.
Rustiness in the first game of a series – whether that be Autumn Test or the Six Nations – has been an issue in the past, said the captain. With the Wallabies fresh from the Rugby Championship and beating Wales at the weekend, the Scots can’t afford to be off the pace on Saturday.
“We are very conscious of that,” said Laidlaw. “Australia are up at speed already and they played very well against Wales.
“I’m sure Wales were disappointed. They played with a lot of commitment and great determination but they probably just lacked a little bit of understanding and that’s the difficulty of coming into that first game of a series.
“We’ve had it ourselves, in the autumn and our first game of the Six Nations, against England, was poor. We only lost by four or five points in the end – but, if we’d taken two opportunities, we could have won that one.”
Laidlaw and head coach Vern Cotter had discussed how better to work off this rustiness in preparing for the first game, the skipper continued.
“it’s always difficult when the guys get back together, they’ve been at their clubs and thinking about what they’re doing there,” he said.
“I spoke to Vern about what we needed this time around I just said more time together, more rugby specific stuff.
“In the past we’ve worried about fitness elements and stuff like that but this time it’s been a really heavy rugby focus from day one. Just getting that understanding of playing together and that’s going to be key, we’ll need that from the start.
It’s always a step up in intensity preparing for an international game and a top side like Australia so that extra time we’ve had together is going to be invaluable to us.”
But studying the Wallabies’ win over Wales re-iterated one of the lessons from last year’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final – Scotland can’t afford to have a defensive off-day.
“We have to be strong in defence and the setpiece needs to be rock solid to give us a platform to launch into the game. We look back to the last time we played Australia and we feel we have a game plan and organisation that can cause them a lot of problems.
“But we can’t concede five tries again. That makes it extremely difficult to win games.
“The starting points is setpiece and defence and if you get those things right then you’re going to be in games of rugby. Off the back of that when we get opportunities it’s about being clinical, guys knowing their roles and having high skill sets.”
But Scotland now have faith in their ability and confidence in the structures in the team, continued Laidlaw.
“We’re gaining more confidence as a squad and part of that is players are settling down into positions in the team,” he added.
“The spine of the team has been consistent of late which is invaluable; the likes of Finn at 10, Hoggy at 15, the Gray brothers, it’s been a strong point of the team now for a while and that consistency goes a long way for a playing group.
“Vern and the likes of Jason O’Halloran are clever coaches, and that gives us great confidence in ourselves as well.”
Scotland also take confidence and inspiration from other Scottish sports stars like Andy Murray – and hopefully, the national football team.
“I’m sure we will be watching on Friday night,” said Laidlaw. “It’s always brilliant when you face the Auld Enemy in rugby – and I’m sure the football boys feel exactly the same.
“We’ll gather around to cheer them on and wish the football boys all the best and of course, you can take inspiration from Scottish success.
“Look at Andy Murray, it’s fantastic for a Scotsman to be the best tennis player in the world. But we can take inspiration from others as well.
“Look at what Ireland did last weekend, a fantastic performance. If you get it right on the day, anybody can beat anybody – that’s the way international rugby is going, because it’s so tight now.”
