‘There’s a belief we can beat any team’ – Scotland coach

Scotland’s new attack coach AB Zondagh believes that the squad have the inner confidence to challenge and beat any side in the world.

Gregor Townsend’s men have produced some impressive results this year, beating both France and England away from home before overcoming Australia in the Autumn Nations Series.

Although they couldn’t follow that result up with another win, as the world champion Springboks proved too strong at Murrayfield, Zondagh, who joined the Scots as one of Townsend’s assistants earlier this year, insists that they are in good shape ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

Disappointed with the South Africa result

“It’s a very confident group,” he said. “They are very confident in the way they train and carry themselves.

“There’s a real belief, from players and management, that we can beat any team and that’s why we were disappointed after the South Africa game because we knew we were in a position to beat them but we couldn’t finish the game off.

“That confidence is massive and it’s something this group will definitely keep with them and build on towards the World Cup.”

Zondagh hopes to have an ongoing influence following the Autumn Nations Series after being given the scope to work with Edinburgh and Glasgow players.

“You can’t have a massive effect in a short period of time but a big reason for me moving to Scotland is to spend time with players out of camp as well, to up-skill them and help them reach their full potential,” he said.

“If someone is struggling with a specific skill, that’s something we need to address and pinpoint and we need to align that with the way we want to play and the way we go into the World Cup.”

Scotland suffered a blow on Saturday when they fell to a 30-15 defeat against South Africa despite leading at half-time.

But there were a number of positives in both defence and attack, especially the two tries scored by Stuart Hogg when the Scots moved the ball too quickly for the world champions to deal with.

Scotland, who will have Scott Cummings and George Turner available after injury, are looking to bounce back when Japan visit Murrayfield on Saturday.

The visitors suffered a 60-5 reverse against Ireland earlier this month before beating Portugal 38-25 at the weekend.

Zondagh said: “South Africa are a difficult team to play against, they grind out their way of playing, they impose their game plan on you for 80 minutes non-stop.

“We did some really good things and showed what is possible but the key for us is to be able to do that for 80 minutes and not have lapses in concentration. I think that’s probably what cost us in the end.

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“There were key moments, I think of a couple of kicks where we put South Africa under a lot of pressure but we couldn’t capitalise.

“We had to put everything together, your kicking game has to be correct, your pressure has to be good, and then your set-piece attack – if you get an opportunity – has to function.

“We did a lot of things really well but just not enough to beat them.

“It’s going to be a different threat this weekend but a threat nonetheless. We have to expect the unexpected and definitely not underestimate them.

“They are a very strong side, they didn’t put out their full-strength side last weekend so I wouldn’t read to much into that.

“The same applies this weekend, we have to concentrate for 80 minutes if we want to win the game.”