{"id":290177,"date":"2023-09-10T00:34:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T00:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=290177"},"modified":"2023-09-10T00:34:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T00:34:47","slug":"gregor-townsend-believes-scotland-are-set-up-to-beat-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/rugby-union\/gregor-townsend-believes-scotland-are-set-up-to-beat-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Gregor Townsend believes Scotland are set up to beat South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Gregor Townsend believes Scotland are set up to beat South Africa as he tells his side to seize the moment against the reigning world champions<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Scotland face South Africa in their World Cup group opener on Sunday<\/span><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gregor Townsend is positive about his side&#8217;s chances against the Springboks<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Rugby World Cup 2023: Click here for Mail Sport&#8217;s latest coverage from France<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has told his players this is \u2018our moment\u2019 to make the world sit up and take notice by beating South Africa. He said all roads have been leading to the showdown with the defending world champions in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Now is our moment with the team we have,\u2019 he said. \u2018We are set up to play our best rugby.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Townsend has revealed his formula for success in the World Cup opener revolves around fly-half Finn Russell and wingers South Africa-born Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham. \u2018Stand-off is the most important position in a team and Finn is at the top of his game,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We will never have the same size of players as South Africa, England or France, but we have players who are maybe quicker and fitter and we have to build our game around those strengths.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Finn is one of the best passers in the world so we have to get him passing. Our wingers Duhan and Darcy are great finishers so we have to get the ball in their hands. That means we have to play movement.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/09\/23\/75255217-0-image-a-49_1694299407112.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Scotland coach Gregor Townsend is positive about his side&#8217;s chances in their World Cup Group B opener against South Africa<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/09\/23\/75255227-0-image-a-53_1694299874873.jpg\" height=\"459\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Townsend believes his side are set up to play their best rugby against the reigning world champions<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/09\/23\/75255219-0-image-a-54_1694299881388.jpg\" height=\"457\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He revealed that Scotland&#8217;s game plan revolves around fly-half Finn Russell and wingers Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe<\/p>\n<p>The importance of Graham to Scotland\u2019s cause was shown by the lengths they went to get him fit after he picked up a leg injury recently \u2014 he had five sessions in a hyperbaric chamber where he breathed pure oxygen to speed up his recovery.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018There was a wee doubt in my head when the injury happened when I was just running and I felt my quad muscle go,\u2019 said Graham, who tore it at a Scotland training session three weeks ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I went to a hyperbaric chamber and I put an oxygen mask on and was breathing 100 per cent oxygen. They then dropped the pressure as it helps the healing process.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Graham shares Townsend\u2019s optimism about Scotland\u2019s chances against South Africa. \u2018Is it coming to the boil at the perfect time? Yes, probably. Everyone now knows their role \u2014 they never knew that at the last World Cup. Everything is laid out clearly.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Graham, who has 19 tries for Scotland, eight short of record holder Stuart Hogg, says he hopes to use the World Cup matches to cut the deficit on the former captain.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Obviously, Hoggy has got the record and me and Duhan, who has 20 tries, are hunting him down. We\u2019re pretty confident that we\u2019re going to break it \u2014 it\u2019s just about who\u2019s going to do it first, so we\u2019re having a wee competition between us.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Scoring tries is our job and we\u2019ve got to take our chances. We might only get a couple of chances against South Africa but that is what we are there to do.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/09\/23\/75255269-0-image-a-52_1694299474856.jpg\" height=\"449\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Winger Darcy Graham has recovered from a leg injury and is set to start on Sunday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/10\/00\/75256307-12500253-image-a-72_1694302892043.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>South Africa-born Duhan van der Merwe is on 20 tries, chasing down Stuart Hogg&#8217;s Scottish record\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12500253\/Gregor-Townsend-Scotland-South-Africa-reigning-world-champions.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gregor Townsend believes Scotland are set up to beat South Africa as he tells his side to seize the moment against the reigning world champions Scotland face South Africa in their World Cup group opener on Sunday\u00a0 Gregor Townsend is positive about&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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