Scotland coach Vern Cotter has warned his players that they can expect an even tougher match against Tonga in Kilmarnock on Saturday than they did when the Pacific Islanders secured a shock victory against them two years ago.
That 21-15 loss at Aberdeen prompted Andy Robinson to resign as Scotland coach and Cotter believes Tonga have improved to the extent that they will provide the sternest challenge of their three November internationals.
The Scottish starting XV for a contest that will be played on an artificial 3G pitch at the aptly named Rugby Park, home of Scottish Premier League football team Kilmarnock FC, features four survivors from the team beaten by Tonga two years ago -- captain and scrum-half Greig Laidlaw, fullback Stuart Hogg, wing Tim Visser and lock Richie Gray.
"The players who played two years ago know it's going to be tough," said Cotter, who has made four enforced changes to the Scotland team beaten 24-16 by New Zealand at Murrayfield last Saturday.
"We've viewed what Tonga have done recently and they have improved and are going into the game very confidently. They play a structured game now. They'll be a tough nut to crack," the New Zealander added.
"We knew it would be the toughest game of the November series for us mentally -- getting over the All Blacks game, performing well in front of 60,000 people and then moving from Murrayfield, coming to Kilmarnock to play on a synthetic surface. We'll have a better idea after this game of where we are at."
Scotland opened their November campaign with an impressive 41-31 win against Argentina at Murrayfield before registering their narrowest defeat against the All Blacks for 23 years.
Tonga are on course for their first-ever clean sweep on a European tour, having beaten Georgia 23-9 in Tbilisi on November 8, before overwhelming the United States 40-12 at Gloucester last Saturday.
The Pacific Islanders have made just the one change to their starting line-up, Latiume Fosita replacing Kurt Morath at fly-half.
They have five survivors from the XV that claimed Scotland's scalp for the first time in 2012 -- fullback Vungakoto Lilo, wing Fetu'u Vainikolo, lock Tukula Lokutui and back rowers Nili Latu and Viliami Ma'afu.
Asked whether his players had a score to settle from the 2012 shock, Cotter replied: "I think there is a genuine feeling among the group following that game."
- White influence -
Cotter added he was expecting "a rough, abrasive game", but suggested the influence of South Africa's 2007 World Cup-winning coach Jake White, as a temporary technical adviser to Tonga boss Mana Otai, had smoothed some of the rougher edges from the tourists' play.
"I think Jake White's had an influence on some of their higher tackles and bigger hits," said Cotter. "I think he would like to keep 15 players on the paddock."
Saturday's match will the first major international to be staged on a solely synthetic pitch and Cotter said he would have preferred to have faced the Tongans on a more conventional surface.
"I would have quite liked to have put them on a muddy pitch," he said. "I've never coached a game on a 3G pitch."
Tonga are captained by openside flanker Latu, who played under Cotter for four years at New Zealand's Bay of Plenty.
"I know a bit about Vern and the way he coaches and I can see that with Scotland at the moment," Latu told the Herald newspaper.
"He was quiet, but when he delivered his message you knew that he meant business. It is Vern's way or get out of the way."
Source: AFP
