Head coach Gregor Townsend admits Scotland have one eye on the “bigger picture” going into Saturday’s match against Fiji in their Pacific Tour.
Townsend has stressed the importance of the fixture, as well as the following game against Samoa as Scotland look to lock in a top-six ranking ahead of the draw for the 2027 World Cup in Australia in December.
Currently ranked seventh, the Scots want to avoid a rough repeat of 2023 when they were grouped with two top nations – Ireland and South Africa – and failed to progress to the knockout stages.
“This is a one-off game in terms of our tour, but there is also the bigger picture and that is the World Cup draw in November,” Townsend said.
“This is a very important game going into the Samoa Test, and also the Tests we have in November, to put ourselves in the best possible position to get into that top six.”
After opening their Pacific Tour with a hard-fought 29-26 victory over Maori All Blacks in a non-cap match, Townsend has made 14 changes to his team for the Fiji encounter.
The head coach added the standard has now been set for what is expected for the rest of their Pacific Tour.
“I think the alignment with what we wanted in terms of the gameplan, the execution, the effort throughout the game – there was one sequence of play that lasted 29 phases in defence – the togetherness was brilliant,” he added.
“Then also the skill to execute when it counted. The try before half-time, George’s [Horne] second try had really good skill and support.
“It is what you hope and dream when you put a team out against such a tough opponent, but if often doesn’t happen when new combinations come together, so it was really pleasing for everyone that they did play so well.”
