Just in case Japan’s appetite for South African rugby players has not been sated, then Scotland will present two more in their match-day squad when the sides meet at Gloucester on Wednesday.
Josh Strauss, born at Belville, Western Cape, and a product of Stellenbosch University who only qualified as a Scot on Sunday, will get his first cap, coming off the bench some time at Kingsholm while Willem Nel, from Loeriesfontein, a veteran of three Tests after qualifying last month, will start as tighthead prop.
All three of Nel’s caps came during Scotland’s warm-up matches, games a frustrated Strauss had to sit out while he served the final days of his three-year residential qualification which ended the day after Japan’s celebrated victory over South Africa.
Strauss, who made it to the 31-strong World Cup squad after leading Glasgow to their first Pro12 title, is clearly happy under his new flag. “I recently bought a house in Glasgow, my daughter was born in Glasgow, so I’m pretty much as Scottish as I can be apart from my accent.”
World Rugby has already said it will examine residency rules but Strauss denied his move was specifically aimed at making him a Scotland player. “When I came I was aware of the law but it wasn’t at the front of my mind,” he said after the team was announced. “I’d seen other players do it before me. I’d seen it happen, but you never expect it.”
Strauss was one of nine changes to the squad which played France in Scotland’s final warm-up game. He replaces Alasdair Strokosch as back-row cover, while the head coach, Vern Cotter, makes only three alterations to the starting XV. Stuart Hogg replaces Sean Maitland at full-back, Grant Gilchrist edges out Richie Gray in the second-row, while Sean Lamont wins his battle with Tim Visser for the left wing spot and gets his 98th cap.
Strauss believes Scottish preparations are “spot-on” whereas he thinks South Africa probably saw Japan as easy pickings. “The country will have expected an easy one, but you can’t take anything for granted in a World Cup.
“I think our preparation has been right. We’ve done our preparation and nothing changes. They did what we thought they would and did it really well.
“Japan played the perfect game against South Africa. You look at every game as an individual, but if I’d been Japanese that’s exactly what I would have done. Probably South Africa didn’t expect them to do it that well, probably like the rest of the world. They did exactly what we thought, but they just did it brilliantly.”
Cotter was just as lavish with the praise of a side who jumped over Scotland in the world rankings courtesy of Saturday’s win. Ten minutes after Cotter announced his squad for their first game of the tournament, World Rugby revealed the biggest shock in World Cup history had lifted Japan two places to 11th while Scotland drop from 10th to 12th.
Japan and Scotland have met four times – twice at World Cups – with the Scots winning every time. Eleven years ago they set a record, scoring 15 tries against the Brave Blossoms. That will not happen on Wednesday despite Japan having only four days to recover from Brighton, but Cotter refused to suggest South Africa underestimated their opponents. “I can’t answer for the South Africans. I’ve no idea, but what we saw was a committed and efficient Japanese team that made very few mistakes, applied pressure and as the game wore on became more and more confident,” said Cotter. “They do well at surprising teams and I’m sure they have a few things prepared for us.”
