{"id":289760,"date":"2023-09-13T16:35:26","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T16:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=289760"},"modified":"2023-09-13T16:35:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T16:35:26","slug":"wounded-scotland-urged-to-get-heads-straight-for-tonga-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/rugby-union\/wounded-scotland-urged-to-get-heads-straight-for-tonga-clash\/","title":{"rendered":"Wounded Scotland urged to get \u2018heads straight\u2019 for Tonga clash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John Dalziel has no doubt about Scotland\u2019s ability to bounce back from their opening-weekend setback against South Africa and set up a potential qualification decider with Ireland in Paris.<\/p>\n
The Scots suffered a demoralising start to their World Cup campaign when they produced a disappointing performance in an 18-3 loss to the Springboks in Marseille.<\/p>\n
Dalziel knew starting off against the world champions was always going to be a tough assignment so does not expect their chastening outing to affect the players\u2019 mindset going into their remaining three Pool B games against Tonga, Romania and Ireland.<\/p>\n
The squad have had the last few days off with their families and the forwards coach is confident they will all be able to get their \u201cheads straight\u201d in time for their next match against Tonga in Nice a week on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been in this position a couple of times where we\u2019ve been disappointed with performances,\u201d Dalziel told the PA news agency.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s not the end of the world for us, but we need to get our heads straight for the next game against Tonga because we\u2019ve got to get that game right.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spoke a lot about how difficult this group would be. We know we could have gone out on Sunday and played some of our best rugby and still lost the game so it was always going to be important how we go on from here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difference was we didn\u2019t play our best rugby on Sunday, but the positive is that we\u2019ve got three other games to try and rebuild it and find another route out of the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will take it game by game, but we want to arrive in Paris for that last game with an opportunity knowing that if we win we can progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Dalziel admitted \u201cit didn\u2019t feel like us\u201d on Sunday as Scotland failed to score a try for the first time since autumn 2020 and posted their lowest points return since losing 27-3 to Ireland in the opening match of the 2019 World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was disappointed with the lack of accuracy at times, but even with the inaccuracy in the first half, we put ourselves in a good position with that big set before half-time to come in at 6-3 (down),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really positive changing room because of how poor we had been and the fact we were still in the game against the world champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we just never got into our stride, it didn\u2019t feel like us. It wasn\u2019t the end in any way, though, just a disappointing start. And we\u2019ve got to do it the hard way, as always.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dalziel believes that, if Scotland are able to execute their attacking game, they will have a good chance of getting up and running against Tonga next weekend.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTonga will bring physicality up front, they\u2019ll want to stop us playing, but we can find opportunities around that in terms of what we do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to look at having a good performance. The performance is the focus, not the outcome. If we get our performance right, we\u2019ll have a great chance of winning that game.\u201d<\/p>\n