“They had Ireland rattled before Ireland eventually got into their shape and then you saw how much that structure caused Tonga difficulties. One area where Scotland must make big improvements from the France game is at the line-out, which is Gray’s particular area of responsibility. “It was really tough, especially for a Sunday morning – almost like being back at pre-season, but physical,” said Gray. “We knew the task in hand coming into this Tonga game, and it wasn’t a case of saying ‘let’s start thinking about it on Tuesday’ – we want to make the extra days we have to prepare for this game count. We have to win the rest of our games in the group – against Tonga, Romania and then Ireland – to stand a chance of getting through.

Source: The Herald September 17, 2023 22:30 UTC