Earlier this week, Gregor Townsend spoke about the unique challenge of facing South Africa on their own patch at the iconic Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
With the sun beating down on the Highveld, the smell of the braai wafts through the air as 50,000 locals tuck into some pre-match grub.
Once the barbecue is finished, there is a demand for their beloved Springboks to make mincemeat of whatever opponent has ventured into the lion’s den.
This afternoon, in what promises to be a blockbuster clash in the second round of the Nations Championship, Scotland are that opponent.
History is not in Scotland’s favour, given that they have never beaten the Boks on their own soil. Trying to beat the back-to-back world champions, the scale of the challenge is immense.
The altitude will also be a factor. Nobody would blame the Scotland players if they felt like their lungs had just been robbed of their last breath at some point during the 80 minutes.
Sione Tuipuloti says Scotland must be prepared to do the ugly side of the game in Pretoria
Then there’s the sheer physicality of it all. Against a team of monsters, a rugby machine made of Bok behemoths, this will be the ultimate test of Scotland’s progress over recent months.
Taking all of this into consideration, it was no surprise to hear Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu talk about this being a test of mental fortitude as much as technical skill.
How much do Scotland really want this? How deep into their mental and physical reserves can they dig? Can they claim a seismic result which would send shockwaves through world rugby?
When you look at some of Scotland’s standout results this year, they have been built on the quality of their attacking play.
They shredded Grand Slam-chasing France at Murrayfield to the tune of 50 points, put 30 points on England, and ran in seven tries last week in a rout of Argentina.
The pace and accuracy of their attack in those games was outstanding. When Scotland have been good, they’ve been very, very good.
But this has been true of Townsend’s team for a number of years. The question has too often been around their ability to mix it with the likes of South Africa and Ireland.
These teams are too often kryptonite to Townsend’s men. For Tuipulotu, it’s time to park any notion of being flashy or flamboyant in these fixtures.
Scotland cannot completely abandon their identity, but nor can they allow themselves to be suckered into an arm wrestle up front and playing the game on the Boks’ terms.
That will not end well. It’s about finding a balance — and Tuipulotu believes learning to do the ugly side of the game will be key to the progression of this team.
Beating South Africa on their own patch is arguably the toughest assignment in world rugby
‘Playing the big teams in world rugby, South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland, you can’t be delusional,’ he said.
‘You can’t be delusional enough to think that you’re not going to have to do the hard work and to be able to do all the flashy work and get away with it.
‘I think we’ve had to learn that lesson quite painfully over the last three or four years. South Africa are one of those teams that is going to ask the question: how much do you want to be out there?
‘Their bench is obviously heavily weighted towards forwards replacements. They’re going to ask those questions over an 80-minute period.
‘So I think that lesson, of knowing that we’re going to have to step up to the physical task to even be in with a chance on the big day, has been a massive lesson for us.
‘Of course we’ve always had the players with the skillset in our back line and stuff like that and maybe they always take the headlines.
‘But I think the work, the development of our forward pack in particular has given us a chance to compete in these games that we want to compete in.
‘I would just give a massive pat on the back to our forward pack. They know the challenge that’s ahead on Saturday in the South African pack — they’re world-renowned for what they put out physically.
‘So I’m really excited for our forward pack to challenge against the best on Saturday. If we’re going to win, they have to be definitely in the game and get parity for us.’
Given that South Africa have made 10 changes from last week’s win over England, some have claimed that this is closer to a Boks B team.
Gregor Townsend has been boosted by the return of fly-half Finn Russell this weekend
There is certainly an element of truth in that. They are without star names such as Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Cheslin Kolbe among several others.
Those three players alone would make it into a world XV. The problem is that even the Boks’ B team is still good enough to beat most other nations’ A team.
Scotland will be huge underdogs, but the same was said of Glasgow Warriors at this venue a couple of years ago.
In the URC Final, they went to Loftus and pulled off a huge shock to beat the Bulls on their own patch.
Granted, doing that against the Springboks is another matter altogether. But there’s a quiet confidence within the Scotland camp.
All the more so given that Finn Russell is back in the team at fly-half. For all the depth that now exists with Tom Jordan and Fergus Burke, Russell remains the star man.
‘It’s great to have Finn back,’ said Tuipulotu. ‘The things that he can do, no one else in the world can do.
‘To have one of those guys in your team, just to have him on your team-sheet, he lifts the rest of the boys, and you feel it around camp.
‘So I’m massively excited as a captain to have him back involved and I’ve noticed the boys are as well.
‘I know he’s been really excited to play in what is a huge game. His skillset is unique and, playing outside him, I’ve adapted to that over these past few years.’
Without Russell against Argentina last week, Scotland proved they are much more than just a one-man show.
But if he could produce some magic this afternoon, it would go a long way to claiming an historic win. Either way, this should be a cracker.
