Scotland will be taking on USA in a Pool B game of the 2015 Rugby World Cup at the Elland Road in Yorkshire on Sunday.
Scotland will be coming into the match after they literally demolished Japan (45-10) in their first game of the group stage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and will be riding high on momentum.
On the other hand, Samoa, got the better off USA (25-16) in their first encounter at Birmingham. USA did play well against Samoa but their opponent was too strong to hold them off. But on Sunday, they will have a tougher task ahead of them when they will take on the Scottish Rugby side.
Scotland coach Vern Cotter has decided to rest many of his key players for the upcoming fixture against USA and he has made 10 changes in total. All the players who were on the bench while Scotland played Japan will make a start in the game.
"We said from the start that we'd need the whole group of 31 players for this campaign. We've known this schedule for a long time and have tried to keep continuity in selection, while also introducing fresh legs to what will be another very physical challenge this Sunday. I was pleased with both the commitment and composure against Japan, particularly towards the end of the game, however we are always working and looking for things on which to improve. Hopefully we'll see the result of that this Sunday in another very important Test match in our pool," Cotter told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.
Meanwhile, head coach Mike Tolkin will be aware of the facts that hurt them badly while they lost against Samoa in their first game of Pool B. He would want to rectify them as quickly as possible and wil be looking forward for an upset in the group, which is highly unlikely. South Africa few days ago were stunned by Japan as well, so Tolkin will have to pump his players up.
"The scrum was once again a good platform of attack and the lineout had a few hiccups, which was unfortunate as it cost us on four occasions. Fenoglio's logged a lot of minutes as starter and Thiel is a little fresher. They are both very good and virtually even, so we thought this was a good time to get Phil in as a starter and have Zach add punch off the bench. We have the capability to do some dynamic things with ball in hand, with both power and pace. We'd like to make this a more consistent, potent weapon. Scotland, like everyone, has weaknesses and we need to exploit them effectively with both of those tools," Tolkin said.
Teams:
Scotland: Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Mark Bennett, Peter Horne, Tim Visser, Finn Russell, Henry Pyrgos (captain); Ryan Grant, Ross Ford, Jon Welsh, Richie Gray, Grant Gilchrist, Alasdair Strokosch, Ryan Wilson, Josh Strauss.
Replacements: Kevin Bryce, Alasdair Dickinson, Willem Nel, Tim Swinson, Fraser Brown, Greig Laidlaw, Duncan Weir, Matt Scott.
USA: Chris Wyles (captain), Takudzwa Ngwenya, Seamus Kelly, Thretton Palamo, Blaine Scully, AJ MacGinty, Mike Petri; Eric Fry, Phil Thiel, Titi Lamositele, Hayden Smith, Greg Peterson, Al McFarland, Andrew Durutalo, Samu Manoa.
Replacements: Zach Fenoglio, Oli Kilifi, Chris Baumann, Cam Dolan, John Quill, Danny Barrett, Shalom Suniula, Folau Niue.
Where to Watch Live:
Scotland vs USA is scheduled for an 2:30pm BST (7pm IST, 2pm ET) start. The Rugby World Cup Pool B match will be shown in India on Sony Six.
Viewers in the UK and Ireland can watch the match live on ITV1, with the live stream option on ITV Player.
Sky Sport will show the match live in New Zealand, while the action can also be watched via live streaming on Sky Go NZ.
Viewers in Australia can watch Scotland vs USA live on Fox Sports 2, with the live stream option on Foxtel Play.
Pool B match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between Scotland & USA will be shown live in South Africa on SuperSport, while the live stream option is on SuperSport Live Video.
Audience in the USA can watch the rugby World Cup match live on Universal Sports, while the big game can also be live streamed on Universal Sports Online.
Audience in Canada can watch the game live on TSN, while the action can also be live streamed on TSN TV.
