Grimes not ready to throw in towel

Scotland lock Stuart Grimes believes the battle for supremacy in the tight five could hold the key to victory in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final showdown with Australia at Suncorp Stadium.

After staggering into the last eight courtesy of their late, late show against Fiji, the Scots have been written off ahead of their encounter with the hosts and holders, with virtually no-one giving them a chance of emulating their 1991 semi-final appearance.

Yet Grimes insists the Tartan Army can raise their game sufficiently to cause Australia the same kind of problems they encountered against Ireland at the weekend.

And it is in the engine room of the side, in recent times Scotland’s main strength, where the giant 29-year-old feels the real damage can be done.

“We didn’t quite dominate as we would have liked against Fiji on Saturday but the tight five performance was better than it had been in the earlier pool games,” said the Newcastle second-row.

“That is quite important because the scrum and the line-outs are a major focus for us and we will need to be at our best in those areas this weekend.”

While accepting their underdog status, the Scottish camp were heartened at the way Ireland made the Wallabies look distinctly ordinary in Melbourne.

If the Irish had played the percentages in the final minutes, Brisbane would have been hosting a Celtic gathering on Saturday.

Instead, Scotland must steel themselves to face a team who have a point to prove to their growing number of critics, including former coach Bob Dwyer, who have claimed they cannot hold onto their crown.

Dwyer has called for mass changes from current chief Eddie Jones, although Grimes does not believe that will happen.

“Australia seem to have had a reasonably settled side for quite a while now, so I would expect it to be roughly the same as against Ireland,” he said.

“People are talking about us suffering a backlash from what happened in Melbourne but I am not too sure about that. They did win the game after all.

“In any case, one performance won’t change my opinion of how good they are. The Wallabies are a quality side and have been for quite a long time now.

“We have played them four times recently and they have been formidable every time.

“I certainly don’t see any particular weaknesses. They are good all round the park, so it will have to be a collective effort from us to beat them.”

Coach Ian McGeechan confined his squad to a weights session only after heading up to Brisbane from Sydney yesterday and has decided to delay his team announcement until Thursday to give number eight Simon Taylor every chance to recover from his mystery knee injury.

The Lions back-row had soreness in his left knee when he woke up yesterday, although a scan has left the Scottish camp optimistic Taylor will be available to face the Aussies.