As Rugby Park was being transformed for the final viagogo Autumn Test against Tonga on Saturday, Tim Visser, the Scotland winger, admitted he will be out for revenge in Kilmarnock when he makes his return to the side.
Visser, who comes into the team as a replacement for hamstring injury victim Sean Maitland, was in the side which suffered an embarrassing 15-21 loss to the Tongans in Aberdeen almost exactly two years ago and the Edinburgh wing said yesterday that this weekend's game is a chance to make amends for the loss that led to the departure of Andy Robinson as head coach.
"Definitely this is a chance to put things right," said Dutch-born Visser, who has scored seven tries in 14 international outings since becoming eligible to play for Scotland in June 2012. "It was a bad day for Scottish rugby because we lost our coach that day. It is quite personal for me, because it's the same team, at the end of the autumn internationals again."
Current coach Vern Cotter has made three other changes, all injury enforced, to the side that lost 24-16 to the All Blacks last weekend, introducing Sean Lamont for Mark Bennett at centre, Geoff Cross for Euan Murray at prop and Johnnie Beattie for Adam Ashe at No.8. Cotter agreed with Visser that the memories of what happened two years ago had been driving players on in training this week.
"I think there's a genuine feeling from the players who took part," said the New Zealander, although he emphasised that most of the side's preparations had focused on the Tonga side of today rather than the one they faced two years ago.
Saturday's Test at Rugby Park, which is expected to be a sell-out, will be the first time a Tier 1 rugby nation has played a full Test on an artificial surface, and both Visser and Cotter admitted they had mixed feelings about the prospect.
Visser said: "I don't think it's better for stepping. You have to side-step completely differently. Rather than being able to side-step with an extended leg and get good feedback from it, you tend to almost stick your leg out and suddenly you're standing still."
Cotter suggested that the hybrid pitch laid at Murrayfield recently is the way forward for the sport.
"Synthetic surfaces are great, but what we have at Murrayfield is perfect," said the coach. "The hybrid is a combination of two great ideas and technology."
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