A FULLY-FIT Scotland squad with a whole week of preparation behind it is ready to go head to head with Samoa and claim a place in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, according to assistant coach Duncan Hodge.

The team have had the customary seven days to prepare for a Test match for the first time at the tournament, having had four days then six days for their second and third games in Pool B. With the entire squad of 31 available for selection after hooker Ross Ford and centre Matt Scott passed their final fitness tests, Hodge is sure that Scotland are in good shape to take on the Samoans in Newcastle this afternoon.

“It’s been great to have a seven-day turnaround, have a proper training week,” Hodge said yesterday. “We’ve had a solid day Monday, a big day Tuesday, big day yesterday. So we’ve been able to cover more detail than we’ve probably had [for the] first three games, so that’s been a big plus.

“And having pretty much a full squad to pick from has been a big benefit as well. So it’s been good.”

A win today will guarantee Scotland a last-eight match at Twickenham on Sunday week against the winners of tonight’s Pool A game between Australia and Wales. A draw or a defeat would also be enough provided they finish either ahead of, or level on points with, Japan, who play the United States tomorrow night in Gloucester.

But neither the coaches nor the players are contemplating such permutations. After losing last week to South Africa, who went on to win the pool by beating the USA on Wednesday, Scotland want to end their pool games on a high and go into the knockout stages in the best possible frame of mind.

“Last Saturday we would admit that we probably lost out physically up front,” Hodge continued. “If you don’t front up against any team you’re likely to finish second best. That is definitely true of Samoa.

“That’s something we expect of them, something we’ve talked about and trained for. Now it’s up to us to cut out the talking and do it on the pitch. We know they will come hard and come physical in that first half-hour for sure.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice at the weekend. Now we’re on to a winner-takes-all.”

Samoa are out of the running for a place in the last eight, but Hodge does not expect them to lie down and accept defeat meekly. “We know that they will be physical. Some of their set-piece work has been good - they have proven try-scorers out there.

“Tim Nanai-Williams at the back is an exceptional player. We’re well aware of their strengths. Kahn Fotuali’i is a great player as well.

“We have stuff in place to counter that. We have to impose our game as well. We look at the profile of their team and we set down our game plan as well.

“It’s extremely simple. We need to win the game. There are no grey areas at all. We know how we need to perform, and that is at the top of our game and to the best of our abilities. If we do that then hopefully we can get the job done.”

The man with arguably the biggest role to play in getting that job done is Russell - a player into whom Hodge, as a former stand-off himself, has a particular insight.

“He’s had a tricky ten days after being injured,” the coach said of the Glasgow back. “He made mistakes in the first two games, but he did some great things as well. We’re looking forward to seeing him back on the pitch, running the game for us and making good decisions.”