WHEN you are competing against someone who was born in Bethlehem, you could be forgiven for believing you’re bound to come off second best. But Scotland prop Gordon Reid - whose opposite number, Jannie du Plessis, is a native of the South African town of that name - is confident that he can hold his own when the teams meet this afternoon.

Du Plessis, whose brother Bismarck is at hooker for the Springboks today, is a qualified doctor and until recently combined that profession with rugby. It would be fair to say, however, that he has never practised much healing on the pitch: one of the toughest tight-head props in world rugby, the 32-year-old epitomises the hard scrummaging ethos so cherished in South African rugby.

But Reid, who has had to wait patiently for his chance in the Rugby World Cup after being left out of Scotland’s first two matches, is confident he can make his mark. “This’ll be my first time against South Africa,” he said. “They definitely pride themselves in the scrummage, they’re big physical boys, they rate themselves in scrum and lineout drives.

“They’re not tougher than the rest - they’re bigger than other teams, big physical human beings but no different to the other teams. We just need to stand up and fight hard.

“I just need to be solid. You can look at all the analysis on the individual you’re up against, but when it comes to the game, things change.

“I just need to stick to that. If there’s a time to attack him, I go for it. If there’s a time to just sit and hold and be stationary, then I’ll do that.”

Although some key players have been left out of the Scotland team this week, every member of the 31-man squad has played a part in preparation, according to Reid. “The rest of the team are your family. People piss you off - Dunky Weir did the other day and you’re annoyed and you could punch him, but you’d also punch and kick for him.

“You’d stand up for your team-mates and you’ve got each other’s backs. As soon as you step on that park you’re there for your fellow players.

“The Band of Brothers it is. Ryan Grant’s not in the squad this week, but he’s there all the time, he’s encouraging me, there for me and asking whatever I need. I don’t know other teams but we have that - we’re building a culture the way Glasgow have.”

Reid, his Glasgow team-mate Richie Vernon, and Edinburgh scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne have had to wait patiently to get involved after being left out of the squad. The prop admitted that at times he had a nagging feeling he would go through the competition without being involved, but said there was never any way he would give

“I’m not going to lie - it was always in my head,” he said. “But you can’t get uptight, you have to be there for the team. There’s hundreds and thousands of people who would kill to be in this position.

“Not to have been involved last week, I was down and I was annoyed, but you just have to get through and pray you can get your chance. Me and Sam spoke a few times - Sam was always there to say ‘Just calm down, we’ll get there, we’re working together’.

“We went for a coffee, chilled out, did something different. We’ve just had to go to the pictures, or bowling or something - just have a bit of fun coming away from the rugby.

“This is what we do for a living. You can’t go out on the town and get bladdered.”