GRATITUDE, however, heartfelt, only goes so far.

So don't expect the debt Nili Latu, the Tongan captain feels towards Vern Cotter, the Scotland coach, to make the slightest difference when the two run across each other for the first time since they were winning things together at Bay of Plenty in New Zealand.

"I am very thankful to Vern for giving me the opportunity," said Latu. "At the time there were a lot of good No.7s but I was hungry to get there and Vern gave me the chance. I worked with him for four years and they were four great years - we won the [Ranfurly] Shield challenge in New Zealand [beating Auckland] and played some semi-final rugby before he went over to Clermont. I have a a lot of respect for him - but not this week. I will shake his hand at the end, though."

Having experienced Cotter in the early stages of his coaching career, Latu is in a position to understand what lies in store for the Scotland players, with Cotter in the early stages of his international career.

"I know a bit about Vern and the way he coaches and I can see that with Scotland at the moment," Latu said. "He was quiet, but when he delivered his message you knew that he meant business. It is Vern's way or get out of his way. He spoke about what he wanted and that was perfection - he demanded that from all of us."

Interestingly, one thing Cotter was willing and able to do was exploit any chips players may have had on their shoulders. "What made that group different from any other group was that we all belonged to other unions - I am from the Auckland area but never got the chance to play for Auckland. Vern made sure he used that as a weapon, that your home union didn't want you and basically you were nothing," Latu recalled.

"He wanted to rebuild the confidence, the character, in each and every single one of our players. That was probably the most enjoyable time of my rugby career - being under somebody who was very demanding, though there was an element of fear as well."

Now, Latu is looking to repay all that by repeating his team's win over Scotland from two years ago. If they pull it off, it will be the third time a Pacific Island team would have beaten Scotland since the last Rugby World Cup. It would create a piece of history by being the first time one of the Island nations has come back from a European tour with a 100 per cent winning record.

"It is always hard to go on tour and get wins away from home, especially the one against Georgia in Georgia," he said. "We will learn from our mistakes and get better. We performed a bit better against the USA but we are still not happy, we still made mistakes. That is what this week is leading into, putting those two weeks together and then we can put in a complete performance."

One secret to the win over Scotland in Aberdeen was a familiarisation session the night before the game when everybody was encouraged to talk to the group about their background, their families, what representing their country meant to them - the emotion ran high and a few tears were shed.

"Being a Tongan, and knowing how we feel and react to each other, if we had blown the whistle to start the game straight after that meeting it wouldn't have mattered what team we were up against, I knew the boys were ready to go," Latu said.

They are planning something similar again. Latu's gratitude to Cotter does not extend to giving his team an easy ride.