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The surprising way Scotland like to celebrate a win
Jamie Ritchie says it is only right Scotland sing when they are winning after getting their World Cup campaign back on track.
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The Dark Blues players could be heard belting out a number of songs from inside their dressing room as they celebrated hitting all the right notes during Monday’s 34-0 triumph over Samoa.
It was a moment when the tension that has threatened to strangle the squad in the wake of their disastrous defeat to Ireland was released.
And flanker Ritchie believes those moments of team harmony are crucial if Scotland are to remain on song during the rest of the tournament.
He said: “Every time we get a win we sing a couple of songs just as a group to connect afterwards and to celebrate.
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“I think it’s important we do that. We talk about being a really tight-knit group and that’s part of that.
“It was good to get the win and it was good to have that chance to enjoy it, especially in a tournament like this when you spend a lot of time together preparing for matches.
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“When these good times come around you have to make the most of them.
“I think that team spirit has been key to getting us through the last week. There’s been a lot of outside noise coming in but there has also been a few honest conversations inside the camp.
“For us to keep each other going has been great and the celebrations after games like Monday’s shows just how collected we are.”
Scotland faced a humiliating early exit after their shocking display against the Irish was compounded by Japan’s stunning upset win over Joe Schmidt’s men.
Scotland got the all-important bonus point against Samoa but it was far from convincing from Gregor Townsend's men. Here's how we rated the players.https://t.co/dbkpB9Xw6A
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Gregor Townsend’s were faced with requiring three bonus point wins to rescue qualification for the last eight but their display against the Samoans at the Misaki Stadium has delivered the first of those extras.
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And Ritchie believes Scotland are profiting from their refusal to panic in the face of that daunting challenge.
“Before we went out to face Samoa, we spoke about winning the game first and then if the opportunity was there we’d go for the four tries,” said the back-rower, whose side face Russia a week on Wednesday and then Japan four days later.
“We went in at half-time 20-0 up and the bonus point got mentioned in the shed.
“We talked about not going for points so much and instead going for the tries. We looked like scoring more than we actually did so it bodes well going forward. We knew we needed to perform this week. We all had belief that we could so getting the job done feels good.
“We talked about the Ireland game in the first couple of days after the game and tried to put it behind us. Obviously it got brought up a couple of times as we needed to react in a few areas but I think we did that on Monday night.
“I think that’s a truer reflection of what the team is about than Yokohama. If we can back it up it will be. We can’t afford to flit in and out of form like we have done.
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“We played reasonably well in the warm-up games but then didn’t perform at all against Ireland. We need to back this win over Samoa up with another good performance against Russia.
“To nil Samoa, the first time they haven’t scored a point in a World Cup match, is a huge stat for us to have. Defence is going to be a huge part of our game going forward, especially against Japan in the final game.
“You saw what they did to Ireland so if we can defend like we did on Monday then hopefully that will be a great game.”
Scotland react to Samoa win
