Scots looking for cushion

Pool B: Scotland need to establish a gap between themselves and Fiji when they meet the United States in Brisbane today.

The Scots were surprised by Japan in their opening game and were leading by only 15-11 with 15 minutes to go before scoring three late tries and winning 32-11.

Fiji, who are likely to challenge Scotland for the runners-up spot in Pool B when they meet in Sydney on November 1st, looked dangerous before losing to France 61-18 but only just beat the United States 19-18 in Brisbane.

The Americans could have won that game if outhalf Mike Hercus had landed a sideline conversion in injury time and have also had strong form leading into the tournament, something Scotland coach Ian McGeechan is acutely aware of.

"I think they are well organised, they're big players, they've got a lot of experience and I thought they played Fiji very well," McGeechan said.

"I thought they made Fiji very uncomfortable and no doubt will want to do the same against us."

McGeechan has made nine player and one positional change from the side that beat Japan.

US coach Tom Billups, who named an unchanged starting XV for the game, said his side's good showing against Fiji had been the product of the work the side had done before the tournament and they still expected to build on the performance. But he said he also expected Scotland to improve.

"I would expect that Scotland will be much better than they were against Japan and we've been preparing for that," he said.

"There were a lot of unforced errors in that game and we're not planning on the Scots making nearly as many on Monday night."

SCOTLAND: G Metcalfe; S Danielli, A Craig, A Henderson, C Paterson; G Townsend, M Blair; S Taylor, J Petrie, R Beattie, S Grimes, N Hines, G Kerr, G Bulloch (captain), T Smith. Replacements: R Russell, B Douglas, J White, M Leslie, B Redpath, B Hinshelwood, K Logan.

UNITED STATES: P Emerick; D Fee, P Eloff, K Cross, R van Zyl; M Hercus, K Dalzell; D Lyle, D Hodges (captain), K Schubert, L Gross, A Parker, D Dorsey, K Khasigian, M MacDonald. Replacements: M Wyatt, R Liddington, J Gouws, O Fifita, K Kjar, J Keyter, L Wilfley.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).

ScotlandvUSA