Scotland captain John Barclay: "I need to prove I deserve to be involved against Japan”

John Barclay insists he is not looking beyond Thursday's encounter with Russia, despite Scotland's looming - and intriguing - Pool A denouement against Japan.

Barclay started in Scotland's dismal opening loss to Ireland and was dropped from the match-day squad for the much-improved win over Samoa.

But he will captain Scotland against Russia in Shizuoka tomorrow as head coach Gregor Townsend makes 14-changes. Townsend is seeking to rest key players ahead of the showdown with Japan just four days later.

The flanker (pictured) says he "needs to prove" he deserves to be involved against Japan in Yokohama, but is first and foremost focused on getting a job done against Russia.

Barclay said: "I have been frustrated since the Ireland game.

"The whole game was frustrating, but it’s part of being a rugby player.

“Samoa was the first time I have been left out of the squad since I returned to the fold. It’s been tough.

“The big game for me is Russia - all my focus is on Russia. I have no idea what the team will be for Japan.

Here are @Scotlandteam warming up before captain's run at superb #Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa where they play Russia tomorrow

Sean Maitland, who appears briefly, sat out the session with a tight groin but defence coach Matt Taylor is "confident he will be fine for Japan"#RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/wAM4g2kRlM

— Bryn Palmer (@ABCBrynPalmer) October 8, 2019

“I guess the reality is that the guys who are playing against Russia will be on the outskirts for the next game.

“It doesn’t take much to work out. But, equally, for the guys who are playing against Russia there is huge motivation to get involved for that Japan match.

“The reality is there will need to be a big performance and I need to prove I deserve to be involved against Japan.”

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Russia frustrated Ireland for long stretches of their clash in Kobe, making the Irish sweat over a bonus-point. Scotland need a bonus-point against the Bears too; get that under their belts and they will trail Japan by four points going into their match in Yokohama.

But Barclay impressed upon his team the importance of not chasing the four tries too hard during Wednesday's captain's run at the Stadium Ecopa in Shizuoka.

"I’ve played enough of these games where if you try to score four tries before you score one you can get in a bit of trouble," he said.

"We’re not thinking about that early on. If it gets to 70 minutes and we’ve scored one that might become the case but we have to back ourselves and not try to score the fourth before we’ve scored the third.

Scotland need a bonus point against Russia, but captain John Barclay tells me they won’t be “trying to score the 4th before we’ve scored the 3rd”.

“Russia make things niggly & awkward. We have to back our skills. We believe our fitness will be superior.”#SCOvRUS #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/Wt6i2LvzhQ

— Tom Bradshaw (@TomBradshaw1979) October 8, 2019

"We need to back our skills, grind them down; we believe our fitness will be superior to theirs. We’ll back ourselves and we’re confident, but we’ve seen the trouble Russia have given every team they’ve played.

"They’re physical, hard at the breakdown, they make things niggly and awkward. When they have the ball they’re abrasive and direct, and they’re hard. We’re under no illusions about it."