Assistant coach Pieter de Villiers has promised that Scotland won’t hide from the set-piece battle against the Springboks in Marseille on Sunday.

The Scottish open their World Cup campaign against the defending champions at Stade Marseille in the second game of the Pool B clashes of the tournament.

Siya Kolisi is expected to captain a Bok side with a World Cup-winning front row of Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Frans Malherbe, and a likely six-two split on the bench that includes the powerful Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch.

The Scots have lost their last seven Tests to South Africa and have never beaten the Boks in the World Cup, and speaking to media this week, De Villiers told reporters: “They are world champions, but it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to play against them.

“They did well against the All Blacks [in a record win at Twickenham] and excelled in their strengths which is the set-piece and defence.

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“We know what will be coming our way. Each team has got different super-strengths.

“It’s about the team that is going to do the best in bringing those to the table and making sure we impose how we want to play. That’s really important.”

SA-born De Villiers played in two World Cups for France (1999 and 2007) earning 69 caps in an eight-year Test career, which also brought four Six Nations titles.

He moved into coaching after his retirement in 2008, and previously helped the Boks as scrum coach in 2012.

Hoping fellow SA natives WP Nel and Pierre Schoeman will match the physicality of SA for the Scots, De Villiers added: “There will be some tactical and strategic things that are specific to South Africa. But we also want to keep doing things the way we have been doing them.

“You can never hide from the set-piece. It is about taking them on, it’s always about that one-on-one physicality. There is no hiding in the set-piece.”

Photo: @Scotlandteam