Hadden thinking outside the Boks

'This is a great opportunity for a crack at them'

Scotland coach Frank Hadden is convinced his team can record their first victory over the Springboks on South African soil, when the two sides meet at ABSA Stadium in Durban on Saturday in the first of two Test matches.

Hadden and his squad touched down at Johannesburg International for a brief meeting with journalists on Monday morning before boarding a connecting flight to Durban to prepare for the clash.

And Hadden said: "This is a great opportunity for a crack at them. We have not turned up just for the sake of it and this is also an important part of our World Cup preparation.

"To get a victory we will need to do a lot of good things and be on top of our game throughout the 80 minutes."

However, he did admit that it would be a "massive achievement" if Scotland were to beat the side ranked second in the world.

"We obviously need to respect South Africa, being ranked number two in the world, and that shows how much they have improved since we played them here in 2003," said Hadden.

"We are coming here to challenge and it would be a massive achievement if we could win."

Captain Jason White believes his team can carry on their Six Nations Championship form – where they managed victories over France and England – in South Africa and surprise the locals.

"It has been a long season and we have had a good Six Nations campaign. The good thing for us is this tour is two Tests and hopefully we can carry on our improvement here," said White.

The second Test is in Port Elizabeth on June 17.

South Africa's domestic international programme also includes a one-off Test against France a week later before the Tri-Nations.