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Jamie Ritchie says it is only right Scotland sing when they are winning after getting their World Cup campaign back on track.<\/p>\nJamie Ritchie says it is only right Scotland sing when they are winning after getting their World Cup campaign back on track.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 34-0 triumph over Samoa.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
And flanker Ritchie believes those moments of team harmony are crucial if Scotland are to remain on song during the rest of the tournament.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cEvery time we get a win we sing a couple of songs just as a group to connect afterwards and to celebrate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s important we do that. We talk about being a really tight-knit group and that\u2019s part of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen these good times come around you have to make the most of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that team spirit has been key to getting us through the last week. There\u2019s been a lot of outside noise coming in but there has also been a few honest conversations inside the camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us to keep each other going has been great and the celebrations after games like Monday\u2019s shows just how collected we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scotland faced a humiliating early exit after their shocking display against the Irish was compounded by Japan\u2019s stunning upset win over Joe Schmidt\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
Gregor Townsend\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
And Ritchie believes Scotland are profiting from their refusal to panic in the face of that daunting challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we went out to face Samoa, we spoke about winning the game first and then if the opportunity was there we\u2019d go for the four tries,\u201d said the back-rower, whose side face Russia a week on Wednesday and then Japan four days later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went in at half-time 20-0 up and the bonus point got mentioned in the shed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talked about not going for points so much and instead going for the tries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe looked like scoring more than we actually did so it bodes well going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew we needed to perform this week. We all had belief that we could so getting the job done feels good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talked about the Ireland game in the first couple of days after the game and tried to put it behind us.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s a truer reflection of what the team is about than Yokohama. If we can back it up it will be. We can\u2019t afford to flit in and out of form like we have done.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played reasonably well in the warm-up games but then didn\u2019t perform at all against Ireland. We need to back this win over Samoa up with another good performance against Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo nil Samoa, the first time they haven\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw what they did to Ireland so if we can defend like we did on Monday then hopefully that will be a great game.\u201d<\/p>\n