Scotland are probably still having nightmares about their hellish opening seven minutes against Italy in the spring. That day the home side were stung by three converted tries within the first seven minutes and the result led to them picking up the wooden spoon at the end of the tournament.

Nevertheless, coach Frank Hadden has greatly improved Scotland’s organisation and made them stubborn opponents since taking over in April 2005. But the key to how far they go in the World Cup will be their ability to make greater use of their possession.

The World Cup draw has given the Scots some comfort with their final Pool C game against Italy giving them every chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, which they have never failed to do in the history of the tournament.

And if Scotland do beat the Italians, assuming they have finished behind runaway favourites New Zealand, they will avoid the other Tri-Nations sides in the last eight. A clash against the winners of the group involving France, Ireland and Argentina gives Scotland a fighting chance of equalling their best performance in the tournament so far, when they lost to England in the 1991 semi-finals.

• Simon Taylor
  Taylor, who will be playing for Stade Francais this season, has returned to the form that saw him hailed as the golden boy of Scottish rugby following an injury-plagued period in his career. The backrower played a pivotal role during the last two Six Nations campaigns and won his 50th cap in this year’s victory over Wales at Murrayfield. The number eight suffered a serious knee injury in the final Six Nations clash against Ireland in 2004 which kept him out for a year. After a hamstring injury forced him to return home from the Lions tour of New Zealand in 2005, Taylor then suffered a knee injury that saw him sidelined for six months last year. But the 27-year-old, whose work-rate and physical presence will be vital for the Scots, has recently fought back to his best. His tackling will be crucial and he carries a threat inside the opposition 22.
• Chris Cusiter
  Cusiter has three times suffered serious injuries while playing for Scotland and has faced a battle with Mike Blair for the number nine jersey. So the 25-year-old will be keen to make up for lost time in his first World Cup and prove he is among the best scrumhalves in the game. He has the pace to move Scotland forward, is tenacious in the tackle and his delivery is efficient. The Perpignan summer recruit showed his class in a solid performance against England earlier this year despite having made just one club appearance for Borders following a four-month lay-off with a shoulder injury. Scots will be hoping the recent injury picked up against Ireland will not hamper his World Cup preparations too much.
• Jason White
  Backrow forward White has proved himself an inspirational leader for Scotland but he will have little match practice before the World Cup after recovering from a serious knee injury. White skippered Scotland to victories over England and France in 2006 before rupturing his cruciate ligament against Romania in November. He is one of the hardest tacklers in the world game and his last-ditch tackling was vital to the Scots in those famous Six Nations triumphs. Scotland will hope White is back in the groove for their final and most crucial group game against Italy so they can cut out the loose play that cost them defeat against the Azzurri earlier this year.

• Forwards
  John Barclay, Kelly Brown, Dave Callum, Ross Ford, Jim Hamilton, Nathan Hines, Allister Hogg, Allan Jacobsen, Gavin Kerr, Scott Lawson, Scott MacLeod, Euan Murray, Scott Murray, Craig Smith, Simon Taylor, Fergus Thomson, Jason White (captain)
• Backs
  Mike Blair, Chris Cusiter, Rob Dewey, Marcus Di Rollo, Andrew Henderson, Rory Lamont, Sean Lamont, Rory Lawson, Dan Parks, Chris Paterson, Hugo Southwell, Nikki Walker, Simon Webster.