Who is the best try-scorer in the current Scotland squad? Duhan van der Merwe, who scored two of the team’s five against Georgia on Saturday to take his personal tally to 20, a total which puts him fifth equal on the country’s all-time list?
Or Darcy Graham, who sat out the 33-6 victory because of a minor injury? He is at present on 19 tries, and has openly talked of the race with Van der Merwe to reach and then surpass Stuart Hogg’s record of 27.
Or is it Kyle Steyn, whose touchdown at Murrayfield took his own tally to nine from just 13 appearances? That looks like a more modest tally, but is in fact a better ratio than either Van der Merwe (whose 20 tries have come from 31 caps) or Graham (19 from 35).
And - a related but by no means identical question - which two wingers should start against South Africa in Scotland’s opening pool game of the Rugby World Cup a week on Sunday? A winger’s role is only partly about finishing, and when it comes to defence, Glasgow captain Steyn is arguably a more solid option than either of his Edinburgh rivals.
But Steyn also just failed to score another try against Georgia, knocking on as he crossed the line under heavy pressure from the visitors’ defence. No-one could say with any certainty that either Graham or Van der Merwe would have completed the score, but the former is the most elusive runner of the three and the latter is the harder to dispossess. So, by the same token, it would be by no means certain that either of those two would also have failed to complete the score.
Steyn was himself carrying a minor injury last week, and only came into the side to play Georgia when Graham was ruled out. Speaking after that match, the 29-year-old admitted he faced a very difficult battle to get into the starting line-up against the Springboks.
“Those 11 and 14 jerseys are tough to come by, so I’m just happy to have made it competitive,” he said. “Duhan got two [tries against Georgia], and he and Darcy are closing in on the all-time record.
“At least I can hang my hat on the fact that I could have been out there. So if it’s not to be, it’s not to be.
“I’ve not played against South Africa before. So we’ll see what happens in the next two weeks, but I’d love a crack against them.”
The world champions inflicted a record 35-7 defeat on New Zealand at the weekend in a devastating performance that will make them stronger favourites than ever to beat Scotland when the teams meet in Marseille a week on Sunday. But Steyn, who watched that Twickenham match on TV with the rest of the national squad, does not think that will be a bad thing for his side.
“Credit to them, you don’t often see an All Blacks side blown away like that. Yeah, we probably are going in as underdogs and we’re quite happy to be that. But it’s a weird one, because I feel like we’ve got a little bit more confidence than that. There’s a good amount of belief in this group.”
Like Van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel, Steyn was born in South Africa - he qualifies for Scotland as his mother, Gillian, is from Glasgow. But he insisted that, on this occasion at least, neither he nor his team-mates were supporting either team - although he acknowledged that it is sometimes a different matter when the squad are watching a match together.
“Anyone bar England is normally the [attitude]. Whether you’re South African or Scottish, that’s kind of the same.
“In the Six Nations it’s easy, because you can kind of use the table as a guide - whichever one favours Scotland a bit more. But in Tests like these, I’m not too fazed.”
Yesterday the Springboks launched a campaign to encourage schools across the country to wear the team colours of green and gold on Fridays in the run-up to and during the World Cup. Students, teachers and other staff throughout the republic will be urged to unite behind the hashtag BokFriday.
“We'd love it if everyone could join the #BokFriday movement,” South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said. “We believe in bringing hope to the country and it'd be great if the country could give us extra inspiration and motivation. Please, just wear it!”
Steyn, meanwhile, has been working hard at his own campaign - to get his family back home to support Scotland. “I’m converting as many of them as possible!,” he said. “I’ve even got some friends that are saying they’re going to support Scotland. We’ll see what happens come game day - I’ll be asking for selfies of everyone on the day to see what they’re wearing.”
