Gregor Townsend insists Scotland are ready to throw caution to the wind in a bid get their Rugby World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

The dark blues head coach is adamant his side will thrive on their underdog tag against current holders South Africa on Sunday afternoon in a Pool B opener in Marseille which has been billed the group of death. Clashes with Tonga and Romania are on the horizon before a final group clash against world number ones Ireland with the odds stacked up against Scotland progressing to the quarter-final stage.

But Townsend is adamant his team relish the challenge of triumphing over adversity and he’s told his players to pull off the shackles and perform as though there’s nothing to lose. He said: “The underdog tag was something we mentioned when we played France away last month in a warm-up game. We had nothing to lose in that game. We were playing the favourites for the World Cup in front of their own supporters and we said to go out there and play like there was nothing to lose.

“For a lot of that game we did that and almost came away with a win, so that mindset is a good one to have. We also need the mindset that we can win and if we’re ahead in the game, we need to put the foot down and keep playing, keep doing the things that got us ahead.

“You’ve got to balance that underdog spirit with the mindset that we’re here to win. It’s an opportunity for us, that’s the way we are looking at it. There are big games at the World Cup and you have to play at your best to beat the best teams.”

Scotland’s failure to progress past the group stage at the previous World Cup in Japan remains a fresh stain on his record as national boss but he was unrestrained when asked what he expects against the Springboks and what success would look like in the weeks ahead. He said: “Success? Winning. Winning at the weekend. We have belief in them and it’s a great opportunity for them to go out and do that.

“Delivering what we believe we are capable of, and doing that for longer periods. When you talk in those terms it is probably interpreted as only in attack. It’s not. It’s defence, it’s managing when times go against you at set-piece, it’s leadership, it’s all those things, and we’ve got enough evidence over the past 12 months that we are about to do that.

“We will be tested, no doubt. There will be times when South Africa have dominance, South Africa have points on the board. There will be times when we aren’t able to execute things as well as we like and that’s not because it’s the first game of the World Cup it’s because of the opposition and what they bring with their pressure. But we’ve got to find a way to win and that’s what this World Cup is about, finding a way to win. So success is obviously winning.

“It’s the biggest opportunity you’ll get: a World Cup game, playing the world champions. We believe we’ve been building to our best performance and I know that’s a continual journey, they have been delivering in other games, in games we’ve played this year, and we have every faith they will be able to do that.”

Townsend has made six changes from the side which recently defeated Georgia as Blair Kinghorn returns and Pierre Schoeman, George Turner and Zander Fagerson return to the front row and lock Richie Gray comes back in. Scotland will miss Ewan Ashman and George Horne who both sustained training injuries.