Forget Fiji, the biggest challenge for Scotland’s players this afternoon, when they play the Pacific Island nation at Murrayfield is to show that they can live with expectation. In his first game as head coach, Andy Robinson, has laid down the standards he is demanding and has made it clear that he will not accept players falling short.

On paper, it is a dangerous match for his side. Fiji are a place ahead of Scotland in the international rankings and the last time the teams met, during the 2003 World Cup, they were in the lead until the 77th minute.

Despite that, Scotland go into the match as firm favourites because their opponents are missing a few players and their lack of preparation time was amply demonstrated when they missed their flight to Edinburgh last weekend and ended up hiring cars and driving through the night to set up camp in the Scottish capital.

In contrast, the Scotland players have known their team for a fortnight. They have had ten days in camp to get ready for this match and understand exactly what their new head coach expects from them. No secrets there, either. What he expects is a win, how they get there is, to a large extent, up to the players to decide out on the field.

“For us, it is about controlling the things we can control,” Robinson said. “We have to be smart in the way we play, have a high workrate, be clever in our decision making and accurate in our execution. Then I firmly believe we will win.

“We know that there are some really dangerous ball-carriers and some exciting ball-carriers throughout the whole Fiji team. We understand that we’ve got to be knocking them on the floor, we’ve got to be up in their faces and enjoy the challenge that they’ll offer.”

Partly because of some dreadful marketing from the administrative side of the Scottish Rugby Union, the match has failed dismally to catch the imagination of the rugby public, with less than 23,000 tickets having been sold by yesterday morning. With no tickets officially on sale at the gate today, the ground will be two-thirds empty. Nobody should be fooled by the apathy, however; this game will be a key time in Scotland’s immediate rugby future.

If Robinson — who says he has nothing to prove to anybody — is to make his mark quickly, rather than have to hang around for the long slog of trying to build a team from nothing, then it has to start this afternoon, and the players and supporters alike have to understand that the only thing that matters is the result.

There is nothing romantic about international rugby, and style counts for nothing if the wins don’t follow. “The most important thing for us is to develop a winning mindset and to win the game,” Robinson said. With the wind and rain expected to be major factors, don’t expect flashy, expansive rugby. “You’ve got play in all conditions. We have to deal with that,” he said. “I’ve never been concerned about what conditions are going to be, unless you’re playing indoors you can’t control them.

“We can do all this talk, we can look at pretty patterns and we can look at philosophies, but ultimately the game of rugby is won by the players and how they deliver — how they are empowered, their ability to take responsibility and make decisions and their ability to be ruthless. It’s about doing it and doing it again and again. The team spirit that they have is that they are prepared to work for each other for the whole 80 minutes.”

The message appears to be getting through to the players, with Nathan Hines seeing similarities between this set-up and the Ireland team at the start of the decade that went on to win triple crowns, championships and a grand slam.

“Nobody is going to shy away from the challenge,” Hines said. “Rugby is about impact, about the contest at ruck time and about collisions and we are going to have to win those collisions. If you don’t you will struggle to win. That is our mindset, to go out and impose ourselves on them.”

Scotland: R Lamont; S Lamont, A Grove, G Morrison, S Danielli; P Godman, C Cusiter (captain); A Jacobsen, R Ford, M Low, N Hines, A Kellock, A Strokosch, J Beattie, J Barclay. Replacements: D Hall, K Traynor, J White, R Vernon, M Blair, C Paterson, N De Luca.

Fiji: J Matavesi; V Goneva, G Lovobalavu, S Bai (captain), N Nalaga; N Little, M Rauluni; A Boko, A Qera, J Domolailai, I Rawaqa, W Lewaravu, D Manu, V Veikoso, A Yalayalatabua. Replacements: G Dewes, S Ledua, L Nakarawa, S Bola, W Vatuvoka, J Ratu, N Roko.

Referee: C White (England).

Television: Live on BBC One from 2pm (kick-off 2.30pm).