Samoa 33-36 Scotland

Scotland centre Sean Lamont marked his 100th cap for his country on Saturday by firing a warning to their World Cup rivals that they underestimate Scotland at their peril.

Lamont reached his milestone as a second-half substitute in the kamikaze 36-33 win over Samoa at St James’ Park, which earned the Scots a quarter-final clash against Australia at Twickenham this week.

Despite the nerve-shredding finale to his side’s Pool B campaign, Lamont believes Scotland have never been better equipped to seize the initiative and march further into the tournament.

Lamont said: “This is by far the best Scotland team I’ve been involved in in my 11 years of playing — not just in the talent but the way the boys fight for each other.

“We’ve got a lot of belief and the general team spirit is brilliant. We can go a long way if we continue to show that level of belief and confidence.

“We are ready for next week and of course we will be the underdogs but Scotland relish being the underdogs. You can take us for granted all you want but you’ll get a bite on the arse.”