Scotland's assistant coach has said his side are not gambling with their World Cup prospects amid claims they are fielding a second-string side for Saturday's clash with South Africa.
Jonathan Humphreys has rejected the claims ahead of the game, which could see the Dark Blues seal their place in a quarter-final if they win at St James' Park.
Vern Cotter has made a number of changes to the Scottish side for the game, with Al Dickinson, Ross Ford, Mark Bennett and Sean Maitland all absent from the starting XV.
All four played key roles in the opening round victories over Japan and the United States.
Cotter is also without injured duo Finn Russell and John Hardie and in all, seven members of the starting XV to face the two-time former winners are not regarded as the Kiwi's first picks.
Humphreys denies the head coach has written off beating the Boks in preference to keeping his men fresh for their final - and potentially decisive - group game with Samoa.
He said: "I don't understand why people are saying it's a second string. What hasn't been written is that international rugby is a hugely, hugely physical sport.
"I'd prefer them to write about a 31-man squad playing three huge games in 10 days.
"We're confident in the group we've picked. Look at the two Gray brothers [Richie and Jonny]. We have a fantastic back row. Blair Cowan played every single game in the Six Nations and was extremely unlucky not to get in the initial 31-man squad.
"We have Gordon Reid who played extremely well against France. There is Fraser Brown, who's arguably been our best forward in this tournament so far. He's been outstanding.
"They're an extremely proud group of people. I haven't seen a more together group. We are all after the same thing - every single player has worked so hard to be here and they're here on merit.
"Next week will be next week. Our sole focus is on this game, and we cannot take our focus off this game.
"Right now we've not thought about Samoa. South Africa are an unbelievable threat to us and we want to get the job done."
Centre Bennett scored two trys in Scotland's opening win over Japan, but sees his place filled by former flanker Richie Vernon for the Springbok showdown.
Saturday's game will be just Vernon's third start at second centre since converting from the back row, but midfield partner Matt Scott has denied he is going up against one of the best sides in the world with a rookie by his side.
"Richie hasn't played centre for long but I've found him to be a really easy guy to work with," said the Edinburgh back. "He's a quick learner, so he takes on information easily. I've no real issues with him.
"He's not [an additional burden on me] at all. He's played in the back row so he's a very good tackler. I don't see it as a weakness for us. We have two physical guys just like they do, so we're well matched in the midfield."
Scotland have struggled to deal with the driving maul and they now take on a side who have got the technique down to a fine art.
"That's the game right there - the line-out and the mauls," admitted Scott. "The forwards are going to have an extremely tough day.
"As a backline we just have to help them out as much as we can. That means making our tackles and putting them back when we get the chance because we know it's going to be tough for them up front."
South African head coach Heyneke Meyer claimed earlier this week his side had been forced to change their line-out calls as they feared Afrikaners-turned-Scots Josh Strauss and WP Nel would be able to crack their codes.
Both players trained with South Africa before committing themselves to Scotland but Humphreys, now in charge of the forwards, said: "I don't think it's possible to change a complete book of line-outs in a week.
"Their line-out is very effective and simple. Whether they change, I don't know. It's not something we've even talked about.
"Are they at it? I don't know. I don't think it's quite as monumental as they've made out."
