Ex-Alloa RFC star Kevin Bryce hopes to play part against South Africa

The hooker made his World Cup debut when he came on for the final eight minutes of Sunday's win over the USA.

The 27-year-old revealed he is relishing the prospect of lining up against the two-time world champions on Saturday.

Bryce told Advertiser Sport: “I'm not sure if I will be involved against the Springboks yet as the team has not been announced but I hope I have done enough and I get the nod.

“It's the biggest test we have had yet as a squad. We know what they are like, they are all big guys and they will try to out-muscle us. We have to try and match that and try and get the win. We are confident that if we put in a good performance we will go out there and get the right result. We have had a great start with the wins over Japan and the USA so we are hoping we can carry that on into the remaining games, starting off against South Africa.”

Bryce admitted Sunday's first-half performance had been disappointing from a Scottish point of view, but believes they more than made up for it with a rampant second half display.

He said: “It was such a good feeling to get on the pitch against the USA. I was quite nervous but I managed to settle my nerves and get the first lineout out the way so I think it went ok. We were a bit slow in the first half but we came to life after half time and managed to score five tries so I feel overall we played well. The main thing is we got the result we were needing.”

The Glasgow forward admitted he felt for team-mate and fellow former Alloa star Grant Gilchrist after the lock was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a groin injury.

Bryce added: “Me and Grant have come a long way since we used to play as kids down at Earlsfield. Grant has had no luck at all. I feel really sorry for him having come back from such a bad injury with his arm to get into the squad in the first place. I'm gutted for him, and it's also a big loss to the squad because we have lost a good leader.”