Scotland flanker Josh Strauss has promised to use the anger he feels at the suspension of team-mates Ross Ford and Jonny Gray out on Australia in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final.
Edinburgh hooker Ford and Glasgow lock Gray received three-week bans on Tuesday for an illegal two-man tip tackle on Samoa’s Jack Lam.
Their suspensions ruled them out of this weekend’s Twickenham match and, should Scotland upset the Wallabies, the rest of the World Cup.
“We are all very disappointed for Ross and Jonny. Being a close group of lads we know each other very well and these are two very determined guys,” said Strauss.
“When I heard it myself, and I can only speak for myself, I was angry,” the 28-year-old Glasgow loose forward added.
“It was more for them. I can imagine myself in their shoes and how I would feel if it was me
“But personally that is good for me,” explained the South Africa-born Strauss. “It motivates me. I want to put in a performance for them if I’m selected. I want to make them proud because they have made all of us proud.
“We have achieved so much as a group together and we are not going to let anything stand in our way.”