At Murrayfield on Saturday Euan Murray's task will be to sedate a Springbok prop who glorifies in the moniker Beast - there may be no one more qualified to do so than the 18½st trained veterinary surgeon.
There were few reasons for Scotland supporters to be cheerful last weekend but the sight of Murray twisting and turning the All Blacks' 20st debutant loosehead Jamie Mackintosh into a ball of confusion was one. The 28-year-old Glaswegian tighthead is the capstan of the Scottish scrum and, if he can help contort his opposite number, Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira, into similarly uncomfortable positions when Scotland meet the world champions back in Edinburgh this weekend, Frank Hadden's side will have a useful platform in the struggle to subdue the world's leading pack of forwards.
A former Scotland coach, Ian McGeechan, will also be monitoring the Northampton player's performance. McGeechan's Lions travel to South Africa next summer and Murray looks a certainty to wear the No3 shirt. However, though Murray is a piano player who looks more than capable of shifting that instrument on his own, do not ask him to beat a drum for himself. On the pitch he is uncompromising; off it he is a quiet and engaging man. He is also a committed Christian who, when Hadden was naming his side to face Romania in the World Cup last autumn, was appearing on Songs of Praise.
"It will be very difficult this weekend," he said. "The Springboks are the most physical team I've played against. They are very direct, very abrasive. The All Blacks may try and jink around you, South Africa run at you like trains and we have to match that.
"I know what people have said about me last weekend but it was Mackintosh's first Test. I don't claim to be the best tighthead in the world, that's not for me to judge, but I'm learning all the time. Last year I was playing Division One rugby in England, this year I'm packing down in a game of 20 scrums against Leicester. There is tough opposition in every game in the Premiership, some of the best players in the world are there now, there is so much talent and as a prop you are learning all the time. Someone like Andrew Sheridan is strong and getting stronger as the years go on.
"My attitude is to keep things simple, have the right attitude and work hard. You reap what you sow and yes, what I do can have a big influence on the game. The South African front row will have more experience this week than the All Blacks and I know Beast has a reputation for dismantling tightheads. The South African front row like to hit you hard, they are very direct and powerful."
Murray played against South Africa in a World Cup warm-up in Edinburgh last year and more than held his own against another beast, Os "Ox" du Randt, until this weekend the most capped Springbok forward. Coincidentally, the man who will equal Du Randt's record of 80 caps, South Africa's captain, John Smit, has again been named at tighthead, instead of his usual position of hooker.
"It's a humbling experience to draw level with a Springbok legend," said Smit who, when asked which part of the body hurt most after the win in Cardiff last Saturday, pointed to his mashed up nose.
Murray will be packing down against Mtawarira, a Zimbabwe-born player who has become a bit of a cult figure in South Africa since making his debut against Wales in Pretoria last summer. "Beeeeeast" echoes from the stands every time he touches the ball. He is a converted flanker, so is not short of pace around the field.
"The nickname was given to me by schoolmates when I was about nine and it's stuck," he said. "I love it, actually. I know it will be a big challenge against the Scottish pack but we've been working hard on our set pieces. Murray is a good tighthead and I'm looking forward to taking him on."
