STATISTICS can be seductive. You think they are neutral explanations of what has happened on the pitch, but if you pay too close attention to them, they can lead you astray.

Take a few of the most basic statistics from Scotland’s pool: the results. Scotland 45 Japan 10; Samoa 5 Japan 26. Or Scotland 39 USA 16; Samoa 25 USA 16. Or, perhaps most compellingly: South Africa 46 Samoa 6.

In short, Samoa have struggled, winning just the one match against a team that should finish bottom of the group, and losing the other two convincingly. What is more, against Japan they lost their discipline too, having three men yellow-carded.

Everything points to a convincing victory for Scotland against the Samoans on Saturday. Those bare statistics suggest it, and the fact that Vern Cotter’s team have a place in the quarter-finals to aim for, while Samoa can do no better than finish third.

Within the Scotland camp, however, there will be no such dwelling on statistics. As Nathan Hines, the assistant coach, warned yesterday, the Samoans will not amble meekly out of the tournament.

“Have you seen Samoa play?,” he answered when asked if he expected the Pacific islanders to be competitive against Scotland. “I certainly don’t think they will lack for a competitive edge.

“It won’t make any difference that they can’t qualify for the knockout stages. Samoa are a proud nation and although they haven’t had the results they would have wanted, what better way would there be to right the wrongs of the last three games than to come out and win against us? Anyone who says that this is a dead rubber because they can’t qualify should watch the game.

“They’ve got everything to play for. They’re playing for a win to give the nation back some pride and we’re playing to get out of the pool stages. While it’s a different goal, it doesn’t make it any less important for both teams.”

Hines was recruited by Vern Cotter, his old coach from Clermont, in part because he has just hung up his boots himself and is therefore attuned to how the players are feeling. He was given the vague title of “resource coach”, and at first there was a presumption, because of that closeness in age, that he would do a lot of mentoring. There was certainly some of that during the squad’s training camp, but first during the warm-up games and now in the World Cup itself, Hines has taken on an increasingly important role as an in-game, onfield coach.

Like Neil Jenkins with Wales and Mike Catt at England, the former Scotland lock has access to the pitch during stoppages in his role as a water-carrier. He does not have long to convey any messages from Cotter, or to pass on his own insights, but the communication he has with the team can be vital. At times he might tell them to tweak their formation in response to a change in the opposition line-up; at others he might remind one or two players of specific elements of their roles; but on nearly every occasion when he gets out on to the pitch, he has an intervention to make.

“Hopefully I can communicate something specific or we’d get a monkey to do it,” he said when asked how much he conveys to the players. “I get messages from Vern and I pick up little things around the pitch that I can see and the players may have missed, or if Vern has something he wants me to say I can get to the players and say ‘What about this?’ or I may see something at the lineout.

“I’m always chipping in, but obviously the leadership stuff is down to Greig [Laidlaw, the captain]. If I see stuff then or if I need to say anything just to Greig then I’ll single him out. Obviously he’s usually kicking, so we get a bit of time.

“Sometimes in the heat of battle there are things you forget. So some of it’s down to reassurance, some of it’s technical stuff. It’s not really tactical, it’s more details of things they’ve maybe changed at their lineout or dropping people into backfield – stuff that the players might not pick up on during the game. There’s some stuff that I can see on the pitch close up that maybe Vern can’t, so we have to work together.”

In case this explanation of his role leads anyone to infer that he has a calm, detached analysis of events on the field of play, Hines added that he had an equally important role to play in maintaining morale - and that at times he could hardly be less dispassionate.

“Have you been watching me at the side of the pitch? It takes me two days for my voice to recover. It’s about bringing energy, because those guys are tired and If I see someone slowing up I can come on and give him a bit of a shout. It doesn’t make me any less emotional because I’m not playing.

“I talk to the physios about this, because I’m next to them during a match and they think it’s quite comical. Sometimes I still think I’m playing, but that’s a good thing, I think. It still means a lot to me to see the boys do well and I’m just happy to be part of the group and have input into how they play. My job during the 80 minutes is to bring energy and a bit of technical nous and encouragement.”