For possession and territory there's only been one team in it in these opening 10 minutes. Dave Denton barging through from the base of the scrum... Scotland on the front-foot once again. 

The referee spots an infringement. It's captain Michael Leitch caught off side and this is a chance for Greig Laidlaw to get the scoreboard turning. 

Gavin Hastings
Former Scotland full-back on BBC Radio 5 live

"You certainly sense that Scotland have come out of the blocks quickly, wanting to make the big hits early. I'm pretty pleased with how they have started off. 

"They're in their new Rugby World Cup strips with a bit of tartan trim - and they've started well."

Image source, Getty Images

Jonny Gray as reliable as ever in the line-out and the blond giant's hard work allows the Scots to set their backline in motion. They go left. They go right. A gap from Tommy Seymour down the right wing, but his foot strays into touch. A bright start for Scotland. 

A first chance to see the men in cherry and white attack with the ball, but referee John Lacey spots that a Japan player has knocked-on and whatever they were trying to create near the halfway line comes to nothing. Scrum to Scotland just inside their own half, which gives us an early breather.

Japan collapsing. Finn Russell finds touch. The Scots in control.

Sean Lamont, on his 98th appearance for Scotland, is firm under the high ball. A frantic start to this match and it's Scotland dominating these early stages; chasing quickly and defending stoutly. 

Japan penalised at the line-out, failing to hold their ground, and up steps the sharp-shooting Greig Laidlaw to earn three points for his team. 

Image source, Reuters

Kotaro Matsushima isolated in defence. The right winger collects the bouncing ball, attempts to attack deep from his own 22, but is gang-tackled into touch and the Scots are in a promising position - 5m from Japan's tryline. 

Ireland's John Lacey toots his whistle and Grant Gilchrist calmly gathers from Japan's kick-off. We're under way. 

Greig Laidlaw leading Scotland in the anthem and the Gloucester scrum-half knows every centimetre of this patch of land. Perhaps that will help the Scots when it comes to attacking Japan's well-organised defence. 

The Scots had problems scoring tries during the last World Cup. Indeed, they last scored a try at a World Cup in their 2011 opener against Romania.

Image source, BBC Sport

Both teams are on the freshly-mowed lawn of Kingsholm. Scotland forming a huddle before the drums and trumpets ring for the anthems. 

It's worth saying that Scotland have fond memories of playing Japan. They scored 15 tries in a 100-8 thrashing of the Cherry Blossoms in 2004, which is still the Scots' largest Test victory. So there. 

Image source, BBC Sport

Gavin Hastings
Former Scotland full-back on BBC Radio 5 live

"I don't believe the pressure is on Scotland. I don't believe from a Scottish perspective anything has changed.

"Whatever their tactics are, I would hope that they adhere to them. They cannot get sucked in by the Japanese defence - but they would've done their homework.

"I think where South Africa came unstuck was their indiscipline. They gave away a lot of penalties."

Eddie Jones has made six changes to his starting XV which beat South Africa, with props Keita Inagaki and Hiroshi Yamashita coming in and Amanaki Mafi, who came on as a replacement against South Africa, playing from the start.  

Justin Ives replaces Hitoshi Ono in the second row while centre Yu Tamura and wing Kenki Fukuoka start.  

Image source, BBC Sport

Fanatical about rugby or fanatical about face paint?

Image source, Reuters

Ian Robertson
BBC Rugby Correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

"They're a great crowd here at Kingsholm. They've always been fanatical supporters. They have The Shed, where many great players have played over the years and taken horrendous abuse.

"It's great for Gloucester to get a game like this - which was important anyway, but has just exploded since Saturday. Everyone is asking the question 'Can Japan do it again?'"

Image source, Reuters

Is there room for Josh Strauss and his beard on Scotland's bench? The Western Cape-born forward only qualified as a Scot on Sunday but will get his first cap at some point this afternoon. 

Strauss, who led Glasgow to their first Pro12 title, bears an uncanny resemblance to WG Grace (other bearded sports stars are available). 

And he's as Scottish as he can be, apparently. “I recently bought a house in Glasgow, my daughter was born in Glasgow, so I’m pretty much as Scottish as I can be apart from my accent.”

Image source, BBC Sport

Karen Norvell: Can't see much work happening after 2.30pm. Come on Scotland.

Kyle Utterson: Looking forward to seeing how Scotland do and even with it being their first game, get the feeling it's a must win!

Andrew Neill: Come on Japan!! Hopefully not too tired from Saturday's heroics.  

There's good news for Scotland because they welcome the inventive Stuart Hogg back into their starting XV after the full-back made a full recovery from an ankle injury sustained in the home warm-up match against Italy. 

Josh Strauss, who became eligible for Scotland a day after the tournament started, is on the bench.

Image source, b

The streets of Gloucester are awash with colour. Fancy dress isn't obligatory at this Rugby World Cup, but it helps if you want your picture in any sort of live coverage.  

Image source, Getty Images

Here's a stat which you've probably heard 1,987 (approx) times since Saturday but, heck, it's so good it's worth hearing again. Japan are only the fourth team to beat South Africa at a Rugby World Cup, the others being England, New Zealand and Australia. 

A bonus stat: The Brave Blossoms won 19 of 20 set-piece plays when they had the feed or throw-in against the Springboks (12/13 line-outs; 7/7 scrums). Scotland, beware. 

Image source, BBC Sport

Before the start of this World Cup, Japan's replica shirts weren't expected to be best-sellers but following their victory over South Africa one official Rugby World Cup shop in London was forced to close its doors because of such high demand. 

Beanies, key rings, replica jerseys... you name it, Japan's fans wanted it. The good news is that a cut of the sales goes back to each individual nation.