Welcoming the double world champions at Murrayfield is an opportunity for Scotland to record a statement victory, according to captain Sione Tuipulotu. 

Scotland have failed to beat either of the world’s top two sides, South Africa or Ireland, during Gregor Townsend’s seven years in charge, while they have never beaten New Zealand. 

After bowing out of the World Cup without firing a shot in pool stage defeats to the Springboks and the Irish, Tuipulotu knows Sunday’s match is a chance to record a significant win. 

He said: "It's a massive opportunity for me and I just want to grab it with two hands. 

“This is a game that we've been searching for for a long time, not just South Africa but we've been searching for a big win here at Murrayfield for a long time. Tomorrow is an opportunity for that.” 

The Scotland captain described the visit of Rassie Erasmus’ side as a “free swing” at the world champions. 

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But he knows his team must be at their very best both physically and psychologically to have a chance. 

“The most important thing is that we hop off that bus tomorrow and be here to win,” he said. 

“A lot of those games against the Springboks are lost before the whistle even gets blown. Our job is to make sure that's not us.” 

While the world champions are an outstanding side, Scotland’s midfield lynchpin believes there are opportunities for his side, and has taken heart from Argentina’s win over the ‘Boks during The Rugby Championship. 

“There are little parts of that Argentina game that we saw that worked a lot for them. 

"What worked most for them was they were up for that game, physically, emotionally, and they're two things that we have to be up for tomorrow. 

Tuipulotu has been part of some huge wins at club level with Glasgow, but three years into his Test career is still awaiting a landmark victory. He knows a win over the world champions would provide Scotland with the belief they can emulate the Warriors’ achievements on the international stage. 

“It’s obvious that we've been searching for this win against a top opponent like the All Blacks or the Springboks or Ireland or one of those top three teams for a long time now. 

“Getting that win instils a little bit of belief in your team and it kickstarts the team that we want to be. 

“We take this as an opportunity tomorrow for this game to kickstart what we want this team to achieve.” 

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If Scotland are to knock over the Springboks – who can reclaim the number one spot in the world rankings if they extend their winning run over Scotland to nine in a row – Tuipulotu knows he and his back division colleagues will have to roll up their sleeves. 

“We also need to know that the game's not going to be like the game against Fiji. 

“It's going to be a very different game to that. 

“We've got to be pretty open as a backline to doing the dirty stuff tomorrow because it's going to be what's needed to be a really good team like South Africa. 

“The challenge is trying to get the ball to our back three but it's not our only out in this game. 

"We're going to have to roll up our sleeves and try to do a lot of the dirty work.” 

The Springboks have named a formidable replacements bench, including former world player of the year Pieter-Steph du Toit and World Cup winning captain Siya Kolisi. 

Tuipulotu insists that has not affected Scotland’s build-up. 

“They've done it before with the 7-1 bench,” he added. 

“That's just them playing to their strengths. It changes nothing for us really and the focus for us has been just about ourselves this week.” 

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And despite several household names, including Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Damian de Allende, sitting out the Murrayfield match, Tuipulotu still expects the best from the visitors. 

“I think it would be hard to say that they’ve lost something,” Tuipulotu replied when asked if the Springboks side was weakened given their omissions. 

“To be fair, Kolbe and Kurt-Lee and those guys are World Cup champs. They went out there and won the World Cup for South Africa but I don’t think the talent drops much from Cheslin Kolbe to Makazole Mapimpi who’s won a World Cup before as well.” 

“We’re preparing for the best Springboks side.” 

The match will be played in front of a capacity 67,144 crowd at Murrayfield, and that home advantage has played its part in some of Scotland’s significant wins. 

The skipper has called on the crowd to play their part. 

“I do think our crowd will play a part and that's something I'm really looking forward to: them getting behind us and us trying to get this win that we've been searching for for a long time."