Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - Scotland v South Africa - Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain - November 10, 2024 Scotland players applaud fans after the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Scotland put in one of their best performances in years to match world champions South Africa for 70 minutes, said coach Gregor Townsend, who hailed his side’s fight and determination while he also rued some decisions against his side at Murrayfield.
South Africa scored four tries to none for the hosts in their 32-15 win on Sunday, but were flattered by the scoreline as they battled to contain the Scots at times, the latter let down by poor execution.
The visitors, led by their 'Bomb Squad' of seven forwards from the bench, were able to see out the closing minutes and claim a ninth successive win against Scotland, who lost lock Scott Cummings to a 20-minute red card in the first half.
"A lot of pride in the performance. I thought it was a brilliant Test match -- hugely physical," Townsend told the BBC. "We matched South Africa for a lot of the game and we were down to 14 for 20 minutes. I thought the team looked mentally strong.
"A couple of skill errors cost us and we didn't get the rub of the green with decisions, clearly. South Africa then showed their power in the last 10 minutes."
The Springboks had to scramble in defence on several occasions in the second half, with promising Scotland moves ended by handling errors.
"That effort in the second half was outstanding; to open up their defence at times and match their physicality. We will be frustrated because there were a couple of opportunities out there," Townsend said.
"We played one of our best games of the last few years today, and we pushed the world champions very close. There are areas we have to improve but some of the defence today was world class.
"The effort that went in is all we want from a Scotland team. We know we could have executed better and had decisions go against us, but they deserved to win, South Africa."
Scotland beat Fiji 57-17 in their opening game of the Autumn internationals, and next host Portugal on Saturday.
(Reporting by Nick Said; editing by Clare Fallon)
