Townsend: Springboks showed why they're the best in the world
REACTION: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend cut a deflated figure after his side’s 28-42 defeat to the Springboks in Round Two of the Nations Championship at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Despite fielding a relatively inexperienced Test squad, the Boks survived periods of promising play by the visitors to emerge victorious in a Test match that was full of ebbs and flows.
The two sides were tied 14-14 at half-time, but the Boks outscored their opponents by four tries to two in the second half to pull away for a comfortable victory.
The scoreline perhaps flattered the Springboks, who were far from perfect, while Scotland were left to rue several missed opportunities during periods when they had the upper hand.
While Scotland showed plenty of promise, and threatened the Boks in many areas, the performance at Loftus suggested they still have another level to reach if they are to challenge the world’s best consistently.
From a Springbok perspective, however, the triumph highlighted their ability to grind out victories with an experimental side despite not being at their best and, at times, looking disjointed.
That grit and character shown by Rassie Erasmus’s men was one aspect of the Springboks’ performance that particularly impressed Townsend when asked whether the Boks deserved their No.1 billing.
“Yes,” he openly said.
“They showed it again today [Saturday]; they’ve obviously got huge strength in depth. They won a number of games in November when they were down to 14 men.
“They found a way to win today. I’d like to think or hope they know they were up against a serious opponent.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t win, but credit goes to them for finding a way to win.”
Although disappointed by the result, Townsend said he was proud of his side’s effort but frustrated by the opportunities they failed to capitalise on.
“We were encouraged that we had gone back into the game at half-time but also frustrated,” he added.
“The way we set up to play was causing the Boks some issues and creating opportunities for us.
“We did let one big opportunity go about two yards from their tryline before half-time, but it was a really good base for us to build on.”
Scotland were a man up immediately after the break when Ben-Jason Dixon was shown a yellow card for head contact in the ruck.
The Scots, however, couldn’t make use of the extra man advantage, and instead allowed the Boks to regroup and get into a rhythm.
They scored three unanswered tries and opened up a 21-point lead.
However, the momentum shifted again when Scotland replied with two back-to-back scores by replacement Josh Bayliss and scrumhalf Ben White in the 70th minute.
The killer blow came when the Boks finished off the game with a Jesse Kriel try.
“I felt that in the beginning of the second half we were excellent and we got into the 22 on a couple of occasions, but the frustration was not scoring in the period where we were up a man.
“And then we were sloppy for five to 10 minutes, and we were suddenly 14 points down.
“The period after that we showed the best of Scottish rugby, and what it means for our players to play for Scotland.”
After White’s try, Townsend said there was belief they could go on to cause an upset.
“I really believed at 70 minutes we were going to go on to win.
“As a coach, you look at the moments and pieces of play that created try-scoring opportunities or how you fronted up against a brilliant side, but you also look at the times you didn’t take those opportunities.”
Scotland will face Fiji in Round Three of the competition at Murrayfield next week.
