Scottish Rugby

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Ollie Smith says a period of soul searching that followed Scotland's November defeats by New Zealand and Argentina was the springboard for a recent upturn in results.

The Scots rounded off the first block of Nations Championship fixtures with a bonus-point win over Fiji, coming off the back of a superb away victory in Argentina and a credible performance in defeat to world champions South Africa in Pretoria.

After taking the scalps of England and France in the Six Nations, Gregor Townsend's side now look forward with confidence to matches against the All Blacks, Australia and Japan a year on from the pain of the last autumn series.

"It's the story of the Scotland team in the past few years - it's always been the what ifs," Smith told BBC Scotland.

"We're so close to doing something so well and it gets away from us. It's just brought us together as a group.

"If you look at how we finished the home series nearly [in November], the performances against New Zealand and Argentina, we were so close against New Zealand and we were 21 points up against Argentina and then ultimately lost.

"The way that some people were commenting on us as a group, I think it really brought us closer together. We really had to look inwardly.

"The Six Nations didn't start the way we wanted to. It was a poor result against Italy but our response against England, the way we finished, playing against France the way we did and putting 50 points on them, I think we really showed the people on the sidelines what we can do and what we can do against the big nations and take it forward into the World Cup next year.

"There's a lot of good rugby to come and a lot of teams that we want to beat."

Scotland won a hard-fought bonus-point victory against a reborn Fiji in a pulsating Nations Championship battle at Murrayfield.

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Image source, SNS

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend tells BBC: "What an occasion.

"Fiji played really well, we knew they would, I felt they picked their strongest side today and it took a lot of work for us to break them down but also it took a really good defensive performance.

"Fiji didn't really break us that often, in that final quarter the guys were outstanding. We'll take a few positives from that

"The areas we need to work on is when we have all that possession and pressure we have to get seven and 14 points and make it a bit easier for ourselves.

"The maul is an area every team has struggled with in this competition because of the law changes. Credit to Fiji they made it hard for us but we'll look back and there were two or three clear opportunities we should have taken but they made us work for everything.

"I thought our bench did really well. Something I've learned over the last 12 months, the bench can help you change momentum. The players can come up with solutions themselves but the bench can give you energy and solutions but also bravery.

"We're a team that will back our decisions and that put real pressure on Fiji.

"I'm pleased there were no serious injuries today. We changed the team, that was always the plan, we want to build more depth.

"I was really pleased with how well the players who played last week played today and trained this week, it shows how much Scotland means to them.

"We delivered against Argentina, we created a lot against the Boks and learned a lot from that game. We can go into the break now with a positive campaign behind us and a positive Six Nations as well."

Image source, PA Media

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend expects Fiji to replicate their "unplayable" opening spell against Wales at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The Scots conclude their summer Nations Championship programme against Mick Byrne's side in Edinburgh.

Fiji ultimately lost 39-24 in Cardiff on 4 July but registered a converted try during a strong opening.

"We're probably expecting the first 20 minutes that they showed against Wales, where they were unplayable," said Townsend, whose side have beaten Argentina and lost to South Africa in recent weeks.

"They were running it from deep, they were offloading, their XV seems to have an ability to have a powerful, dynamic, carrying game with superb skills.

"They could have been 20 or more points up in that period, but we've got to make sure our defence is on point and with the understanding that you might concede a line break or tackle breaks in the game, but also we can't give them any easy chances.

"They're going to have to work for everything and that's being accurate in our attack and also within our kicking game."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Scotland prop Peter Wright believes Gregor Townsend's side missed a big opportunity to beat world champions South Africa on Saturday.

The 42-28 loss meant the Scots' wait for a first win over the Springboks in South Africa continued.

The tourists were left to rue passed up chances against a much-changed XV fielded by Rassie Erasmus.

"On yesterday's performance, they could've won," Wright told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.

"A lot of it was our own undoing. Little mistakes. There were three errors that they made that resulted in South Africa tries.

"If we were ever going to win, this was the time we were going to do it. I think it's mental strength. We didn't have that mental strength to just go that final step.

"We don't know how to beat South Africa so when we get into position, we don't quite manage to get over the line."

Scotland beat Argentina the previous weekend and Townsend's side next face Fiji this coming Saturday at Murrayfield.

The head coach indicated there would be "a lot of changes" against Fiji.

Wright praised Scotland's fitness levels against the Boks.

"The game was played in Pretoria, which is at altitude," he said. "I've played at that stadium three times in my career and it's horrible.

"You're pretty fit and then you go and play at altitude and then you think you're so unfit because of the lack of oxygen.

"That's a thing they had to get over and they did. The fitness levels and the tempo and the pace of the game that they played at was fantastic."

We asked for your thoughts after Scotland lost 42-28 to South Africa in the Nations Championship.

Here's what some of you had to say...

David: Yesterday's game against SA typifies the whole of Townsend's reign as Scotland coach, a failure to go the last five meters. Scotland play beautiful rugby but have almost completely failed to work out how to take the last few paces to touch the ball down.

John: Scotland are close to beating the very best but still failing when it counts. Individual errors and lack of accuracy in key moments still hurting. If they can improve accuracy in the red zone, anything is possible. Awesome effort, though.

Fraser: All the 50/50 decisions went the way of SA!

Geoff: Scotland were unlucky in many respects, SA had two tries which ought to have been disallowed, forward carry stunt is obstruction and receiver in front of kicker. You can't beat a powerful world champions at home against that!

Col: Good performance in spells by Scotland but the referee certainly didn't help their cause. Some strange decisions by him & the bunker.

Graeme: Firstly, what an unbelievably great game, two sides going full beans. As near an 80 performance as we've had under Townsend and another that perhaps got away. Backed up last week's win with an amazing effort at altitude. Scotland have needed these games against a top side for too long, hopefully we will see the benefit of them soon.

BBC Scotland's Andy Burke and Tom English assess Scotland's 42-28 defeat to South Africa in Pretoria, along with former players Peter Wright and Colin Gregor.

We also hear from proud but frustrated head coach Gregor Townsend and captain Sione Tuipulotu.

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu tells ITV: "We're really gutted to be honest.

"We battled back but the period after half time hurt us a little bit. I'm very disappointed at the moment but I'm proud of the group, I want us to keep our chins high.

"We had a lot of possession in their 22 but didn't capitalise."

When asked what his side need to improve upon after this evening's performance, Tuipulotu adds: "Execution when the pressure's high when you're away from home.

"The period after half time is going to hurt a little bit. We managed to wrestle back momentum but it wasn't enough. I think they showed a little bit better execution at the back end of the game that got them the win."

Looking ahead to Fiji next week, the captain says: "We need to travel well.

"There's been a lot of travel in the last couple of weeks, we need to rest up tonight and travel well tomorrow.

"Next week will be another physical test."

Have your say on Scotland's performance here

Scotland pushed a much-changed South Africa all the way in a thrilling Nations Championship contest but were left to rue wasted opportunities in Pretoria.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the match via this link