Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend admitted he dared to dream that his team were on course to clinch an historic victory over South Africa.
Seeking to claim a first ever win over the Springboks on their own soil, Scotland fell agonisingly short of what would have been a seismic result.
They went blow-for-blow with the Boks in an epic ten-try thriller in Pretoria and trailed by only seven points as the game went into the final 10 minutes.
At that point, Townsend felt his team could go on and finish the job against the world champions. They had chances to score in the closing stages, most notably when a crossfield kick from Finn Russell fell agonisingly beyond the reach of Kyle Steyn.
But it was South Africa who ultimately powered clear to make it back-to-back wins at the start of the Nations Championship.
‘We were encouraged but also frustrated at half-time,’ said Townsend, whose side had fought back from the concession of two quick tries to draw level at 14-14 at the break.
Scotland were left disappointed after coming up short against South Africa
Gregor Townsend admitted his side need to be better over the full 80 minutes
‘We managed to get ourselves back into the game and we were causing South Africa problems.
‘The frustration came from one big opportunity we let slip when we were only about two yards from their try-line right before half-time.
‘In the second half, we were really good again. The frustration then came from not scoring when we had a man advantage.
‘We got into their 22 on a couple of occasions but couldn’t quite make it count in terms of scoring another try. Then we had sloppy period for a couple of minutes and suddenly found ourselves 14 points down. But the way we fought back towards the end and scored some brilliant tries, that showed the best of Scottish rugby and what this jersey means to these boys.
‘At 70 minutes, I really believed that we would go on and win the game. So it’s a real mix of pride and frustration.
‘We probably didn’t score enough points when we were on top if we are being honest, particularly in that period after half-time.
‘Maybe we could have gone to the bench earlier, it’s easy saying that in hindsight, but there was also so much to be proud of.’
Townsend’s side were looking to build on the victory over Argentina last weekend.
Whilst there were so many positives against South Africa, he admitted Scotland needed to be better in terms of an 80-minute performance.
‘I’m massively proud of the effort we put in, but it wasn’t to be today,’ he added. ‘It’s a learning for us, we’ve got to be better for 80 minutes.
‘There’s a lot more in us, and with the amount of opportunities the players created today through work skill and intelligence, we’ve got to take more to beat the world champions.
Scotland captain Sione Tuipolotu runs at the South Africa defence
‘We don’t get to play South Africa very often, we don’t get to play them here, so that’ll be the feeling tonight. This was another step forward.’
Scotland will round off their summer campaign when they take on Fiji at Murrayfield next weekend in what is technically an away fixture.
They scored four tries against South Africa, having struggled to make much of an impact against the world champions in previous contests.
Skipper Sione Tuipulotu admitted it was a strange mix of emotions, given the performance level and final result.
‘We’re really gutted to be honest,’ said Tuipulotu, who was outstanding over the course of the 80 minutes at Loftus Versfeld. ‘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 pushing the world champions all the way, Tuipulotu added: ‘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.”
‘Next week will be another physical test against Fiji. We need to get our recovery now and get ourselves prepared for another tough match.’
