IN the first half of yesterday's match, Scotland let the Americans come to them. The US asked one or two questions of our midfield defence, which looked a bit fragile at times.

There were too many unforced errors on our own ball in the first half, too. For instance Stuart Hogg looked sharp as usual, but he had a couple of loose passes, one of which should have put Tim Visser in for a try.

Scotland were also under pressure in the scrum, and the Americans were turning over a lot of breakdown ball. I think at one stage the statistic was 7-1 to them in turnovers, which is obviously not very reassuring.

We probably missed John Hardie at the breakdown. Ryan Wilson then Fraser Brown filled in well, but you’re always at a disadvantage without a natural 7. Hardie’s absence through injury calls into question the wisdom of only having one proper openside in the squad. We fell off a few tackles in that first half, too, which was unusual given how well the defence has performed in recent games.Having said all that, the second half was much better. Vern Cotter must have had some harsh words with the players at half-time, or at least words that helped them regain their focus, because from the kick-off they were sharper after the break.

The second half looked like a totally different game. Scotland took the game to the Americans, were far more direct in their running, and scored some nice tries.

Alasdair Dickinson and WP Nel made a visible difference when they came on at half-time. The scrum was a lot more stable with them there, and that helped galvanise the whole team.

Our midfield trio looked really sharp in attack, and I was particularly impressed by Matt Scott when he came on to work alongside Finn Russell and Mark Bennett. Finn will be a big loss if he misses out against South Africa, as will Grant Gilchrist if he is also ruled out because of injury.

All in all, though, this was a pretty positive performance. There were flaws, but the players were composed enough to iron them out, even if it took the break for them to have the time to do so.

So things look very encouraging - if you had asked any member of the squad or indeed any supporter what they expected after the first two games, they could not have asked for any more than two wins, in each of which the team scored five tries and got a bonus point.

Now we move on to the South Africa game. It will be an even tougher challenge than the Japan and US games, not only in terms of their physical approach but also because they are more talented players who have far greater experience of playing at a higher level.

The Springboks are sure to attack Scotland down the No 10 channel. Russell is a brave player who never shirks his defensive duties, but he and the inside centre will definitely be targeted by the South Africans’ big runners.

I’m sure Matt Scott will play at inside centre. Peter Horne is like Russell, a player who has matured a lot over the past year or so and is always willing to do his share of the chores in defence. But Scott is bigger and stronger, and is exactly the kind of ball-carrier we need to take the game to the South Africans.

That will be the key to victory on Saturday. We’ve got to get in their faces and not let them pick up momentum.