GREGOR TOWNSEND recognised that his team can play a lot better, and they will need to when the world champion Springboks arrive at Murrayfield next Saturday, but the Scotland head coach was full of praise for the attitude the players showed to beat the world's third-ranked team at Murrayfield. 

“It was a weird first half,” he reflected, immediately after masterminding the 15-12 victory over Australia. “Both teams looked to play but weren’t always accurate. There was some big moments that required the TMO to intervene, and I didn’t think there was a flow to the game for either team.  

“We were disappointed and frustrated at half-time, even though we were ahead on the scoreboard,” he continued. “But the Australian try [early in the second half] when we they had a man in the sin-bin really shook us into gear, and I think there was a real edge about our play after that.  

“We had to front up physically because there was a lot of scrums and a lot of mauls, and then we were still able to play with width at times which we had been aiming to do in the first half.  

“I think just the character of the team as opposed to the performance today was the really pleasing thing. Staying in the fight and then taking the fight to the opposition in those last 10 to 15 minutes showed our conditioning and our depth of squad. Our bench came on and helped improve the team’s performance.” 

Townsend added: “There has been a calmness around the group since we’ve been working with them for the last two or three weeks, and that comes from players who have evolved over the last two or three years into leaders, the togetherness of the group and the trust they have in each other.  

“That calmness also comes from belief, and they’ve had some big performances during that last six to nine months to create that belief. We needed some calm heads during that second half, especially when the crowd were getting right into it.  

“Our coaching box was more emotional than normal at the end, and I think part of that is having crowds back and seeing them so exciting about the win. That really hit us.”  

As he looked ahead to that next challenge against the Springboks, Townsend said he expected the team to be more synchronised as a unit having had an extra week together. 

“There will be a number of aspects we have to improve, just on where we set our own standards – but I’d put that down to rustiness as a team,” he explained. “Obviously, the players have been working separately [with their clubs] all season, so when you connect it is always difficult to try to transfer that from training into a proper Test match.  

“So, that will be where we focus first of all, and then after that it is about the challenge the Springboks bring. They have a unique way of playing – it is very demanding physically so a huge effort will be required from the forwards at set-piece, and a huge effort will be required to deal with their kicking game.  

“And then we’ve got to be accurate and innovative to find ways to get through, round or over their defence. 

“With a six-day turnaround, it’s important we recover. It’s important that our support teams, especially our S&C team and our medical team, work hard over the next couple of days.  

“The players must take learning from that game. We’ll only have two training sessions this week on Tuesday and Thursday, and it’s obviously crucial we get out of those two training sessions the key messages." 

“South Africa are the most physical team in world rugby by far. They showed against Wales on Saturday how good they are around the set-piece, and with their ball carries. 

“We have seven players in our squad did a lot of preparation for playing them on the Lions in the summer so their knowledge will be important to pass round the group. And three of our staff were involved in that, too, so we know what’s coming. But knowing what’s coming and overcoming it are two different things.” 

Townsend also had words of praise for hooker Ewan Ashman, who was thrown into the fray after only 10 minutes when George Turner suffered a rib injury, and topped an excellent debut with a brilliantly-taken try. 

“We had real faith in him during the week as soon as he got the news he’d been selected,” said the coach. “He’s been confident around training. He’s a very good player already and he’s someone who can get better and better over the next few years.” 

“I have to mention Josh Bayliss [who also made his debut off the bench], too, and his impact,” Townsend added. “He got a really good turnover that reminded of one of Cam Redpath’s turnovers at Twickenham on his first cap. That was a massive moment.”