Admittedly the inclusion of an extra match for the first time ever has changed the dynamics and there has been no embarrassment comparable with the loss to Tonga which cost Andy Robinson his job in 2012, Fiji’s under-prepared challenge having been swept aside.
However, after all the momentum generated since things began to turn around under Vern Cotter, opportunities have been missed to build on that with a second defeat in Cardiff this year and Saturday’s loss to the Springboks, as was acknowledged within the camp immediately after Saturday’s game.
“The changing room is pretty dark. We’re pretty devastated with that defeat, similarly against Wales,” said Peter Horne.
There was no shame in a first defeat on home soil since the corresponding fixture a year earlier and only a second in the last 12 matches at Murrayfield. However, the last thing needed by a team that is yet to carry the confidence it has in its competitiveness at home into those of the world’s leading sides, is any undermining of what belief they have in themselves and Horne reckons it is strong enough to overcome anything to be thrown at them by Argentina’s Pumas, who have shown promise when leading both Ireland and France but been beaten in the closing stages of both those matches.
“I think it’s a sign of the team that we’ve become, if we do have a defeat like that we learn from it and then we come back out firing the following week. It’s not often that we get beaten twice, especially not at home,” Horne pointed out
“There’s certainly a real hunger to make sure that we finish on a high. There’s nothing worse than losing in the last game of a campaign like this, because you’ve got a couple of months until you can put it right. Everyone’s hungry and we’ll be coming out firing next week.”
A replacement against Wales, before starting against both Fiji and South Africa, Horne is among those who has worked hardest across the series and his coach admitted that would be a consideration as Scotland look to work out their best combinations for the meeting with the Pumas.
“There will be some tired bodies. For players who have played three games, they will be tired,” he said..
“November does give us an opportunity to test our depth, but Argentina are a really good side, so we need to pick a team able to give us a chance. For both those reasons, I don’t believe it will be the same (team) next week.”
While he noted that facing the Springboks represents a unique challenge, Townsend noted that management and players must apply what they have learned in the course of the autumn to the last of this year’s matches.
“There are obviously parts of our game we need to improve, some of it is relevant to this opposition, who we won’t face again very soon,” he said.
“Maybe in 12 months’ time we might face them, but we won’t play against a team with that line speed and that forward pack in the Six Nations.
“We have to make sure that what we’re learning in today’s game is relevant to beating Argentina.
“We have to play where the defence isn’t as strong. Against South Africa, that was out wide. On another day, we might pick and go through the middle. It might be doing something different.”
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