Scottish Rugby

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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.

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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

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Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend tells ITV: "We're really frustrated we didn't get more points on the board in the first half and then during that period when the Boks go down to 14 men.

"We were sloppy for 10 minutes.

"I'm massively proud of the effort to come back in. At 70 minutes I was believing we would go on and win, but it wasn't to be today. It's a learning for us, there were a lot of good parts to the play but we've got to be better for 80 minutes.

"There's a lot more in us. I just know, 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.

"That's the frustrating element, because 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.

"But we've come a long way this season and today was another step forward."

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Max Williamson will be among the Scotland replacements for their Nations Championship encounter with South Africa after an injury to Alex Samuel.

Glasgow Warriors' Samuel was set for a spot in the replacements but will now sit out with a knee issue.

Williamson featured in two Six Nations games for Scotland last year.

The loss to Ireland in March was his most recent appearance for Gregor Townsend's team.

After defeating Argentina 47-38 last weekend, Scotland kick off in Pretoria at 17:40 BST on Saturday.

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Taking on South Africa at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium is a daunting task, with Scotland openside flanker Rory Darge admitting it is "one the toughest challenges" in rugby.

Scotland are in Pretoria for the second weekend of the Nations Championship, taking on the world champions at altitude.

The visitors are in good spirits after running in seven tries to beat Argentina in Cordoba, while the hosts enjoyed a thumping win over England.

"They are the top side in the world for a reason," said Darge of the Springboks.

"The pressure they put you under and the pressure you feel, it's hard to replicate until you get into the Test match.

"It's one of the toughest challenges, going up against South Africa at Loftus.

"They are such a physical side with a strong set-piece. They really focus on disrupting the opponent and taking you away from your game at the breakdown and your own attack."

Darge, 26, has faced South Africa twice before, losing 18-3 at the 2023 World Cup in Marseille and 32-15 at Murrayfield in the autumn of 2024.

Scotland last beat the Boks in 2010 and have never won away from home.

However, Darge insisted his team aim to focus on what they can do after rising to fifth in the world rankings.

"We were happy with parts of the Argentina performance but there are things we can do better, so that's a good place to start," he said.

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Elliot Millar-Mills will miss Scotland's two remaining summer Nations Championship matches after picking up a calf injury in Saturday's win against Argentina.

The tighthead prop, 33, started in Cordoba but was replaced by Zander Fagerson after 13 minutes. Scottish Rugby say Millar-Mills has been sent home.

The Scots defeated the Pumas 47-38 and face South Africa in Pretoria this coming Saturday.

Gregor Townsend's side conclude the series against Fiji at Murrayfield the following Saturday.

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Scotland have equalled their best-ever World Rugby men's ranking by moving up to fifth in the standings.

Their rise comes after they opened their Nations Championship campaign with an impressive seven-try win against Argentina in Cordoba.

Gregor Townsend's men replaced Los Pumas, who dropped to seventh in the rankings, while Chile, the United States, Samoa and Canada moved up.

Scotland return to action on Saturday (16:40 BST) when they visit South Africa in their second Nations Championship game.

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Edinburgh prop Boan Venter will start for South Africa in Saturday's Nations Championship match against Scotland in Pretoria.

Venter's inclusion is one of 10 changes made to the starting line-up by head coach Rassie Erasmus following last Saturday's 45-21 win over England in Johannesburg.

The 29-year-old takes over from Ox Nche at loosehead and makes up a new front row with Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw.

In the second row, Cobus Wiese partners Ruan Nortje instead of Pieter-Steph du Toit, who moves to openside flanker, while the retained Paul de Villiers is also joined in the back row by Evan Roos as Cameron Hanekom and Jasper Wiese miss out.

Damian Willemse moves from full-back to centre with Jesse Kriel, with Fassi starting at 15 and Damian Allende dropping out.

Edwill van der Merwe replaces Cheslin Kolbe on the right wing and Canan Moodie does likewise with Kurt-Lee Arendse on the left, having taken over on that side during the England match. Embrose Papier is in at scrum-half for the benched Grant Williams and Handre Pollard replaces Manie Libbok at fly-half.

South Africa: Fassi, Van der Merwe, Kriel, Willemse, Moodie, Pollard, Papier; Venter, Grobbelaar, W Louw, C Wiese, Nortje, De Villiers, PS du Toit, Roos.

Replacements: Wessels, Mchunu, Porthen, Dixon, Tshituka, E Louw, Williams, Horn.

We asked for your thoughts after Scotland beat Argentina 47-38 in the Nations Championship.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Stuart: A great game to end a great day of rugby. So pleased for the guys scoring on their 50th games and Gregor Hiddleston scoring on debut. Next week will be a step up again but if we play like we did we should hopefully give the Springboks a game.

David: Good win away from home. But let's not get carried away - we are still our own worst enemy - gifted Argentina 14 points in the last 10 minutes because of inaccuracy and poor decision making. This is a chronic problem that has not been addressed.

Euan: I can't overstate how impressed I was with that performance from Scotland. Quite rightly the France performance in the Six Nations is now the benchmark, yesterday wasn't too far off. Our backline clicked without Finn Russell for the first time against a top nation, the forwards were excellent and the set piece worked well. Sione Tuipulotu back to his best, thought he was unreal.

Donald: This team continues to perplex me. They can blow hot and then cold. Great performance from a side that clearly has been training together for a month. Kyle Rowe at full-back is a very interesting option.

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John Barclay on ITV

Scotland got into the Argentine 22m nine times and scored seven times. That's an outrageous return, you wouldn't even expect that from the top teams.

They had a field day in the wide channels, and that's where Scotland are at their best and when they come to life.

When Scotland have struggled in the last few years, it's the stuff before that.

Scotland dominated the scrum, dominated at maul time and set the foundations for the rest of the game.

Greg Laidlaw on ITV

You can see the learnings Scotland have taken from November. That challenged the leadership a little.

Today, there was a point when Scotland kicked to the corner and backed themselves. They were doing the right things at the right time and there was a collective leadership.

It wasn't just Sione Tuipulotu making decisions on his own. It was a real step forward from this Scotland team.

Lisa Martin on BBC Radio Scotland

It probably put to bed all of the nightmares from November.

It was an assured performance, it was very calm, the exit was no-nonsense.

There were so many good things. There were defensive lapses in November that weren't there; the lineout that was maybe awry in November was arguably one of our strengths; we won the scrum penalties against a team that is usually renowned for its dominance up front.

It was a really good first marker.

Have your say on Scotland's performance via this link

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Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu

"We knew it was going to be pretty similar to what we faced in the autumn and we knew there was going be a point in the game where we had to wrestle back momentum.

"We know our attacking identity, we like to play with the ball, we probably leaked too many points at the end but I'm really proud of the boys' effort today."

On facing South Africa next, he adds: "It's a big challenge, probably the biggest challenge in world rugby.

"We're ready for that and one we really want to test ourselves against the best."