Gregor Townsend bemoans referee decisions against Scotland

Scotland battled valiantly against the reigning world champions and Townsend believes it was one of the ‘best performances’ in years but they ultimately fell short of a famous win.

The hosts trailed 19-9 at half-time but reduced the deficit to just four points with 20 minutes remaining and South Africa down to 14 men. 

But Scotland failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and the Springboks controlled the last ten minutes, although their 17-point winning margin flattered the visitors. 

Townsend was left to rue the decision by foul play review officer Tual Trainini to upgrade Scott Cummings’s yellow card to a 20-minute red.

Scott Cummings sits on the bench after being sent off (Image: SNS) The new punishment has only been introduced at international level for the Autumn Nations Series and it resulted in Cummings being unable to re-enter the action with Max Williamson replacing him after the 20-minute period.

Scotland dealt admirably during that period but even the initial yellow card seemed harsh and Townsend was left frustrated by both decisions. 

“At the time, I thought they’d got the wrong person,” Townsend admitted.

“I thought Rory Darge went across his side and then there was another angle where Scott's movement did land on the leg of the player, who was jackling- but there were massive mitigating circumstances. 

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“Scott was there to clear a contact and the scrum half popped up as he was clearing contact, which took Scott off his feet and he did land on the jackling player's leg.

"But it's such a dynamic game and you're hitting those contacts at a huge speed that I thought was a very harsh red."

Despite another defeat against the Springboks, Townsend was proud of his team's performance. 

He added: "I thought it was one of our best performances the last few seasons.

"To go up against the world champions, you've got to match their physicality, you've got to work as hard as you've ever worked and I felt our players did that.

"When you consider that we were down a man for 20 minutes and that player being a second row, it took a huge effort.

"When the game was opening up, we looked at times the fitter team and it looked like they were sharper.

"So there's a huge amount of pride and not just pride but pleasing aspects of the performance.” 

Scotland failed to score a try for the second consecutive game against South Africa but Ben White had an effort disallowed in the first half.

Ben White's disallowed try was a turning point (Image: SNS) It was rightly pulled back for a clear knock-on by Huw Jones but Townsend questioned whether too many phases had passed for the knock-on to be relevant. 

“I don't know whether you're supposed to go back more than two phases but it was a knock on,” Townsend continued.

“We can't get around that but those are moments in a game when it would have put us in a better position. You'll have to remind me of the laws on whether you can go back more than two phases but there was a knock on.” 

Scotland started the second half in the ascendancy and they applied considerable pressure on the Springboks but their defensive resoluteness was superb as the hosts were repelled. 

“The question earlier about not scoring tries was a valid one,” Townsend added. “But also they were giving away a lot of penalties. Penalties that went to three, six, nine, twelve [points]

"There could have been a second yellow card when Ben White was taken out five metres from the line. So I felt we'd had enough pressure and positions to score more points - we'll look at how we can improve that.”

Townsend was pleased with much of his side's display (Image: SNS) Much of the pre-match conversation centered around South Africa's 7-1 split on the bench.

It was an intimidating prospect when the Springboks' ‘bomb squad’ entered the action on 45 minutes but Townsend was delighted with how Scotland coped. 

“We talked about their bomb squad and I think when they've gone 7-1, the score lines haven't changed when the seven have come on,” he admitted.

“I think Ireland actually beat them in that period in the World Cup and it was 0-0 against New Zealand. So we knew that there's intimidation and a perception that if you bring 7 players on they'll change the game.

“But they also have to get up to the speed of playing test rugby and I thought our players responded to that challenge well. Obviously there's some quality players that came off the bench but for a period there, we were the ones that were getting penalties and getting gaps in their defence.” 

It was a predictably physical encounter at Murrayfield against South Africa with Jack Dempsey coming off with a nasty looking shoulder injury.

Jack Dempsey was forced off with a shoulder injury (Image: SNS) Townsend conceded it was too early for a full diagnosis. 

“Jack got a real bang on his shoulder,” Townsend said.

“It's not looking good at the moment but we need to see what happens with the scan. But I don't think he'll be available in the next few days or next week - let's hope it's not too serious.”