Captain Sione Tuipulotu admitted Scotland let themselves down in the defeat to South Africa, with the hosts spurning several scoring opportunities in a second half purple patch before going down to a 32-15 defeat.  

“We put ourselves in positions to score tries,” the centre said.  

 “I thought the last bit of execution really let us down today, especially in the finish zone, close to the line at least. 

“We were down there for a big part of that second half and we didn't walk away with tries that we should have walked away with.  

“We've got to take responsibility for that. The game was there to be won and we didn't execute.” 

Sione Tuipulotu takes on opposite number Andre EsterhuizenSione Tuipulotu takes on opposite number Andre Esterhuizen (Image: SNS) Despite another defeat to the Springboks, Tuipulotu said he was proud of Scotland’s performance and picked out the forwards – who stood up to South Africa - for particular praise.  

Scotland coped well during the 20 minutes Scott Cummings was off the field after his yellow card was upgraded to a red, but Tuipulotu acknowledged Scotland’s failure to capitalise on a second-half yellow card to Springbok try-scorer Makazole Mapimpi was crucial.  

“We were down there for a big part of that second half and we didn't walk away with tries that we should have walked away with. So we've got to take responsibility for that.  

“Those are the moments we probably got to score five metres out with a line-out and they've only got 14 guys, but there were plenty of other periods in the game that we could have executed better on. 

“The game was there to be won and we didn't execute.”

The Scotland captain admitted the game was there for the takingThe Scotland captain admitted the game was there for the taking (Image: SNS) Tuipulotu said in the build-up Scotland were searching for a statement win against one of the world’s best sides and whiile it did not come against the Springboks – who will reclaim the world number one spot after New Zealand’s win over Ireland on Friday – he feels the team is getting closer.  

“I definitely think we've made growth from how we perform today to how we performed against that team last time at the World Cup,” he said.  

“I thought there were so many growth areas in how we played. 

"Our ability not to get frustrated when we were down with that red card and then I suppose a few ref calls going their way, the line-out when they scored through the tap-back and straight through the line-out.  

“All those moments, I thought we showed emotional maturity during those moments and they're a big part of what we've been trying to get better at.”