The dust has now settled on Scotland’s loss to South Africa and everything is gearing towards the final Autumn Test of 2018 against Argentina this Saturday.
Here are some Tuesday thoughts to keep you up to speed with everything that is going on…
Plenty of encouragement to take
Scotland second-row Ben Toolis is encouraged greatly by the fact that the team can compete toe-to-toe with the world’s best teams – and still have a lot of room for improvement.
The Scots were edged out 26-20 by South Africa at BT Murrayfield on Saturday with little errors at key times and being bullied at the breakdown playing their part as the hosts just came out on the wrong side of things after an enthralling 80 minutes.
Edinburgh Rugby’s Toolis, 26, won his 14th cap in the Test match and believes the defeat gives the squad plenty food for thought as they look to continue building towards next year’s World Cup in Japan.
The Australian-born player said: “We’re disappointed with the loss, we’re never happy to lose, but there were a lot of positives in the game.
“To lose by only six points, and I think they’re easily a top three team in the world, there are a lot of positives and we’ll take that. We’ll review the game and fix the areas we need to fix. We’re still improving and I think that’s the exciting part, we’re coming together quite well. To only just lose with the struggles we had in this one is a good sign.”
What a try!
Scotland never used to score tries, let alone crackers!
However, in recent times under Vern Cotter and now Gregor Townsend the backs play with confidence and with their heads up and Pete Horne’s first half try was up there with the best in the last few years.
“It is probably the best team try of my career,” the inside centre said.
“It was exactly what we kind of talked about through the week – outworking them, form the width, and resetting. We knew we could sting them out the back of our forward pod.
“It was nice to pick them off. That’s one of our trademarks – showing a bit of energy and just working hard to get on the end of things.”
Doddie march success
Following the success of the march in Rome – when thousands of Scotland fans marched to the ground during the Six Nations in March – and in view of Doddie Weir’s impending award from the city, The Lord Provost closed off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh between the Bridges for a gathering between 2 and 3pm on Saturday.
And what an event it was!
Rob Wainwright, the former Scotland captain and one of the main organisers, said: “Well, the dust has settled from the weekend and where are we? We have just banked in £43,000 in cash donations to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation account and have a further £11,000 pending.
“So it a big thank you to all you out there who gave, and to the SRU, the Council, the Police, Steedsy for the excellent sound, our many supporting bars and especially our team of volunteers. Big pats on the back all round please – and grovelling apologies to anyone we have missed.
“Finally we have a surfeit of tie-back headbands still available in Edinburgh. If any rugby clubs or schools would like a bunch for their age group rugby sections to hand out for a nominal donation, it would be great to see them used.”
Well done to all involved.
Thanks to David Gibson/FOTOSPORT for the images
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