Glasgow’s latest caps offer optimism for future

Amid the frustration and disappointment of Saturday’s latest near-thing with a southern hemisphere nation, the performances of Glasgow’s new caps Tim Swinson, Tommy Seymour and Peter Murchie provided glimpses of something with potential gem-like qualities.

Murchie was targeted by the Springboks with numerous high balls and the 30-year-old claimed them confidently with Boks charging at him, and was the catalyst to some exciting counter-attacking, while Tommy Seymour outshone Bjorn Basson on the Boks wing with tenacious defence and a chip-and-chase that led to Matt Scott’s opening try.

Tim Swinson matched the physicality of Juandre Kruger and Eben Etzebeth in the boiler-room battle, tackled himself to a standstill and found some energy to make promising runs, most notably in piercing the Bok defence to set the platform for Alex Dunbar’s try.

“It feels like the worst experience my body has have ever had,” said the 26-year-old, “but the best feeling I have ever had. It is unfortunate about the result but I want to get back out there and play another Test.

“It is every hit, not just the occasional one, but every contact is one of the  biggest you have been in.

“We played in the first half the way that we had talked about all week and even played in the second half like that. There were lapses that cost us dear, but I feel that there is a lot we can be proud of in that performance.

“It was a great feeling to be coming in at half-time leading the Springboks and really feeling you belong at that level. I feel that I showed a lot of things I can do, but there are also a lot of things I can learn; no game of rugby is perfect.”

Seymour, 24, had similar mixed feelings afterwards, stating: “There were some things that were incredibly special out there, things that go through your head, family, friends, the fact that you are representing a lot of people.

“There was immense emotion knowing that I had 80 minutes to make sure that the people who had supported me since I was little were proud of me. It was an overwhelming experience.

“But there’s also the disappointment of losing and I don’t think you would be telling the truth if you said anything else was the first emotion after a game like that.”

Seymour was almost in for a debut try after just three minutes when Jackson floated a long pass wide to counter a narrow Boks defence inside the home 22, but the pass was too high and it sailed into touch.

He then baffled the Boks with a superb break from his own half and chip-and-chase into the 22, and only swift scramble defence stopped him scoring, but Scotland finished off the attack with Matt Scott’s opening try.

“Ruaridh is a great player, an intuitive player, and you have to be ready for him because he sees the space and tries to put players away,” said the winger.  “Unfortunately it did not come off, but it was an exciting moment for me to step up and get involved in the game.

“As for the chip, it was one of those things you do off the cuff. Watching the kick, my first thought was ‘bloody hell, I wish you’d come back down’, then it was regathering to go for the line, but they were on me pretty quick and my real thought was just to get the ball back presented well for the nine to get away.

“It is great to get across the line and I would have liked to get a try, but at that stage ball presentation was number one and the team got the try, which was all that mattered.”

The overriding feeling now?

“Mainly it is the disappointment. We represented ourselves well, but did not manage to finish it off. After last week, a lot of boys were hurting and people around Scotland were looking for a  performance.

“In a contest like that we need to believe in ourselves. We know we can win games like that and put points on the board and next time we have to make sure we do.”

We may not have seen any of this trio at Test level had Scotland not been suffering from a number of injuries and Lions call-ups, because of the limited opportunity in a two-team pro game. To that end, this tour could prove invaluable to Scottish rugby.