Scotland set out stall for Fiji match as squad urged to 'keep believing' after South Africa loss
Gregor Townsend’s side return to Murrayfield after a 42-28 loss to the Springboks in Nations Championship
Scotland scrum-half Ben White has urged his teammates to ‘keep believing’ in the strides they have made over the past 12 months despite the disappointment of losing to South Africa.
Gregor Townsend’s side went toe-to-toe with the number one ranked team in world rugby in challenging conditions at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria. They had the game level at 14-14 at half time and eventually did enough to secure a try-scoring bonus point but the Springboks showed their strength and quality to see the game out to a final score line of 42-28.
The Scots now conclude the first part of their inaugural Nations Championship campaign against Fiji at Murrayfield on Saturday. White says he is ‘raring to go’ for that match despite the rigors of a long season with club and country.
“How far we’ve come” - Ben White wants Scotland players to keep believing in themselves despite loss to South Africa
“It was hard work,” the Toulon half-back explained. “I was having to dig in and grind it out. I've got bags of ice on the calves and hamstrings but I'll be alright.
“We’re disappointed because we believe in the group and how far we’ve come in the last 12 months. There were long periods in that game where we were on top and showed the quality that we’ve got against the world's best opposition. We’ve got to keep working, keep believing in our group and how we want to play and the ability we have and keep doubling down on that.
“Our messaging was really clear about the next job and how we were going to get the ball back and the detail we needed to have in our attack. A couple of times we were slow to a couple of rucks and they have quality over the ball and that slowed us down.
“It was about when we do have the ball, the speed that we can play at in our attack, the options we're using at the line and making them make decisions. I think towards the end with Gregor going through, with Maggie going through, we were putting them under a large amount of pressure and the next thing is just making sure that once we do that, we stay on top.”
White also spoke about what they’ve taken from their failures over the past year, particularly the defeats to Argentina in November and Italy in the Six Nations, adding: “Gregor, Sione and others have spoken about what we’ve taken from those games and it definitely brought the group closer together. We've talked about our DNA, how we want to play and the belief that we have in each other.
“We're going to stick to that. We're going to stick to how we want to play and the ability we have, no matter who we play against and I think we showed that [on Saturday].”
Ben White wants to play against Fiji as Scotland get set for Summer Test at Murrayfield
Saturday’s defeat makes it one win and one loss with try scoring bonus points from both for Scotland in their Nations Championship campaign. That leaves them sitting third in the Northern Hemisphere side of the table behind Ireland and France.
Fiji, who are technically classed as the ‘home’ team for this weekend’s match in Edinburgh due to not currently being able to host matches on their home island, are coming off the back of a 73-8 thrashing at the hands of England. Townsend certainly won’t take the Flying Fijians lightly but squad rotation is a strong possibility.
However, White says he hopes to be involved in that match, adding: “We love playing at Murrayfield. We love playing in front of our home crowd and we want to make sure that that whole stadium's rocking and excited to watch Scottish rugby played at the highest level.
“We want to make them proud and put smiles on their faces. That's what we want to do. And that's how we want to play rugby. We'll be really excited about the opportunity to play a summer game at Murrayfield in front of a big crowd, a home crowd, and put on a performance that the team and the fans can be proud of and be as one.
“I love playing for Scotland and you never turn down the chance to play for your country. It’s an absolute honour and any chance I get to do that, I’m chomping at the bit. You want to get back out there, put smiles on faces and be proud to play for your fans. So I'm really excited. And if I get the opportunity to pull on the shirt again I'll be raring to go. Recover well and go again.”
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