SPRINGBOK coach Heyneke Meyer refused to label South Africa's opening 40 minutes against Scotland last Saturday as the worst in his tenure, rather focusing on the positive gains from the 30-17 win.
The Boks trailed 10-6 at the break and could have been further behind if centre Matt Scott hadn't slipped after making a clean line break with the tryline ahead of him and no defenders to beat.
Early in the second half, a ragged Springbok team fell 17-6 behind to a second Scotland try before rallying to win in the last 25 minutes to set up a "final" in the series against Samoa, who thrashed Italy 39-10.
"A year ago we would have lost that game," Meyer said. "It's called test match rugby and although the media wrote Scotland off the whole week, we knew they would come at us.
"They used their opportunities well in the first half, but the way we fought back was a huge positive. Last year that would never have happened and I believe we learnt a lot from the game.
"I wasn't happy with the first half, but we showed character and I prefer a game like that to a walkover with a view to the Rugby Championship.
Captain Jean de Villiers added: "I'm proud of the composure the guys showed and I agree with the coach that we would have lost this game last year. We have already taken lessons on board about not panicking.
Meyer, who has been known to use the "hairdryer" approach at half-time if his team hasn't been performing, decided to take a different approach.
"I wasn't happy at half-time and if they had been full of experienced players I would have blasted them," Meyer said.
Meyer did not use the 'hairdryer'
SPRINGBOK coach Heyneke Meyer refused to label South Africa's opening 40 minutes against Scotland last Saturday as the worst in his tenure, rather focusing on the positive gains from the 30-17 win.
The Boks trailed 10-6 at the break and could have been further behind if centre Matt Scott hadn't slipped after making a clean line break with the tryline ahead of him and no defenders to beat.
Early in the second half, a ragged Springbok team fell 17-6 behind to a second Scotland try before rallying to win in the last 25 minutes to set up a "final" in the series against Samoa, who thrashed Italy 39-10.
"A year ago we would have lost that game," Meyer said. "It's called test match rugby and although the media wrote Scotland off the whole week, we knew they would come at us.
"They used their opportunities well in the first half, but the way we fought back was a huge positive. Last year that would never have happened and I believe we learnt a lot from the game.
"I wasn't happy with the first half, but we showed character and I prefer a game like that to a walkover with a view to the Rugby Championship.
Captain Jean de Villiers added: "I'm proud of the composure the guys showed and I agree with the coach that we would have lost this game last year. We have already taken lessons on board about not panicking.
Meyer, who has been known to use the "hairdryer" approach at half-time if his team hasn't been performing, decided to take a different approach.
"I wasn't happy at half-time and if they had been full of experienced players I would have blasted them," Meyer said.
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