These are your rugby headlines on the morning of Sunday, July 3
Warburton: Wales can be proud
Sam Warburton says Wales players can be proud of themselves with the way they performed against South Africa after the abuse they took following the Six Nations.
Wayne Pivac’s men came tantalisingly close to a first ever victory over the Springboks on South African soil before going down to a heartbreaking 32-29 defeat with the last kick of the game.
Speaking on Sky Sports, former Lions skipper Warburton said: “I am actually really pleased even though Wales lost because of where they have come from with some of the abuse the players have taken since the Six Nations. They can be so proud of themselves for that effort today.
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“To handle the last 10 minutes the way they did with 13 men - and just 12 men at one point - I am actually really proud as a Welshman with the way they played and the way they dealt with themselves. So even though it’s a loss, it feels almost like a moral victory and it’s a great platform for them. Some of those youngsters proved they can compete out there, so it sets up the second Test really nicely.
“It will give them massive confidence going into that match. The kick battle was really good, with their kick to compete, some of the collision stuff was really good, the breakdown. They were risk averse and pretty much error free in the first-half.
"It’s just ultimately the penalties they leaked because they started losing those collisions and didn’t deal with the maul in the second half. Selection for next week will be fascinating.”
Wales centre Jonathan Davies added: “They talked about putting the pride back in the jersey and I think they did that. You could see the boys were hugely disappointed with not getting that result. They came so close to getting that victory at the end and they didn’t quite nail it. That will be the thing that will be hanging over them.
“Over the 80 minutes, the boys put in a huge shift and you can take great confidence from that but essentially it’s a results-based game and they will be gutted that they didn’t quite get over the line. But it’s important now that they dust themselves off and come back for next week.
“South Africa will fear Wales now because they will realise what they can do and their potential. So, disappointed at the end obviously, but a lot to take away from it.
“The last performance Wales put in was a very disappointing one at home to Italy. They went out to South Africa, the home of the world champions, and ran them close right to the end. You can take a lot from that. The boys will grow in confidence with two more matches to go. The Welsh public will be happy with the performance. They will appreciate the effort the boys put in.”
'Light years' away from Italy game
Shane Williams says Wales' display against the Springboks was "light years" away from their disastrous defeat to Italy in the Six Nations.
Wales rounded off their springtime tournament with a demoralising loss to the Azzurri in Cardiff, prompting trepidation as they headed to the home of the world champions this summer. But Pivac's boys performed admirably and were so unlucky to taste defeat right at the end.
Williams said in the Rugby Paper: "There were many who thought it was going to be an exercise in keeping the scoreline respectable rather than getting to within six minutes of winning and a few seconds of drawing.
"After what happened against Italy in their last match, this was a performance that was light years away from that defeat.
"There was huge commitment, real confidence and true bravery. They met the Boks on the physical front line and completely frustrated them. There were those who said the Boks were rusty, which was probably true, and that they were poor in the first half. That's because Wales shut them down, tackled them every time they had the ball and generally frustrated them all over the park. They looked a show of themselves because we made look poor."
Defeat tough to take - Hook
Former fly-half James Hook says the tape of Saturday's Test between South Africa and Wales will make for tough viewing for Wayne Pivac's men.
Wales were in front for the majority of the match in Pretoria and saw the world champions snatch victory with the final kick of the match.
The tourists finished the match with 13 and were down to 12 at one stage as the Boks finally broke down their resilience. Hook praised their efforts
"Wales will be feeling absolutely gutted. That was a phenomenal effort," he said on Radio Wales. "Nobody expected a result like that. They came so close and were within seconds of winning it.
"It's going to be tough viewing on Monday for the boys and supporters but it was a fantastic effort from Wales. I think that was Wales' best chance they're going to have to win in this series.
"South Africa are going to get better and not play as poorly as they played today that's for certain. That's really tough for Wales to take."
Former Wales international Ian Gough echoed Hook's words, added that he was heartbroken with the outcome. on BBC Radio Wales Extra "We've snatched defeat from the jaws of victory," he said. "We should have won that game. I'm heartbroken and I'm heartbroken for the boys as they put such an effort into that game and should have won it.
Frustrated Townsend rues poor start
Gregor Townsend lamented a poor first-half performance after Scotland suffered a 26-18 defeat to Argentina in San Salvador de Jujuy.
The Scots failed to enter the hosts' 22 in the opening 40 minutes and went in trailing 18-6 at the break.
They improved after the interval and got themselves level with tries from Mark Bennett and Rory Hutchinson but Argentina pulled away again to win the first of the three-Test series.
"I'm disappointed because we didn't get going until the second half," head coach Townsend told Sky Sports. "That was frustrating. We then got into a position where we believe we could have and should have kicked on, and we didn't.
"Credit to Argentina, they won a restart and got a try from that and the game then slowed down in the last 20 minutes. We needed more to change the momentum in that last 20 minutes."
The Scots face another two Tests against Argentina over the next two Saturdays, and Townsend knows they must start with more intensity if they are to turn the series around.
"We didn't have much ball in the first half and we had to defend for a number of phases," he said. "It was a stop-start game the whole way through with a lot of reset scrums, penalties or errors from both teams.
"Sometimes you've got to create your own momentum and you do that with accuracy. In the first half that wasn't the case. The second half was a lot better but we just didn't kick on in the final quarter.
"We've got to take our learnings from what we can do better and also from what Argentina brought today and how we can counter that next week."
Despite the meek first-half showing, captain Grant Gilchrist feels Scotland showed enough to suggest they can get the better of the Pumas over the next two Tests.
"We were below our best in that first half," said the skipper. "We had a few good defensive sets and hung in there but we didn't control territory and possession and we were under the cosh for most of the first half.
"We showed what we can do at the start of the second half. At 18-18 I felt the momentum was with us. It's a game we should have won from that point. We didn't but I saw enough in that game (to believe) that we can bounce back next week."
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