Going into the four-match Autumn Nations Series the general consensus was that Scotland needed to beat Fiji and Portugal convincingly, give the Springboks a run for their money and close out the year with a win over Australia. So, in that sense, it was a job well done.
Gregor Townsend oversaw a positive autumn with the dangerous Wallabies vanquished, but there are gnawing sores to fix.
It is a strange scenario where a defeated coach hails a 17-point loss as “one of their best performances” in recent times and the victorious coach claims he is “not very proud” of a victory where his side prevented dangerous opponents from scoring a try.
Scotland player ratings: Scotland slipped to a ninth successive defeat against South Africa, and a fourth under Gregor Townsend, as the world champions proved too strong at Murrayfield.
Tom Jordan has been rewarded for his impressive debut off the bench in last week's record 57-17 win over Fiji with a place in Scotland's starting line-up against South Africa on Sunday afternoon.
The 30-year-old, who won his 10th cap when he started Scotland’s final summer tour Test against Uruguay, had just recovered from a quad issue sustained in pre-season which ruled him out of Edinburgh’s first four United Rugby Championship matches.
As the Gallagher Premiership season approaches we take a look at the physical makeup of each of the league's ten sides.
Away from the bright lights of Southern Hemisphere heavyweights, Gregor Townsend has time to widen his talent pool in the Test arena