Scotland number-eight David Denton has revealed that Saturday's Rugby World Cup Pool B showdown with South Africa was one of the most difficult matches that he has ever played in.
Scotland had won their first two games to lead the group, but now lie second after going down 34-16 to the Springboks at St James' Park in Newcastle.
When asked if it was one of the more physical games that he has played in, Denton told Sports Mole: "Definitely. I've never struggled so much in my career to get over the gain line. I was feeling it out there.
"It's frustrating, from a personal point of view. I was racking my brain trying to think what I could do differently, but when it's static ball like that there's very little you can do.
"So all we've got to do is keep working, stick together as a team. We can't solve this as individuals, we need to work together and make sure we stick to our system."
As in their first two matches, Scotland started slowly and only managed to put up three points in the first half before scoring their one and only try not long after the resumption.
Denton does not believe that there is a confidence problem in the Scottish ranks at the start of the matches.
"We're a very confident group of guys," he added. "We're confident in the rugby that we're playing at the moment. We're playing good rugby, scoring a lot of tries.
"The disappointment today is that we didn't manage to play our game."
Denton also felt that he and his teammates learnt a lot that will help them going into their final Pool B match against Samoa next Saturday, also in Newcastle.
"Today was a steep learning curve," said Denton. "I think that's the important thing. We played very well in the first two games against two tough opponents, but today the game was taken to us.
"We took the initiative in our first two matches, whereas today South Africa imposed themselves on us. We need to learn to take it back."
Scotland know that if they progress to the quarter-finals they will be facing either Wales or Australia, who have already both qualified from Pool A thanks to the latter's win over England tonight.
Pascal Lemesre
