![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletter\/sport\/sport-135x135.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ben White is adamant Scotland have learned plenty of lessons from their defeat by South Africa and as a result will become a better team for the remainder of the World Cup.<\/p>\n
The scrum-half was \u201cabsolutely gutted\u201d by the way the Scots started the tournament, losing 18-3 to the defending world champions in Marseille on Sunday.<\/p>\n
It was the first time Gregor Townsend\u2019s side had failed to score a try in a match since November 2020 \u2013 the 22-15 defeat at home to France \u2013 and was also their lowest-scoring outing since their first game of the 2019 World Cup when they lost 27-3 to Ireland.<\/p>\n
Scotland must now win all three of their remaining Pool B matches against Tonga, Romania and Ireland if they are to have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
White believes the intense test they were handed by South Africa will stand them in good stead for the rest of the campaign.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2022\/11\/30\/15\/GettyImages-1388382959%20copy.jpg\")
\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2022\/12\/01\/03\/GettyImages-1245251240.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a World Cup and we\u2019re not out so we have to regroup,\u201d said the 25-year-old. \u201cPlaying a team of that quality is only going to better us going forward in this tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is going to be a lot of learning from it. I know Gregor is really big on us developing as a team and learning from these situations so we will improve and get better and we will come back better against Tonga.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to make sure now that we\u2019re even more accurate, that we\u2019re better in every moment and we will do that. We\u2019ll learn and get better from it and we will give ourselves a chance of getting out of the group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scotland went into their opener against South Africa with a genuine belief that they could beat them. And although they never got their renowned attacking game properly up and running on Sunday, they went in at half-time buoyed by an encouraging finish to a tightly-contested first half that ended 6-3 to the Boks.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Amazon_Prime.svg\")
<\/p>\n
Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n
South Africa took control in the second half, however, and the dejected Scots have been licking their wounds over the last few days, trying to reset and regroup ahead of their next game against Tonga in Nice on Sunday, September 24.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was gutting, absolutely gutting because you prep for 12 weeks and when you get your foot in the door as we did, you want to try and kick on from that,\u201d said White, who will join Toulon after the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a top side and if you give them a sniff, they\u2019ll take their chances. They were the better team on the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe missed quite a few chances and when we got good field positions we weren\u2019t good enough at all. That\u2019s on us to improve.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/12\/10\/5386112776b351c858471015c09a68a9Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NTkzNTgy-2.68068421.jpg\")
\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/12\/06\/d09b268305eaccd1605607b495dabf5cY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NTY3NTg0-2.73257013.jpg\")
\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/11\/17\/e7c6dcfd442a31db83bad17d4f754adeY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NTMzODgz-2.73304317.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of it was down to South Africa though. It\u2019s a great challenge playing the world champions. They\u2019re a top team and for 50 minutes we were in it and had weathered a fair few storms in the first half.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like if we could have just come out in the second half and built a bit of pressure through our possession game and looked to get the ball a little bit wider into Darcy (Graham) and Duhan (Van der Merwe)\u2019s hands, we could have caused them some troubles but credit to them, they stopped us doing that. It felt like they were slowing us down and we have to learn from that.\u201d<\/p>\n