Despite falling short in a thrilling test match against the All Blacks, Scotland captain John Barclay is proud of the way his troops fronted in front of a packed Murrayfield on Sunday morning (NZ time).
Scotland, who have never beaten New Zealand in 112 years, came close to snatching a famous win when Stuart Hogg streaked down the left wing with seconds to spare, but the flying fullback was tackled into touch, metres before the line.
Instead of celebrating a historic win, Scotland were left disappointed as the fulltime whistle signalled a 22-17 defeat in a match they dominated are were arguably the better team on the field.
- Stuart Hogg credits Beauden Barrett's last ditch try-saving tackle
- As it happened - Scotland vs All Blacks
But they were left to rue multiple missed opportunities to score tries while the All Blacks stood up when needed most to beat Scotland for the 29th time.
Speaking to the media after the match, Barclay said that was simply one of the best matches he has ever played in.
"That was a proper Test match," he said. "It just went back and forth. At 3-3 you probably would have thought that's a boring game, but both teams were playing with tempo.
"You saw two teams going at it hard. We were 12 points behind, but we just kept going. We had a great mentality.
"We're gutted. We feel that maybe that's one that got away, but also we're very proud of the intensity and effort of what we did.
Barclay was quick to point out that the closeness of the scoreline had as much to do with the skill level of his players as the typical Scottish never say die attitude,
"To call it brave undervalues the skill. It's very hard to play at that level and that speed with skill," Barclay added.
"That's not brave, that's skill, under pressure, under fatigue – and that's the exciting thing for this team
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend shared the exact same thoughts as his skipper.
"Proud would be the major emotion [right now]. The effort and ability shown by the players throughout the game was outstanding.
"It was a brilliant Test match.
"We had a lot of pressure in the second half, a lot of territory and won a lot of penalties close to the line and to not get that final try was disappointing, but it's a huge effort from our players, and we can take a lot from that game."
Scotland will face Australia next weekend, while the All Blacks face Wales.
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