“Those are the two best performances on tour, so we obviously like playing in New Zealand!” Townsend joked after the 41-12 win over Samoa in Auckland.
The first and last games of the tour were the matches in which far more game time was given to Scotland’s back-up brigade and a fair few excelled.
“You rise to a challenge and you show your true identity when you’ve got that challenge of backing up a defeat and the players showed that,” added Townsend.
“The way they came together during the week with just a six-day turnaround and one training session, they were really aligned and focused on delivering a better performance.”
Andy Onyeama-Christie looked back to his best, with the back-rower returning from a horrific leg break sustained playing for Saracens last season.
Ollie Smith was another on the comeback trail and immediately made an impact. Given Scotland’s lack of depth in the back-three, his recovery is a blessing.
Against Samoa, the midfield partnership of Stafford McDowall and Rory Hutchinson did their best impression of Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, with McDowall equally adept at trucking forward like an angry rhino, or showing the delicate hands of a surgeon.
Another important relationship that blossomed was in the half-backs, between Jamie Dobie and Fergus Burke.
Although they struggled with the game plan against Fiji, the duo look to have cemented themselves as second-choice behind Lions’ tourists Ben White and Finn Russell.
Dobie’s inclusion in the starting XV against Fiji – his first Test start at nine – suggested a reshuffle in the scrum-half pecking order and his all-action performance against Samoa only boosted his chances.
At fly-half, there have been plenty of contenders for the second violin spot, but with Townsend saying Burke “is up there with the best 10s” it looks like he’s going to get his shot in the coming months.
