Gregor Townsend insisted refereeing inconsistency robbed Scotland of the chance to get off to a World Cup flier against South Africa.

The dark blues head coach was left baffled by the refusal of Aussie referee Angus Gardner to go to the TMO after Springbok Jesse Kriel's collision with Jack Dempsey's head just 57 seconds. Despite watching his side open their Pool B campaign with an 18-3 to the reigning champions, the quickfire controversy marred the outcome.

It was an incident which mirrored England's Tom Curry saw red for a head on head clash with Argentina's Juan Cruz Malliawho's in the opening seconds of their tournament opener on Saturday. Townsend believes the rule over these contacts appear clouded in uncertainty and he admits the same punishment as Curry received could have been on the cards for Kriel.

He said: "I saw it from two screens away and it did look like it was a head on head collision and I was expecting the TMO to come in to make the referee aware of that. Who knows if it had been a red card? We had a red card on Saturday and it didn't help or change the game in terms of Argentina's favour so who knows?

"Is it frustrating? Yes. We had a promising attacking position outside the 22 and then the TMO came in for a body check which wasn't a traditional tackle and I don't know how that didn't end up being a penalty so yes there are still inconsistencies in seeing these things.

"Whether TMO did see it or not, it was on the replay so there is inconsistency over what is a red card, a yellow card or a penalty so I am frustrated by that but I am more frustrated by our own performance."

Scotland capitulated to the Springboks by conceding two tries in quick succession and Townsend is adamant his side didn't do enough to give themselves a chance to creating a Pool B upset with qualification now looking like a bonus point win over Ireland on October 7 now likely to be required to progress to the quarter-finals.

"I am really disappointed, we were slow to get going in the first half and there was a bit of inaccuracy in our play. We built into the game and I felt physically we were more than up for the challenges which comes from the way they play.

"We started to win penalties at scrum time which was a real bonus. There were opportunities but not many in our attacking game but there were a couple in the first half. We spoke at half-time about the need to build on the way we finished that second quarter.

"But we started with a bit of inaccuracy and then South Africa dominated possession for a period and put on points and it then became difficult in those conditions. The defence had to play from deep and it became risky and we never had the accuracy to trouble them on the scoreboard.

"Accuracy in attack needs to improve and in defence we would be relatively satisfied with the effort which went in but I still think there is more in us with that. Our attack in general starts from our set-piece, winning possession and what we did when he had that possession has got to improve. We only scored three points and that is unusual for us."

There was an injury scare for Scotland playmaker Finn Russell but Townsend revealed the fly-half played through the pain barrier after picking up a rib injury. He said: "It did look like he was coming off initially as he had a rib injury which seemed like it was going to stop him from continuing but he dug deep and he fought really hard. I thought some of his defensive work in the second half was outstanding and it just shows how much he cares about his teammates and playing for Scotland."