Samoa's valiant performance in their defeat by Scotland will restore some pride in the Pacific Islanders' disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign, Census Johnston says.

The colossal prop and his Samoa team-mates faced severe criticism in the wake of earlier Pool B defeats by South Africa and Japan, but they turned in a much-improved effort against the Dark Blues at St James' Park on Saturday.

Samoa outdid Scotland in the try-count in the highest-scoring match of the tournament to date, crossing the whitewash four times to the Scots' three, and they missed victory only by an agonising three points.

Samoa's Ma'atulimanu Leiataua celebrates with team-mates after scoring a try © Getty Images

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"I'm proud of the boys," Johnston told ESPN. "We've been getting a lot of stick and I've heard a lot of stories back home, that a lot of people are disappointed, but no one feels worse than the players. It's hard when you're getting it from your own people and when you're in a hole, it's hard to get out of it because your supporters are bagging you at the same time."

Former Samoa captain Dan Leo wrote in his ESPN column that his country was "in mourning" after the defeats by South Africa and Japan, and he called on the team to earn a bit of respect against Scotland in Newcastle. They did just that with a blood-and-thunder game, and they were in the lead until the 59th minute when a penalty from the excellent Greig Laidlaw saw Scotland finally overhaul the islanders.

"We just need to try to make sure that we're able to win these close games," Johnston added. "It's the little details that we're missing at the moment. Once we get that sorted, we're going to be dangerous one day. Hopefully I'm still involved, but no one knows when the next time they're going to get picked is. We just want to make sure we put more pride into the jersey."

Johnston, 34, came out of international retirement to play in the World Cup after injury to fellow front-rower Logovi'i Mulipola. Rather than turning his thoughts back to life on the sidelines, Johnston insists the team needs to learn from its topsy-turvy tournament.

"It's a shame we didn't play like that from the start [of the World Cup]," he said. "We've put in hard work this week and are happy with the performance, but we know we've got to learn from this. We've said it a few times every year. The only thing I can put my hand on is a lack of discipline which lets us down."