STURDY SPRINGBOKS ARE TOO GOOD FOR SCOTS AFTER BRUISING ENCOUNTER
SCOTLAND 20 SOUTH AFRICA 26
Scotland battled bravely until the end of 80 bruising, brutal minutes, but just couldn’t overhaul the sturdy Springboks.
The opening score was a thing of beauty – from a South African perspective.
Handre Pollard jinked through a barely-there gap and then the ball flashed through Springbok hands until Jesse Kriel crashed over, though Greig Laidlaw and Stuart McInally could have done more to keep him out.
Scotland were almost too desperate to get into the game and it was all a bit skittish. But then Huw Jones showed just what an attacking threat he is.
His terrific behind-the-back pass sent Sean Maitland down the flank, and his support run saw him take the return pass to put centre partner Peter Horne in for an absolute pearler.
But a minute later he was turned over in midfield and with Scotland unable to set their defence it was simplicity itself for
South Africa to spin the ball wide for Pollard to finish off.
Pollard notched his second conversion and added a penalty as WP Nel was pinged for collapsing the scrum under immense pressure from the huge Steven Kitshoff, though Laidlaw – who had earlier converted Horne’s try – replied in kind when the Boks strayed offside.
It was on odd and breathless game as the teams wrestled for control, and Scotland found the high-tempo style that brought such success against Fiji wasn’t paying off as well against a far more structured side.
That said, they equalised from a lineout set up by Stuart Hogg’s superb break and chip as, in a ploy straight from the training ground, Hamish Watson curved round the front to pocket McInally’s throw and barrel over.
But Nel was done again by that big unit Kitshoff and Pollard’s penalty put the Springboks 20-17 ahead at half-time.
South Africa were winning too many collisions and competing ferociously at the breakdown, and with their scrum going backwards or down against the biggest pack in world rugby, Scotland were doing well to still be in the fight.
On 46 minutes, Boks full-back Willie Le Roux was harshly but correctly sinbinned for a deliberate knock-on and Laidlaw pulled his team level again with the penalty at the extreme limit of his range.
Once again South Africa hit back immediately, Pollard notching another penalty when McInally didn’t release at the tackle.
You couldn’t take your eyes off the action for a second and Russell tried a long-range drop goal that drifted wide as Scotland threw everything at the visitors to defend their proud home record.
But ref Romain Poit spotted Adam Hastings holding on at the bottom of a pile of bodies and Elton Jantjies booted a monster penalty between the uprights for a six-point lead.
SCOTLAND – Hogg (Harris 63); Seymour, Jones, Horne (Hastings 68), Maitland; Russell, Laidlaw (Capt.) (Price 64); Reid (Dell 45), McInally (Brown 56), Nel (Berghan 56), Toolis, Gray, Skinner (Ritchie 73), Watson, Wilson (Strauss 56).
SOUTH AFRICA – Le Roux; Nkosi (Kolbe 63), Kriel, Allende (Jantjies 56), Dyantyi; Pollard, Papier (Van Zyl 78); Kitshoff (T. Du Toit 58), Marx (Mbonambi 66), Malherbe (Koch 58), Snyman (De Jager 60), Mostert, Kolisi (Capt.) (Louw 67), P-S. Du Toit, Vermeulen.