Resurgent Scots can’t be taken lightly

By the time the clock ticks over at 7.15pm tomorrow night and the powerful Flower of Scotland anthem rings through the electric Murrayfield stands, the Boks will know they are in for a battle.

It is, therefore, disconcerting that some local Bok fans don’t take the Scotland challenge seriously in the penultimate fixture of the national team’s November tour.

The Scots’ revival under coach Gregor Townsend is not any more obvious than in their recent record. In their last 10 Tests, they have lost just once, and that was a close defeat of just 22-17 to the mighty All Blacks last November.

Their wins have also been impressive, including a 53-24 victory over Australia, as well as triumphs of 27-22 over Ireland, 29-13 against Wales, 32-26 over France and 25-13 against England, so Bok fans might want to take them very seriously.

The Scots have also developed a habit of beating the Boks every eighth year, and 2018 is one of those seasons if that trend is to be continued.

In 2002, the Scots won 21-6 and eight years later they won 21-17, with both these wins coming just a year prior to World Cup tournaments – exactly the same scenario the Boks find themselves in currently.

To the Boks’ credit, they have climbed two positions in the world rugby rankings from seventh to fifth after their amazing triumph over New Zealand in Wellington during the Rugby Championship, a performance that led to the Boks regaining a lot of credibility at the highest level of the game.

But the Scots are just one position behind them in sixth place, one spot ahead of the Wallabies who are stuck in seventh after their defeat against Wales last weekend.

According to the global rankings, the top teams in the world are still New Zealand and Ireland, which makes their match-up tomorrow in Dublin an enticing one, and they are followed by Wales in third and England in fourth.

While the Boks haven’t played Scotland since the last World Cup in 2015, when they secured a convincing win of 34-16 shortly after a shock defeat to Japan, they last faced the Scots at Murrayfield way back in 2013 when the Boks scored a 28-0 win.

The tourists also have a 75% win-ratio at Murrayfield, where they have triumphed in 12 of 16 games, but after losing to England they could have easily lost against France last week too, and those are the words of Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, not mine.