Boks favourites but Scots have chance to make Murrayfield a fortress again
Commentary Allan Massie
Six months ago there was reason to think that Scotland would start firm favourites against South Africa this afternoon. There were all sorts of problems in South African rugby. More and more players were joining clubs in England and France and apparently excluding themselves from selection as Springboks.
South Africa, weakened by these defections, were losing matches. There was also uncertainty about the requirement that all representative teams must have a quota of non-white players. In short, there was confusion and a consequent lack of confidence.
Things look very different now. A new coach, Rassie Erasmus, whom we learned to respect in his time with Munster, has had an invigorating effect.
He pulled off a political and public relations master-stroke by appointing the Springboks’ first black captain, the flanker Siya Kolisi, a terrific player who has made a success of the difficult job.
Erasmus seems to have insisted that it was folly to exclude players attached to French, English or Japanese clubs ( just as it would be
folly for the SRU to do this). So South Africa now have a much stronger and properly representative side and this is reflected in results. They beat England in a three-match series earlier in the summer and, in the Rugby Championship, they defeated New Zealand once and came within a whisker of doing so in the return match.
Now in these November internationals, they lost by a single point at Twickenham in a match for which their English-and-frenchdomiciled players were unavailable because it fell outside the IRB’S mandatory window when clubs must release players demanded by a national side. Then, last
Saturday, they beat France in Paris after being well behind for most of the match. They’re a formidable team and the only surprise today
is that they seem to have released their scrum-half Faf De Klerk to his English club, Sale – a surprise because he has been the outstanding No 9 in world rugby over the last six months.
Like most Springbok sides this one has a very powerful and skilful pack. But it also has pace on both wings, Willie Le Roux, creator and scorer of tries, at full-back, and skilful and strong centres. Beating this South African team today will take some doing.
Still, there is a confidence at Murrayfield such as we haven’t experienced for a long time.
With first Vern Cotter and now Gregor Townsend in