REALITY CHECK BUT IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD FOR COTTER’S MEN
EVERYONE was expecting it but I don’t think we were really prepared for the ferocity of South Africa. They just blew us away. The game did come back to us at the start of the second half when we closed the gap to 20-13 after a physical battering in the first 40 minutes.
Duncan Weir’s interception, when we were 14 points behind, ensured a big swing. Either they were scoring or we were.
But, overall, I don’t think we can have any complaints about the scoreline or the manner of defeat.
For a large percentage of the game, we just didn’t compete. We couldn’t produce quick ball.
Credit to South Africa, that was them saying ‘We’re back in the World Cup’, after that defeat to Japan. A lot of the talk before the match was about Vern Cotter’s selection, with the likes of Mark Bennett missing out. But it wasn’t a factor in the defeat — not at all.
It wasn’t the scrums, it wasn’t the line-outs, it was about what South Africa did. The way they won the contact.
Their firepower was immense. Any team in world rugby would have had difficulty containing that.
We just couldn’t cope with them and that’s the reality.
Scotland are a tight squad and they are not going to pull any punches with their review.
The fantastic thing is, we know that if we beat Samoa next week, we are still through to the quarter-finals.
We did show him heart and there were glimpses of our ability.
Stuart Hogg’s break, which ended with the forward pass to Tommy Seymour, and Duncan Weir’s composure were highlights.
There had been talk about Finn Russell’s injury beforehand, but Weir impressed at No 10 in his stead.
He was one of our bravest defenders. He’s a different player to Finn, so we’re not comparing like for like but he was fantastic.
Any stand-off is reliant on the ball produced and our guys were stuck in a heavyweight contest.
We were taking the big punches and not able to dish any out.
I will never fault the passion and the work rate of the Scotland team — and this certainly doesn’t undo the fantastic victories against Japan and the USA. But this is a reality check in the World Cup.
This was the first tier-one team that we played. We knew exactly the kind of game the Springboks would play. The second-row combination of Eben Etzebeth and man-of-thematch Lodewyk de Jager stood out. Their ball-carrying ability to get over the gainline was impressive.
Two big heavyweight guys, 6ft 8in plus, both athletic, rampaging about the place — they put down a marker for how second rows can play the game.
I thought our guys, Jonny and Richie Gray, were excellent but they spent all their time defending.
Richie was the top tackler in the game with 21, with Jonny making 14.
We just didn’t have the opportunity to show we can carry the ball like them.
As impressive as the South Africans’ display was, however, the JP Pietersen tackle on Tim Swinson in the second half should have been a yellow card.
The Springboks definitely got the rub of the green from the referee Nigel Owens. That comes again from them being dominant in the
We were stuck in a heavyweight contest, taking the big punches but weren’t able to dish any out
contact area and having points on the scoreboard.
If that goes your way, the referee tends to go with you, as well, although I don’t think that made any difference to the result.
My conspiracy theory is that it is tough for the smaller teams to get the decisions against the likes of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, but I can’t have any grumbles about the game.
If Scotland’s performance had been better, these things would have evened themselves out.
There will be some really sore bodies and it will be interesting to see who pulls up over the next few days.
I think Richie Vernon was strong yesterday but I expect Bennett to come back in. Hopefully, Hogg will be fit but there will be some bumps and bruises. We need to regroup against Samoa. Their camp won’t be in a great place after they lost to Japan yesterday.
They’ll be really pushing for a big last victory.
We need to do what the Springboks did to us and start strongly — and put points on the board early on.
We need a mobile back row. John Hardie was fantastic against Japan so, hopefully, he will come back in — although Blair Cowan was excellent on his return.
The atmosphere was electric in Newcastle with plenty of South Africans in the crowd, but next weekend there should be many more Scots than Samoans, so we need to use that.
The team needs to put the pressure on — and secure that quarter-final spot.