Both teams were ‘running on high’ going into this game with one or more wins behind them. South Africa arriving with a lot more evidence to back up their confidence after winning the rugby championship back in August, whereas Scotland easily dealt with a depleted and inexperienced Fiji side last week.
FT
SCOTLAND – 15
SOUTH AFRICA – 32
This was a familiar situation for the majority of Townsend and Erasmus’s men with fourteen and twelve respectively out of both twenty-threes being involved in the two team’s last encounter.
A gargantuan first half gave us an incredible display of physicality and key moments that had a big effect on the moment of the game. Scotland showed periods of great attack that put their opposition under pressure, but the Springboks managed to contain everything that was thrown at them.
Erasmus pulled the trigger on the bomb squad early – bringing them on just five minutes into the second half which boosted the Springboks both mentally and physically. This Scotland team in the second half was hugely energetic and fronted up fantastically both sides of the ball – the brick wall of a South African defence, however, was too much to handle for them.
The second half for the home side was unfortunately a cliché situation – they were their own worst enemy. Multiple mistakes gave the Boks easy access to Scotland’s twenty-two which is an area they rarely fail to come out with five points from.
It only took four minutes for the visitors to get on the score board after gaining a penalty through a Zander Fagerson mistake in Scotland’s twenty-two. A simple pull back from Esterhuizen and a perfect cross field kick from Pollard allowed Mapimpi to dot it down – unsuccessful conversion by Pollard.
A controversial decision saw Scott Cummings yellow carded in the eleventh minute – leaving Scotland a man down and extra work to do in defence.
Scotland were able to find their reply with a penalty converted by Russell – (3-5 17”)
Scotland were able to gain the lead for the first time through another Finn Russell penalty – (6-5 21”)
A messy lineout finally broke Scotland’s defence as loosehead Thomas Du Toit catches the loose ball and ran it in for an easy
Once again Scotland’s star man got the home side back on track with a penalty almost immediately after conceding
After spreading the ball to midfield, a brilliant bit of footballing from Willie Le Roux set up Mapimpi for a nearly identical try adding another blow to Scotland’s hopes.
For a moment Scotland were energized when Ben White dotted the ball down, it was short lived however as the try was disallowed following an unseen knock on.
HT: SCOTLAND 9-19 SOUTH AFRICA
Finn Russell reeled the game in slightly as he converted an early second half penalty – (12-19)
South Africa picked up a yellow card too through Mapimpi for an interception attempt in a potential scoring opportunity.
Following an unsuccessful period of attacking South Africa’s try line Russell opted to leave with some points and converted a penalty in front of the posts – (15-19 61”)
Pollard followed suit and opted for the three points after an error by Scotland in the lineout.
South Africa capitalised on Scotland’s mistakes once more adding another three points through Pollard.
FT: SCOTLAND 15-32 SOUTH AFRICA
POTM – Eben Etzebeth (South Africa)
Teams –
SCOTLAND – P.Schoeman, E.Ashman, Z.Fagerson, G.Gilchrist, S.Cummings, M.Fagerson, R.Darge, J.Dempsey, B.White, D.Van Der Merwe, S.Tuipulotu, H.Jones, B.Kinghorn, T.Jordan, D.Richardson, R.Sutherland, E.Millar-Mills, M.Williamson, J.Bayliss, J.Ritchie, J.Dobie, S.McDowall
SOUTH AFRICA – O.Nche, B.Mbonambi, T.Du Toit, E.Etzebeth, F.Mostert, M.Van Staden, E.Louw, K.Smith, J.Hendrikse, H.Pollard, M.Mapimpi, A.Esterhuizen, L.Am, C.Moodie, W.Le Roux, M.Marx, G.Steenekamp, V.Koch, R.Snyman, S.Kolisi, P. Du toit, J.Wiese, G.Williams
