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Rusty Springboks pushed by Scotland in opening tour game

By PA
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 10: Jaden Hendrikse of South Africa passes the ball out of the ruck during the Autumn Nations Series 2024 match between Scotland and South Africa at the Scottish Gas Murrayfield on November 10, 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Scotland produced a spirited display but lacked the guile to get over the line as they went down to a 32-15 defeat by world champions South Africa at Murrayfield on Sunday.

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Three first-half tries – two from Makazole Mapimpi either side of an opportunist score from Thomas du Toit – gave the Boks a 19-9 interval lead after the Scots had the double setback of a 20-minute red card for Scott Cummings and a Ben White try chalked off.

Gregor Townsend’s side rallied impressively after the break and got to within four points, but they were made to rue their inability to cross the whitewash while on top, with all of their points coming from the boot of Finn Russell.

South Africa eventually pulled away in the closings stages, with a try from Jasper Wiese in the last action of the match sealing their ninth consecutive victory over Scotland.

The hosts’ cause appeared to have been aided by the fact Rassie Erasmus rested some of his key players for the first of three Tests in the UK this month, although the Boks head coach loaded his bench with brute force and experience in a typically bold 7-1 split.

Match Summary

5
Penalty Goals
2
0
Tries
4
0
Conversions
3
0
Drop Goals
0
98
Carries
111
5
Line Breaks
5
15
Turnovers Lost
16
5
Turnovers Won
5

The visitors went ahead in clinical fashion after just four minutes.

Handre Pollard lofted a perfectly-weighted kick out to the left for Mapimpi and the 34-year-old wing, who also scored a brace in his side’s 30-15 victory on their last visit to Murrayfield three years ago, evaded a challenge from Tom Jordan as he eased over the line. Pollard was off target with his conversion attempt.

Scotland thought they were going to get a chance to reduce the deficit when they were awarded a penalty just outside the 22 in the 11th minute.

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But, with Russell setting up to kick for goal, an intervention from the TMO led to lock Cummings being sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous clearout in a ruck.

Despite being down to 14 men, Scotland got themselves up and running with a Russell penalty in the 17th minute.

Just after the ball flew between the posts, however, the Scots were dealt a further blow when it was confirmed Cummings’ yellow had been upgraded to 20-minute red.

Remarkably, though, Scotland got their noses in front in the 22nd minute when Russell kicked another penalty.

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Their lead lasted a mere seven minutes as the Boks reasserted their authority when Russell’s Bath team-mate Du Toit eased over from close range after a lineout dropped fortuitously into his arms and left him with a clear path to the whitewash. Pollard added the extras.

Glasgow second-rower Max Williamson came on as Cummings’ replacement in the 33rd minute, just in time to see Russell send another penalty between the posts.

But Scotland were undone two minutes later when Mapimpi again dashed over on the left after being set up by another cross-field kick, this time from Willie le Roux. Pollard converted.

Scotland thought they were back in it a minute before the break when White bolted over after being fed by Jordan.

Russell converted, seemingly bringing the hosts back to within three points, only for the try to subsequently be scrapped after the TMO spotted a knock-on by Huw Jones in the build-up.

Another Russell penalty three minutes into the second half kept the Scots within striking distance before the ‘Bomb Squad’ – this time including Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit – entered the fray.

Possession

Team Logo
9%
13%
59%
20%
Team Logo
12%
20%
52%
16%
Team Logo
Team Logo
7%
Possession Last 10 min
93%
45%
Possession
55%

Scotland were unfazed by the arrival of the Boks big-hitters, however, and duly started to build up a head of steam, throwing the ball about with freedom and asking serious questions of their visitors.

The pressure drew a 59th minute yellow card for Mapimpi, penalised for a cynical knock-on.

Despite having the extra man, and the momentum to push for a try, Russell opted to send a close-range penalty between the posts, bringing his side within four points, but Pollard swiftly responded with a penalty of his own to restore the seven-point advantage.

Pollard kicked another penalty in the 74th minute to all but seal the win before Wiese pushed over at the death to ensure the Boks ended up with a far more comfortable winning margin than had looked likely for most of the second half.

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Comments

14 Comments
P
PR 10 days ago

A lot of criticism levelled at the Boks and, yes, it wasn't a great performance. But, good grief, it's a 17 point winning margin, 4-0 try count with largely a B side.

N
NigelGhost 10 days ago

A mark of champions is being able to "win ugly"

A
AV 10 days ago

Good weekend for the southern hemisphere .... 5 from 5

H
HU 10 days ago

Tonga lost in Romania though

R
Rodrigo N 10 days ago

Agree... perfect weekend

H
HU 10 days ago

Boks a bit wobbly, but they still prevail against a legit Scottish team

D
DP 10 days ago

Terrible performance. Boks shouldn’t be rusty after the RC. Contrast how NZ played straight out the gate.. not good enough.

T
The One 10 days ago

Momentum was broken because of all the changes. Say what you want about the depth, but there is a definite A team.

T
The One 10 days ago

Bok fan here. That red card was a fkn joke. It shouldn't even have been a yellow.

D
DP 10 days ago

Wasn’t even a penalty.

B
Bull Shark 10 days ago

Well, the toughest match of the tour is at least out of the way for the boks.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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