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Scotland player ratings vs South Africa | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

By Bryn Palmer at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Finn Russell of Scotland looks dejected after conceding a penalty 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 Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Scotland player ratings: Scotland slipped to a ninth successive defeat against South Africa, and a fourth under Gregor Townsend, as the world champions proved too strong at Murrayfield.

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The Scots were left aggrieved at an early 20-minute red card for lock Scott Cummings, with the offence looking no more than a penalty at worst.

The hosts’ mood wasn’t improved by a Ben White try being ruled out for an earlier Huw Jones knock-on.

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The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

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The 20-min red card explained by referee Karl Dickson

Referee Karl Dickson explains the 20-min red card system that is in place during the Autumn Nations Series.

Despite Finn Russell’s five penalties keeping them in touch at 15-19 on the hour, two more Handre Pollard penalties and a late Jasper Wiese try saw the Springboks prevail 32-15.

Here is how the Scotland players fared:

Fixture
Internationals
Scotland
15 - 32
Full-time
South Africa
All Stats and Data

15. Tom Jordan – 7.5
Starting his first professional game at full-back after impressing as a replacement on debut against Fiji, the Glasgow fly-half had a couple of nervy moments, spilling a Pollard high bomb and seeing a grubber bounce over his head. But showed what he could in attack by coming into the line and creating the non-try for White, plus several more coruscating carries. Grew into the game superbly before being replaced by McDowall for the last eight minutes.

14. Blair Kinghorn – 5.5
Mapimpi was twice left in acres of space in his corner with Scotland’s defence too narrow, although it was difficult to say if that was a system error or he was wrongly positioned.  Few chances to stretch his long legs with ball in hand. On one of the rare occasions he saw the ball in space, he kicked ahead but then conceded a dumb penalty for falling on Moodie.

13. Huw Jones – 6.5
The Glasgow centre again looked sharp in attack and combined sweetly with Tuipulotu. Unfortunate that his knock-on several phases earlier in the move led to White’s try being ruled out. Initial replays looked inconclusive. Missed a chance to set Van der Merwe free with a pass over his head into touch but a scything break straight after showed his class.

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12. Sione Tuipulotu – 7
The Scotland captain was his side’s leading carrier, running hard in midfield to provide a focal point for the attack.  Put his centre partner Jones through a gap with sweet hands and dove-tailed well with Russell, but couldn’t quite escape the clutches of the Boks’ defence.

11. Duhan van der Merwe – 5.5
A little unsteady under his first high ball but claimed the next and looked to get himself involved, but was too easily bundled into touch on halfway, surrendering possession to the Boks. One burst onto a Zander Fagerson offload briefly got his gander up, but not on ball enough from a Scotland point of view.

10. Finn Russell – 6.5
Continued to probe for gaps in the Boks’ defence and one kick-pass to Kinghorn showed his invention, but ultimately Scotland’s attack failed to breach the Boks again, despite several promising moments. Landed five from five shots at goal to keep Scots in touch, and tracked back well to deal with Le Roux’s dangerous kick ahead.  Drop-goal attempt charged down.

9. Ben White – 7.5
His box-kicks were on the money, hoisted into areas which allowed his chasers time to compete and cause confusion in the Boks’ defence. Snappy service from the base and denied a superb try after a wonderful flowing Scottish attack by an earlier knock-on. A fine return before making way for Dobie with 11 minutes left.

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1. Pierre Schoeman – 6
The Edinburgh loosehead stood up well at scrum-time and made nine tackles in a decent defensive shift. But there were not too many of the familiar cries of ‘Schooo’ from the Murrayfield crowd, a sign he wasn’t so evident with ball in hand as usual.

2. Ewan Ashman – 7
Showed he was up for the fight by smashing Etzebeth back in the tackle and played his part in a strong set-piece showing from the Scots, but a couple of lineout wobbles on the hour stymied their momentum just as it appeared the tide might be turning their way.

3. Zander Fagerson – 8
Carried hard into the guts of the Boks’ defensive line and more than held his own at scrum-time, earning one penalty and conceding another in his battle with Nche. Didn’t cover himself in glory when Du Toit raced through a gap in the lineout for the Boks’ second try, but showed he wasn’t going to take a backward step as he grappled with Etzebeth in the second half. Also showed his soft skills with a lovely offload to set Van der Merwe away.

4. Grant Gilchrist – 6
Competed hard in the tight exchanges against bigger opponents, and a safe source of lineout ball. Tackled his heart out in defence, topping Scotland’s count with 15, but couldn’t resist the inevitable late power surge from the Boks’ ‘Bomb Squad’.

5. Scott Cummings – 4
The Glasgow lock stole an early Springboks lineout to make a nuisance of himself but received a harsh yellow card in the 11th minute for what was deemed a croc-roll, just as Scotland had built up a head of steam, leading to a penalty being overturned. Cummings looked suitably bemused as he headed to the touchline, even moreso when his offence was upgraded to a 20-minute red card, to widespread disbelief.

Scotland player ratings
Sione Tuipilotu – PA

6. Matt Fagerson – 5.5
Took a few lineouts at the front and made his presence felt with a punishing defensive shift, racking up 14 tackles, but rarely seen with ball in hand until his costly knock-on in the Boks’ 22 ended a promising attack.

7. Rory Darge – 6
The vice-captain was involved in the double tackle that saw Cummings earn a yellow-then-red card and put in a fair shift defensively, making 12 tackles in the first hour. Harried Boks scrum-half Hendrikse into errors but struggled to make any serious impact in attack and made way for Ritchie for the final quarter.

8. Jack Dempsey – 7.5
Looked like he hurt his arm tackling Pollard in the first half and was eventually forced off after 63 minutes, but carried the fight to the Boks with his hard running, and was also prominent in defence. Increasingly influential figure.

Replacements:
16. Dylan Richardson – 5
On for Ashman on the hour, the Sharks hooker could do little to stem the tide once the momentum went irreversibly towards the Boks.

17. Rory Sutherland – 4
Another given the final quarter to try to make an impact. The scrum started to falter in the final stages, and little in evidence elsewhere.

18. Elliott Millar-Mills – 4
Came on for Zander Fagerson for the final 15 minutes, the Northampton tighthead was in reverse for the final scrum which led to Wiese’s try.

19. Max Williamson – 5
The young Glasgow lock was on earlier than he might have anticipated, replacing Cummings in the 32rd minute after his team-mate’s 20-minute red card. Unable to claim one lineout, but competed hard in a tough initiation to the realities of elite Test rugby.

20. Josh Bayliss – 4
The Bath back-rower replaced Dempsey for the final quarter of an hour, but another who made little impact in comparison to the Boks’ bench.

21. Jamie Ritchie – 4
Back in the 23 after missing out against Fiji, the Edinburgh flanker came on at openside for the final quarter, but could do little to stem the Boks’ momentum.

22. Jamie Dobie – N/A
On for the final 10 minutes for White, few chances to show his undoubted talent.

23. Stafford McDowall – N/A
Came on for Jordan for the final eight minutes. Too little time to make an impression.

Related

Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)

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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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