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The one thing that didn’t surprise Eben Etzebeth about Scotland

By Grant Constable reporting from Edinburgh
A general view as tempers flare between players of Scotland and South Africa 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)

While the final scoreline gives the impression of a fairly comfortable outing for South Africa in their opening Autumn Nations Series match, it was anything but as Scotland gave as good as they got at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

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The Springboks’ 7-1 bench aimed to effectively blast the Scots off the park in the second half, but it wasn’t quite that straightforward as the home outfit stood up to the giant units that are now holders of both the Rugby World Cup and the Rugby Championship.

A 32-15 victory will look impressive in the history books, but this was a contest that felt a lot closer. And there was plenty of feeling.

“I think I said in the press conference before the game yesterday that we know they are a quality side,” commented stand-in Springbok captain Eben Etzebeth, who himself felt the full force of Scotland’s physical effort.

“Always, when you prepare for Scotland, we prepare like we are going to play New Zealand or Ireland, because they’re one of the top teams in the world.

“To beat them at Murrayfield with 17 points, yeah, maybe the scoreboard does flatter us a little bit, but we still got a good performance in.

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“We always know it’s not going to go our way. It’s going to be a bit of a grind. They’re a quality side, and they definitely stood up to us in the general play with their physicality and brought the game to us as well, so it was a good battle. It was a good Test match.

“Compliments to them. I think they were great today. We probably weren’t at our best, but we showed quality in the end to make the scoreboard like that.”

Defence

146
Tackles Made
125
17
Tackles Missed
26
90%
Tackle Completion %
83%

South Africa kept Scotland try-less for the second time in succession, a fact that coach Rassie Erasmus noted was even more impressive considering they have the likes of Finn Russell in their ranks.

The Springboks now move back to number one in the world rankings, with Ireland dropping to third and New Zealand up to second.

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Facing England next, Etzebeth knows full well that they need to keep getting better.

“We obviously set our standards for ourselves. We drive within the team, the players and the management. We want to keep on, keep on performing.

“And we know every now and then there’s going to be a performance that we’re not probably that proud of, and like I said, at the end of the day it was a good performance because we beat them by that margin.

“But there’s just some aspects of the game that we probably won’t be happy with and that we’ll work on and I’m sure the coaches will point it out to us, and there will be some harsh words, but also some good words. And then I think that you need that in a professional team environment.

“We always strive to be better, and that’s why I say there will be some harsh words as well.”

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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Comments

2 Comments
N
NR 9 days ago

It looked like the Boks didnt show up. Just going through the motions and drills. Almost robotic. The score line is definitely not a true reflection of the game. Scotland were unlucky. Im sure the Boks will be much improved against "Plastic Energy" England.

B
Bull Shark 9 days ago

I think the boks were made to work hard for the win. Which says a lot about Scotland who weren't unlucky insofar as they couldn't score tries against the Boks formidable defence. Scotland were very good around the breakdowns. All credit to them, they definitely deserve to be higher up in the rankings.


I said from the outset that Scotland would be the toughest match on this tour. And they delivered.


England, not to be too dismissive of them, are less of a threat than Scotland imo. But they are wounded and angry and can produce a win. But they're not playing to any clear plan on defense or attack - due to their coaches not having a clue.


The Boks formation is leaving them vulnerable at the breakdowns. The backline, in particular, need to clear out more and more rucks as we play across the width of the field with this 12221 (or whatever they're calling it) formation.


So I think it was quite carefully planned out that two packs of forwards (i.e. the 7/1) were played against Scotland to get match fitness and our preferred backline in Manie, DDA, Kriel, KLA, Cheslin and Fassi were rested for England.


I think England are going to have their hands full on Saturday.

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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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