South Africa 30-17 Scotland
Scotland delivered a hugely improved performance in the second game of their South African tour but it was not enough to prevent defeat at the hands of the hosts. They will now meet Italy in Pretoria to try to avoid finishing last in the four-team tournament.
The Scots at least approached Saturday's match in Nelspruit with more fire and venom than they had produced in their tame performance against Samoa the previous week. The tackling was determined and the attacking play incisive, with the captain, Greig Laidlaw, finding holes around the fringe of the rucks, and Matt Scott, in the centre, also creating plenty of problems for South Africa.
It paid off, first with a Laidlaw penalty after near misses for Alasdair Strokosch and Scott twice. The gap was created by a moment of brilliance from Tommy Seymour, the wing, winning his first cap, who spotted a gap, ran through and chipped over the Springboks' full-back Willie le Roux. Although Seymour was caught a yard short, Scotland recycled the ball and had a five-man overlap when Scott ambled over the line.
South Africa had stayed in touch with a couple of penalties from fly-half Morne Steyn, but when they had the chance to cut the gap to a single point with a third kickable penalty, they opted instead to go for the corner and a lineout maul. This rugged version of Scotland, however, was in no mood to give way to that sort of bullying. They stood firm against two goes at the same tactics before the Springboks lost control and they could hack the ball clear.
The Scots continued to produce most of the quality play, but they were also making enough mistakes to keep the Springboks confident. They also continued to suffer the injury problems that have been a theme of this tour, with the fly-half Ruaridh Jackson and the flanker Ryan Wilson going off with shoulder damage late in the first half.
Despite the reorganisation, they still had their noses in front at the break. It was soon to get even better as Tim Swinson, another impressive debutant, drove up the middle. He was stopped a couple of yards short but Alex Dunbar was out wide to finish off the overlap.
Peter Horne, who had replaced Jackson, then left the field with a knee injury and the visitors had to move Laidlaw to fly-half and bring Henry Pyrgos on at scrum-half.
Staring an improbable defeat in the face, South Africa raised the intensity, though it was a stupid trip on Bryan Habana that got them into the game. Steyn kicked the penalty into the corner and when Scotland were ruled to have collapsed the maul, the referee, Roman Poite, gave the home side a penalty try.
Seconds later, the Scotland lock Jim Hamilton was in the sin-bin for a push to the face of Eben Etzebeth, his opposite number, and Scotland were under the cosh. A lineout misfire handed the hosts the ball, they piled upfield, pummelled the Scots line and the centre JJ Engelbrecht went over for the score that put them ahead for the first time on the hour mark.
The Springboks by now had reverted to the game they know best – plenty of high kicks and mauls – and it seemed to be working for them as Scotland struggled to break out of their own half.
The aerial barrage particularly effective in pinning them back and a string of penalties went against Scotland as the pressure told and replacement fly-half Patrick Lambie kicked one to increase the cushion to six points. Replacement centre Jan Serfontein wriggled over in the dying seconds to add a scarcely deserved gloss to the result.
*SOUTH AFRICA* Le Roux; Habana, Engelbrecht (Serfontein 70), De Villiers (capt), Basson; Steyn (Lambie 69), Pienaar (Van Zyl 69); Mtawarira (Oosthuizen 67), Strauss (B du Plessis 67), J du Plessis (Nyakane 77), Etzebeth (Van der Merwe 67), Kruger, Coetzee, Botha (Kolisi 4), Spies
*Tries* Pen, Engelbrecht, Serfontein *Cons* Steyn 2, Lambie *Pens* Steyn 2, Lambie
*SCOTLAND* Murchie; Seymour, Dunbar, Scott, Lamont; Jackson (Horne 33, Pyrgos 44), Laidlaw (capt); Beattie, Wilson (Denton 38), Strokosch, Hamilton (Kellock 62), Swinson, Murray, Lawson, Dickinson (Welsh 64)
*Tries* Scott, Dunbar *Cons* Laidlaw 2 *Pen* Laidlaw
*Referee* Romain Poite (Fr)
*Attendance* 30,018 Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.
Scotland delivered a hugely improved performance in the second game of their South African tour but it was not enough to prevent defeat at the hands of the hosts. They will now meet Italy in Pretoria to try to avoid finishing last in the four-team tournament.
The Scots at least approached Saturday's match in Nelspruit with more fire and venom than they had produced in their tame performance against Samoa the previous week. The tackling was determined and the attacking play incisive, with the captain, Greig Laidlaw, finding holes around the fringe of the rucks, and Matt Scott, in the centre, also creating plenty of problems for South Africa.
It paid off, first with a Laidlaw penalty after near misses for Alasdair Strokosch and Scott twice. The gap was created by a moment of brilliance from Tommy Seymour, the wing, winning his first cap, who spotted a gap, ran through and chipped over the Springboks' full-back Willie le Roux. Although Seymour was caught a yard short, Scotland recycled the ball and had a five-man overlap when Scott ambled over the line.
South Africa had stayed in touch with a couple of penalties from fly-half Morne Steyn, but when they had the chance to cut the gap to a single point with a third kickable penalty, they opted instead to go for the corner and a lineout maul. This rugged version of Scotland, however, was in no mood to give way to that sort of bullying. They stood firm against two goes at the same tactics before the Springboks lost control and they could hack the ball clear.
The Scots continued to produce most of the quality play, but they were also making enough mistakes to keep the Springboks confident. They also continued to suffer the injury problems that have been a theme of this tour, with the fly-half Ruaridh Jackson and the flanker Ryan Wilson going off with shoulder damage late in the first half.
Despite the reorganisation, they still had their noses in front at the break. It was soon to get even better as Tim Swinson, another impressive debutant, drove up the middle. He was stopped a couple of yards short but Alex Dunbar was out wide to finish off the overlap.
Peter Horne, who had replaced Jackson, then left the field with a knee injury and the visitors had to move Laidlaw to fly-half and bring Henry Pyrgos on at scrum-half.
Staring an improbable defeat in the face, South Africa raised the intensity, though it was a stupid trip on Bryan Habana that got them into the game. Steyn kicked the penalty into the corner and when Scotland were ruled to have collapsed the maul, the referee, Roman Poite, gave the home side a penalty try.
Seconds later, the Scotland lock Jim Hamilton was in the sin-bin for a push to the face of Eben Etzebeth, his opposite number, and Scotland were under the cosh. A lineout misfire handed the hosts the ball, they piled upfield, pummelled the Scots line and the centre JJ Engelbrecht went over for the score that put them ahead for the first time on the hour mark.
The Springboks by now had reverted to the game they know best – plenty of high kicks and mauls – and it seemed to be working for them as Scotland struggled to break out of their own half.
The aerial barrage particularly effective in pinning them back and a string of penalties went against Scotland as the pressure told and replacement fly-half Patrick Lambie kicked one to increase the cushion to six points. Replacement centre Jan Serfontein wriggled over in the dying seconds to add a scarcely deserved gloss to the result.
*SOUTH AFRICA* Le Roux; Habana, Engelbrecht (Serfontein 70), De Villiers (capt), Basson; Steyn (Lambie 69), Pienaar (Van Zyl 69); Mtawarira (Oosthuizen 67), Strauss (B du Plessis 67), J du Plessis (Nyakane 77), Etzebeth (Van der Merwe 67), Kruger, Coetzee, Botha (Kolisi 4), Spies
*Tries* Pen, Engelbrecht, Serfontein *Cons* Steyn 2, Lambie *Pens* Steyn 2, Lambie
*SCOTLAND* Murchie; Seymour, Dunbar, Scott, Lamont; Jackson (Horne 33, Pyrgos 44), Laidlaw (capt); Beattie, Wilson (Denton 38), Strokosch, Hamilton (Kellock 62), Swinson, Murray, Lawson, Dickinson (Welsh 64)
*Tries* Scott, Dunbar *Cons* Laidlaw 2 *Pen* Laidlaw
*Referee* Romain Poite (Fr)
*Attendance* 30,018 Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago.