Rusty Boks' slow poison sinks Scotland 

MATCH REPORT: South Africa outscored Scotland by four tries to zero for a 32-15 victory in their opening November tour match at Murrayfield.

It wasn’t pretty, but the visitors were effective enough when it mattered to grind out a hard-fought victory against a spirited Scotland side.

Scotland were aggressive on defence but South Africa dominated the opening five minutes in terms of territory and possession and won a breakdown penalty in the third minute.

The Boks opted to go for the corner and set the rolling maul off which Pierre Schoeman were deemed to have entered from the side – and under penalty advantage Pollard nailed the cross-field kick to set Makazole Mapimpi up for the try in the fifth minute.

The Bok lineout misfired in the opening 10 minutes, with Mbonambi missing his jumpers twice, gifting Scotland free territory and possession.

The free ball on the second misfired lineout led to a kickable penalty for Finn Russel, but TMO Ian Tempest brought attention to referee Christophe Ridley that Scott Cummings had performed a crock-roll which had the penalty overturned and Cummings yellow-carded in the 11th minute.

The Springboks’ discipline prevented them from gaining significant momentum – with a penalty for obstruction after a Scotland contestable kick saw Franco Mostert block Handré Pollard, and Russel opening Scotland’s account in the 17th minute with a penalty kick.

Moment’s later, the call came through that Scott Cummings’ yellow card had been upgraded to red – with the Boks enjoying a 20-minute advantage with an extra player.

The Scots, however had the momentum during the 20-minute red card period, and Russel got the hosts ahead with a second successive penalty attempt in the 22nd minute when Moodie got himself isolated running a kick back from his own half.

*To recap all the action CLICK HERE

The hosts seemed to have the upper hand towards the 30th minute mark, but a good counter-ruck saw South Africa work themselves into the Scotland half through some individual brilliance by Moodie that led to a lineout for the visitors after a rushed clearance by the hosts.

The dodgy lineout throwing seemed to have bugged the Boks again after Mostert failed to reel the ball in, but the ball went backwards and into the hands of Thomas du Toit who ran in untouched for the Boks’ second try.

Scotland took three points back after Kwagga Smith – who played his 50th Test on the day failed to roll away at the breakdown and Russel bringing the score back to a three-point game.

The hosts gave a freebie to the World Champions when Ben White took too long to use the ball at the base of the ruck, resulting in a Springbok scrum.

The Boks, under penalty advantage from the scrum punched a hole through the middle through Andre Esterhuizen before veteran Le Roux chipped it over the top for Mapimpi who bagged a brace and South Africa’s third try in the 35th minute which Pollard converted.

The hosts looked to have struck back moments before half-time when the Bok defence rushed up too quickly and opened the gap for captain Tuipulotu who got his pass away to Tom Jordan who gave the ball to Ben White, but once again the TMO intervened spotting a knock-on in the build-up to the try which was overturned.

With seconds ticking away towards half-time, the Bok scrum produced another penalty which they went to the line for, but Pollard missed touch and Jordan kicked it out to take the teams into the sheds.

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The second-half started with RG Snyman replacing Franco Mostert during the break who struggled during the opening stanza.

Smith knocked the restart on and immediately Scotland had an attacking scrum inside the Boks’ 22-metre-area but a loose pass by Russel saw Louw looking to intercept it but knocking it on,  gifting the hosts a second bite at the cherry.

The Springboks conceded the penalty for another early shove and Russel slotted his fourth penalty of the evening to make it a seven point match in the 43rd minute.

The Boks started to get the ascendency on attack and pressurized the hosts inside their own 22 – in the same moment South Africa made a hosts of changes with the ‘bomb squad’ making their appearance.

A scuffle broke out and Eben Etzebeth got penalised for throwing Fagerson on the floor but Etzebeth redeemed himself with a lineout steal on Scotland’s throw.

Despite dominating possession and territory, the hosts ensured Jaden Hendrikse had a nightmare at the breakdown who knocked the ball on at least on three occasions.

The hosts seemed to have found their mojo when Duhan van der Merwe broke through a gap and a desperate jersey grab by Etzebeth stopped the wing –  but he gave his side enough momentum to get deep into the Boks’ 22 metre area before Darge knocked the ball on five metres from the Springboks’ line.

The Boks had another lost lineout when Etzebeth couldn’t reel the ball in and that led to a Scotland attack which earned them a penalty for Mapimpi being offside which saw him yellow-carded as it was deemed to by cynical.

The hosts took a quick lineout ball and the counter-attack led to another attack into the Boks’ 22 metre area and another penalty for a side entry against Jaden Hendrikse.

The hosts opted for the shot at goal which Russel slotted and make it a four-point game.

The Boks recorded their first second-half points after Handré Pollard slotted a penalty as Scotland played a player in the air at the lineout.

Scotland pushed the Boks close on more than one occasion but the scramble defence with Mapimpi in the sin-bin held strong to keep the Scots at bay.

A grubber kick by Williams for Le Roux saw the hosts scramble back leading to a knock-on and a scrum to the Boks – and the almost inevitable scrum penalty which Pollard slotted to give the visitors a bit more comfortable 10-point cushion.

The Scots launced one final attack with three minutes of play left, but Jones forced the pass to Van Der Merwe but the ball went over his head into touch.

Moodie who had a busy evening took the quick throw to Lukhanyo Am as the Boks worked themselves deep into the Scotland 22 and forced a Scotland knock on which resulted in a five metre attacking scrum.

The Boks’ scrum dominated as it almost went into penalty-try territory but Wiese controlled the ball brilliantly at the back to dot it down for the Boks’ fourth try which Pollard converted to signal the end of the match.

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Player of the match: André Esterhuizen had a couple of strong runs can carries that got the Boks over the advantage line, while Mapimpi’s yellow card might have dampened this award, Eben Etzebeth had a strong showing as captain but it is Canan Moodie who was brilliant under the high-ball, rock solid on defence and showed great hunger in the No.14 jersey who gets the player of the match award.

Villian of the match: Undoubtedly Scott Cummings’ crock-roll that led to his red card. Although the hosts did well without him, one could wonder how that 20 minute period would have turned out had Scotland had the extra resource on the pitch.

Moment of the match: It happened on more than one occasion where the Scots managed to work themselves deep into the 22-metre area and the Boks point blank refused them to cross the line. The more significant moment was when this happened during Mapimpi’s absence during his yellow card period to show real heart on defence.

Scorers 

For Scotland 
Pens: Russel 5

For South Africa
Tries: T. Du Toit, Wiese, Mamimpi 2
Cons: Pollard 3
Pen: Pollard 2

Yellow card: Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa – 67th minute: Cynical offside)

Red card: Scott Cummings (Scotland – 11th minute: Dangerous crock-roll with no mitigation)

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Blair Kinghorn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Richardson, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall.

Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 22 Jasper Wiese, 23 Grant Williams.

Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

Image credits: @Springboks