Boks Unbeatable? Why Loftus win is a Global Warning

OPINION: While the way Scotland held the Springboks in their Round Two Nations Championships clash at Loftus might give the rest of the rugby world hope, it should instead be viewed as exactly the opposite, writes Wynona Louw.

Scotland really took the challenge to the Boks at altitude. They played at a frantic pace, sped up every single area they could, and kept the hosts on their toes to the point that the score was locked at 14-all at half-time and made it another seesaw with 10 minutes to go. They had South Africa’s defence in fractures throughout.

The Springboks’ line-out wasn’t a faultless operation, their defence had seen much better days, and they were challenged at the scrum.

While South Africa scored three tries in the second half to break free from the stalemate and go 35-14 up, Scotland blitzed two more tries and came close to scoring another via Kyle Steyn in the 72nd minute, while the Boks added another one of their own.

The South African attack won them the game despite subpar defence.

But here’s the thing – the fact that they were under pressure for the majority of the game, that they were far from perfect but still managed to pull the game back, that there was so much lacking by their standards, yet they managed to grind out a win anyway, that says something.

Scotland dominated territory, possession, and almost doubled most of the Boks’ attacking stats. But in round two, the Springboks proved they were better than the rest in a different way and that it would take near perfection to beat them.

Scotland enjoyed 61 percent possession and 52 percent territory, made 163 carries to the Boks’ 102, covered 549 post-contact metres to South Africa’s 337, and made 234 passes to the hosts’ 85. They also produced 16 offloads while the Springboks made three, made 15 linebreaks to five, and beat 47 defenders to 19.

That paints a clear picture of how threatening Gregor Townsend’s unit were on attack.

Defensively, Scotland made fewer tackles, 127 compared to the Boks’ 198, but had the better tackle completion rate of 86 to 81 percent. They missed 20 tackles while South Africa missed 46 and won two turnovers (lost 11) while the hosts sneaked four (lost eight).

They boasted a line-out steal while they also won 12 of their 13 line-outs. The Boks won nine out of their 10. The hosts won eight of their nine scrum feeds, while the away team won both of theirs. They also had a scrum penalty go their way. Of the seven restarts received, South Africa won six, while Scotland won three of their four received.

The home team dominated the visitors with their maul defence and physicality, to an extent, but most other areas belonged to Scotland. But there’s one particular statistic that proved the difference – red zone conversion. While both teams entered the opposition 22m area 12 times, the Springboks converted their opportunities into points six times (50 percent) compared to Scotland’s four tries (33 percent). This stat also highlights the South Africans’ red-zone efficiency and finishing quality.

The Boks know how to grind out wins despite what the numbers say, and they have shown that they can do it without ‘continuity’ as we know it.

Rassie Erasmus’ selections have made it clear that every match is an experiment as they have one eye firmly on the World Cup. The team that faced Scotland was a strong one, but it wasn’t South Africa’s strongest outfit. How they have been able to chop and change while maintaining their winning momentum is testament to their coaching genius and depth.

But having depth is one thing, and being able to put out a second or third-string side and still get impressive results is a different kind of dangerous.

Scotland were superb, at a push you can even say they deserved to win, they definitely did on paper, but the Springboks won anyway, and at the very least that shows that even when they’re far from their best, it will take a phenomenal effort to defeat them.