Close but no cigar. At the end of an enthralling Test match, Scotland had run out of steam and run out of ideas in their efforts to beat the reigning world champions.
Despite throwing everything bar the kitchen sink at South Africa, Scotland were unable to crack the Springbok code.
Opportunities missed, chances squandered, some questionable refereeing decisions, and, ultimately, a tale of what might have been.
As was the case in the World Cup clash between these teams last year, Scotland finished the match without scoring a try.
That’s 160 minutes of rugby against a team who have the best defence in the business and Finn Russell and Co have been unable to outwit the Boks’ blitz.
The pressure and line-speed on Scotland’s playmaker wasn’t as ferocious as it had been in Marseille. Yet, even still, at no point did the Scots really click properly in attack. Russell kicked all 15 of Scotland’s points at Murrayfield and there was no doubt they were well in the fight heading into the final 20 minutes.
Duhan van der Merwe was kept quiet as South Africa wrestled the game from Scotland
Finn Russell kicked all of Scotland’s points in their 32-15 defeat by the Springboks
Scotland’s Ben White thought he had scored a try but play was brought back for a knock-on
For all the hype around South Africa’s Bomb Squad, who were introduced shortly after half-time, Scotland weren’t blown away in the way many had feared they might be.
Instead, it was Scotland who rallied at the start of the second half. South Africa’s lead was slender at 19-15 as the closing stages approached. But they are back-to-back world champions for a reason.
They squeezed the life out of the game in that final quarter, eventually pulling clear to claim a victory that sees them return to the top of the world rankings.
Scotland had been blunted, but by no means bullied, by the Boks. They had chances to score, especially midway through the second half in a period where South Africa look rattled.
Scotland were in the process of defusing the Bomb Squad, or so it looked. The biggest victory of Gregor Townsend’s tenure was within their grasp, until it wasn’t.
In the end, the final scoreline flattered the South Africans, something which Boks captain Eben Etzebeth was honest enough to admit afterwards.
Scotland had matched them physically, but were guilty of too many handling errors and wayward passes in the moments that mattered most. Too many chances were butchered.
In that respect, the match became a strange paradox of what everyone had expected. Russell was quiet. So, too, was Duhan van der Merwe. In keeping Scotland’s two biggest weapons largely on the periphery, South Africa wrestled this game away from Townsend’s side.
On their first outing of the Autumn, South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus admitted that his team had been far from their best, but they got the job done.
South Africa took the lead after just five minutes with a try that wasn’t entirely dissimilar to the second they scored against Scotland in Marseille.
After winning a penalty and securing their own ball at the lineout, fly-half Handre Pollard spotted Makazole Mapimpi in acres of space out wide.
Scotland’s defence had narrowed too much, leaving Mapimpi free to collect Pollard’s cross-field kick and race in to score in the corner.
Pollard, who kicked all of South Africa’s points when they beat the All Blacks 12-11 in last year’s World Cup final in Paris, pulled the conversion wide this time. Scotland responded well and it looked like they would have the opportunity to register their first points of the afternoon on 11 minutes when they won a penalty within range of the posts.
But the play was pulled back after the TMO had alerted referee Christophe Ridley to a possible dangerous clearout at a ruck by Scott Cummings on South Africa lock Franco Mostert.
Cummings was sent to the sin bin and even that felt slightly harsh. When it was upgraded to a 20-minute red card, the home support were apoplectic.
As per the new 20-minute red card laws, Cummings was off and wouldn’t return. Scotland did replace him with Max Williamson after 20 minutes to replenish their numbers to a full complement of 15 players.
But it looked a really harsh call. Former Scotland hooker Fraser Brown summed it up on radio commentary duties by saying: ‘The officials have lost the plot.’
Few inside Murrayfield were of a mind to disagree. Yet, still, Scotland hung in the fight.
Russell drilled three penalties between the posts to put them ahead. Ewan Ashman absolutely cemented Etzebeth, the stadium roaring its approval at seeing the giant Boks enforcer felled in such a fashion.
Fortune continued to smile on South Africa. Their second try owed much to a large slice of luck when a lineout was overthrown, only to fall in the gleeful grasp of prop Thomas du Toit.
He dived over to score, with Pollard converting. It became a quickfire double when Mapimpi scored his second try of the match barely five minutes later.
Veteran full-back Willie le Roux dinked another kick out wide and over the top of Scotland’s defence, where Mapimpi was waiting to gather the ball and scamper in to score.
The concession of two tries in little more than five minutes could have knocked the stuffing out of Scotland.
In the blink of an eye, they had gone from leading to having a mountain to climb.
It looked like Ben White may have reduced the arrears when he raced in to score after a move which had seen Sione Tuipulotu spring Tom Jordan free into space. But, again, the play was brought back for a knock-on by Huw Jones in the build-up.
Needless to say, English referee Ridley was proving to be deeply unpopular.
South Africa led 19-9 at the break, but Scotland were in the fight. They were competing well at the breakdown and matching the Boks physically.
The question was, could they do it for a full 80 minutes? In the World Cup last year, they were only 6-3 down at the break before falling off it in the second half.
At half-time, South Africa introduced RG Snyman, the giant lock who has the quick hands and all-round skillset of a back.
The rest of the Bomb Squad weren’t far behind him, with South Africa head coach Erasmus choosing to pretty much empty the bench on 46 minutes.
On came two-time World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi, former World Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese and all the rest of them.
Another penalty from Russell had Scotland within striking range now at 19-12 as the game headed into the final 20 minutes.
Etzebeth and Zander Fagerson got involved in some handbags and fisticuffs, another sure-fire sign that Scotland had rattled the Boks. With Mapimipi in the bin, the win was there for Scotland.
Russell slotted another penalty to reduce the gap to four points at 19-15, before the Boks pulled clear in the home straight.
They won two scrum penalties to tighten their grip and scored another try when back-rower Wiese went over in the corner, with Pollard’s conversion adding to another penalty.
Chasing what would have been a statement victory, Scotland fell short.
Having kept Townsend’s side at arm’s length, the Boks now head for Twickenham.
Scotland will host Portugal this Saturday and that should be a walk in the park.
But this was another missed opportunity against one of the game’s elite nations.
