Scotland 15-32 South Africa: Three things we learned

Scotland step up the physicality

Physicality, or a lack of it, has long been cited as Scotland’s big Achillies heel when it comes to facing the very best sides in the world.

While the Scots have found regular success against the likes of England and France, they have struggled against teams who put an emphasis on unrelenting forward power – namely Ireland and South Africa.

There are signs, though, that Gregor Townsend’s men are now better equipped to deal that physical might.

In the last Six Nations they put up an astonishing rearguard action in Dublin, meeting Irish fire with fire in a ferociously physical battle.

Again they did not give an inch against the Springboks at Murrayfield on Sunday, giving as good as they got in the tackle area.

Where they did struggle was at scrum time, with the Boks dominating throughout.

Matching the best teams physically is just one element. Matching their ruthlessness and ability to close out games is still a work in progress.

Wasteful Scots let Boks off the hook

Where that ruthlessness was most blatantly lacking was in the red zone.

Scotland had a 20-minute period in the second half where they genuinely looked to have the Springboks rattled, but every time they looked on the brink of breaking through, they invariably derailed their own momentum.

The excellent Tom Jordan burst through the Boks defence at one point and despite have a man on his inside and outside, held onto the ball and the move fizzled out.

On another entry to the 22, Scotland had the Boks defence scrambling but Ben White chose to go down the congested short side rather than play to space and the South Africans were able to recover.

Perhaps most frustratingly, the Scots had a lineout 5m from the try-line at a critical moment and, you guessed it, made a mess of it.

You could point to a number of these moments, and some dubious referee calls, as reasons why Scotland could not get it done.

In truth, the best sides make their own luck and when South Africa’s chances came they converted. Therein lies the difference between a very good side, which Scotland undoubtedly are, and the very best.

Jordan at home in Test arena

Tom Jordan was certainly thrown in at the deep end, starting his first international at full-back against the world champions having never played a senior match at 15.

The Glasgow utility back demonstrated he belongs in the Test arena with another excellent display after his impressive international debut off the bench against Fiji.

Jordan is a talented footballer – you would have to be to cover the multitude of positions he does – but he’s also tough and never once looked overawed by his illustrious opponents.

He was a threat in attack, carrying 12 times, making 147m – more than anyone else on the pitch – and beat five defenders in the process.

Jordan was also solid in defence and tended his back-field well.

Next week’s match against Portugal will likely see a fair bit of experimentation from Gregor Townsend, but his back three selection for the final match against Australia will be fascinating.

Duhan van der Merwe is normally a stick-on, Darcy Graham and Kyle Rowe should be back and Blair Kinghorn has been one of Scotland’s mainstays in recent years, but Jordan on this form will be hard to leave out.