Scotland v Springboks: Five takeaways as ‘astounding’ World champions fend off ‘nearly’ men in ‘absolutely epic Test’

Following South Africa’s 32-15 win over Scotland, here are our five key takeaways from a pulsating match at Murrayfield. 

The top line

South Africa’s scrum and efficiency in the red zone took them to what turned out to be a comfortable win on the scoreboard, but in reality, it was one of the toughest and most exciting Tests seen at Murrayfield in recent times.

The match had everything; starting with power and brutality, it increased to a crescendo in the second half as the brave Scots threw absolutely everything at the world champions, who at times looked rocked by the ferocity of the hosts’ back-row.

But the bomb squad are not called that without reason and nor are South Africa called world champions without good cause. Yet again, their resilience in facing brutal physical intensity from the Scots was quite astounding as time and time again their defensive effort and ability to win key moments kept Gregor Townsend’s men at bay.

The final statistics will tell you that South Africa won 32-15 and that they scored four tries to nil, but to judge Scotland’s performance just on those statistics alone is doing both them and the pulsating match a disservice. This was Test rugby out of the highest drawer, power, pace and physicality personified, and Scotland will be proud but immensely frustrated at the thrilling part they played in an absolutely epic Test match.

So nearly

If any word summed up Scotland’s performance, it was ‘nearly’.

There were so many micro moments were they nearly succeeded but in Test rugby ‘nearly’ is about as satisfying as ‘not at all’.

Tom Jordan nearly scored one of the tries of the year after brilliant work by Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu. Scotland nearly pressured their way to a score on South Africa’s line in the last quarter, but Matt Fagerson dropped a sitter of a pass under the posts. Huw Jones nearly has the chance to launch Duhan van der Merwe with a one on one down the left flank but his pass flies over the wing’s head.

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Scotland nearly had SA on the rack after Kinghorn kicked through, but he flops on the ball to neuter his own great work. Scotland nearly won the red card period 6-0 but one lineout defensive error saw the prolific try-scoring prop Thomas du Toit steal one of the easiest scores of his impressive Test career.

As things go, these were coach killers of the highest order, but you cannot fault the manner Scotland took the match to the Boks which was admirable.

When they rewatch the match, groans of despair will ring around the Scottish team room of what may have been and the recriminations will be honest and obvious. But the Bravehearts mustn’t lose sight of what they did well on Sunday – put simply, there’s probably no other side in Test rugby other than the Boks that would have weathered what Scotland threw at them and they can look back with pride at a magnificent yet unsuccessful effort.

Replacement contrast

When South Africa unloaded almost a tonne of Bok beef off their bench, word has it that so much firepower was in those subs that the attack alarm rang on Vladimir Putin’s desk in Moscow.

It was a move that Scotland responded to brilliantly by taking up the pace of their game for 20 minutes in the third quarter of the second half. Some of the hosts attacking defied comprehension, but the most telling thing was how they failed to cross the Springbok whitewash as the visitors put in a defensive set in that period that was as impressive as the Scots attack.

However, rather like England in their last two Tests, Gregor Townsend’s decision to throw on four of his subs around the 65^th minute of the match took so much heat out of Scotland. It removed players that were in the rhythm of the game as the men trotting on took time to bed into the hectic pace. Unlike the Boks, the players coming on were a downgrade from those on the pitch, particularly in the front row where Elliot Millar Mills spent most of the match inspecting his own backside as he was eviscerated at scrum time.

We all expected it, but the Bomb Squad once again won another war for South Africa as they, alongside with a brilliant 80-minute scrummaging effort from all of the forwards, took their proud team home.

Bok highs and lows

You have to feel for South Africa’s most consistent player, Kwagga Smith, who probably had his least effective match in a green and gold shirt in a long time on his 50th cap, as he made more errors in half a match than probably the rest of his season combined. And you have to question the accuracy of Jaden Hendrikse at nine, who was really pressured by Rory Darge and had a shuffling and stuttering game that didn’t help the continuity of his backline conceding three turnovers and four incomplete passes.

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Measured objectively, SA lost four lineouts, but scored from one, albeit overthrown. There will also be some serious concern about the number of missed tackles in midfield – some 26 offering a tackle completion of under 83%, way below the mark that Rassie Erasmus demands.

But outside of those, there were far more highs than lows. Willie le Roux’s class and vision shone like a beacon from fullback as he lazily swung a boot to send Makazole Mapimipi over. Pieter-Steph du Toit trotted on for 36 minutes and made seven dominant carries in a brilliant cameo, alongside player of the match, Eben Etzebeth, who battled like a warrior, despite a tackle from Ewan Ashman that should carry a watershed viewing warning.

However, the most pleasing part of the Bok performance will be red zone accuracy. They spent less than six minutes in the Scotland 22 yet scored four tries in that time, a demonstration of sheer accuracy and belief with ball-in-hand.

Scotland highs and lows

That back row – simply wow. They were magnificent for 60 minutes with Rory Darge leading the charge, and Jack Dempsey and Matt Fagerson not so far behind. Sure, they started against very much a second-string Bok trio, but that makes little odds when you have the depth that South Africa have, and the Scots dominated for long periods of the game.

At the back, Tom Jordan ran 12 carries for 160 metres and almost finished off a magnificent try but for a knock on a few phases back. He showed just why Gregor Townsend rates him so highly and he’ll add yet another layer to the incredible depth Scotland have in their back three stocks.

And the midfield – well on any other day against any other defence they might have racked up a cricket score as Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu made hay off the armchair passing of Finn Russell and the outstanding Ben White.

The midfield and the back-row excellence were not confined to the attacking effort either; Scotland’s defence was heroic for much of the game and it was only a couple of moments of brilliance with kicks when the D got narrow, and a fortuitous fall of the ball into Du Toit’s arms that broke their line.

But on the flip side, the bench, as noted, flopped. The penalty count fell apart in the pressure of the last ten minutes and the scrummage folded completely as the game progressed, a crucial opening of light that allowed SA back into the game.

Scotland can take a lot out of the game in terms of positive performance, but the things that went wrong are equally obvious, giving Gregor Townsend and his coaches clear fixes to work on before they face Australia.

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