Scotland’s hopes of a first win against the Springboks in eight years were alive right until the last seconds of an engrossing encounter but in the end South African power and precision prevailed. The teams scored two tries apiece but the visiting side were never behind, and in Handré Pollard they had the game’s dominant figure.
The stand-off scored a try and added 13 points with the boot, and while his accuracy and decision-making were the factors that most obviously gave his team the edge, the Springboks’ greater physicality weighed more heavily on the contest the longer the game went on.
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In a fiercely fought but relatively clean Test match, an apparent head-on-head contact by Siya Kolisi on Peter Horne after half an hour went unnoticed by Romain Poite. “I really haven’t seen it,” Rassie Erasmus, South Africa’s coach, said. “I’m pretty sure the citing commissioner will do his job there.”
If that decision went in South Africa’s favour, it was offset by the second-half yellow card for Willie le Roux after what appeared to be a genuine interception attempt rather than the deliberate knock-on that the referee deemed it to be. The Springboks had led by only three points at half-time but Scotland had expended a phenomenal amount of energy merely to stay in touch, and that told after the break as Pollard calmly orchestrated the game.
From the home team’s point of view, the one incident that might have swayed the match in their favour late in the second 40 came when Greig Laidlaw, a normally impeccable place-kicker, opted to send a penalty to touch rather than go for goal. Scotland were only three points behind at that point but the captain later backed his decision.
“In hindsight it’s easy,” Laidlaw said. “I thought about kicking the points. The two previous mauls probably pushed us into the decision to go for the corner. I’ll always be aggressive in that aspect – I back the team and I back myself.”
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Scotland came up short with the lineout drive that followed that kick, and were second best at the breakdown too, yet Gregor Townsend did not have to look too far to find many positive elements of the afternoon. “It is a part of the team’s evolution,” he said. “It would be nice to win every game you play and you retire with a 100% record, but there are going to be games where not everything goes well for you. It’s about how you adapt.
“We adapted very well today. We went behind on the scoreboard but found a way to get in behind and outside that defence which was flying up on the line, big men on our players. We scored a cracking try, got level at 20-20, were forcing penalties and pressure which was encouraging.”
The speed of the South Africans’ blitz defence rocked Scotland early on and their attack was just as devastating, as they showed with the opening score after six minutes, started off by Pollard and finished by Jesse Kriel. The Scots soon displayed their own creative powers, with two excellent backhanded offloads in quick succession by Huw Jones leading to Horne opening their account with a try to which Laidlaw added the conversion.
That try showcased Jones’s value in attack but his susceptibility was evident when he was turned over, allowing Kolisi to spark a move which ended with Pollard gliding between Ryan Wilson and Sean Maitland to score his team’s second try.
The stand-off converted, and soon added a penalty to stretch the lead to 10 points. Laidlaw then reduced that to seven with a penalty after the defence had strayed offside, and then Hamish Watson scored from a lineout after a Stuart Hogg break. Again, Laidlaw converted to draw the teams level but a Pollard penalty restored what was a deserved lead for the Springboks a couple of minutes before the break.
Both sides tired in the second half, with Scotland scoring only once, after Le Roux was given a yellow card. Pollard replied within minutes to that score, then substitute Elton Jantjies added another three points 10 minutes from time. Scotland had a late chance to set up a try-scoring position but the Springboks forwards stood firm.