Johannesburg - South Africa upped the ante to secure a 34-16 victory on the back of a vastly-improved performance in the face of fierce opposition from Scotland in their RWC Pool B clash at St James’ Park, Newcastle, on Saturday evening.
Playing under the leadership of Fourie du Preez, the new Bok captain, the South Africans outscored Scotland 3-1 in the try count and will now count among the more strongly-fancied sides for the 2015 championship.
Before the match, the late SA President Nelson Mandela was inducted posthumously into the World Rugby Hall of Fame at a ceremony where World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset presented the Hall of Fame cap to former Bok captain Francois Pienaar and South Africa’s deputy sport and recreation minister, Gert Oosthuizen.
Scotland fielded a team that showed 11 changes, two of which were injury enforced, from the team which faced USA a few days ago, while Springboks named their strongest XV in the hope of securing their place in the knock-stage.
Despite the defeat, Vern Cotter, the Scotland coach, can feel satisfied with the performance of his team which was made up of largely of several fringe players who kept their national side in touch with the Boks for most of the way, before going down by 18 points.
Much of the early play was spent in Scotland’s territory and that was very much the status for most of the first half as the Boks enjoyed the upper hand at the set-pieces and an overwhelming possession advantage.
Scotland repelled a wave of attacks on their tryline from close quarters but the defence finally yielded when Bok flank Schalk Burger, helped by a shove from hooker Bismarck du Plessis managed – only just, to ground the ball for the opening try of the match.
Given the mountain of bodies over the ball it wasn’t obvious that Burger had grounded and referee Nigel Owens of Wales relied on Television match official Australian George Ayoub to make the call. Handré Pollard’s conversion gave the Boks a 7-0 lead in the 13th minute.
There was no let-up by the Boks and they continued to ask questions of Scotland’s defence but their accuracy let them down sporadically and while they dominated, several try-scoring went a begging over a sustained pressure spell. Instead, it was left to Pollard to keep the scoreboard ticking over with two penalties (16th and 25th) which shot the Boks into a 13-0 lead.
By this time, confidence was oozing in Boks’ ranks it started showing in the way they were prepared to keep the flowing with movements in which the forwards dovetailed splendidly with the back.
Scotland captain and scrumhalf opened his side’s scoring account with a 29th-minute penalty after Bok lock Lood de Jager was penalised at a line-out (13-3).
The Boks suffered a setback in the 33rd minute when prop Jannie du Plessis was yellow-carded for not using his arms when going into a ruck but despite the one-man advantage Scotland were unable to prevent a second try by the South Africans four minutes later.
Rightwing JP Pietersen scored after the Boks opted for a short line-out some 15 metres out and then set up a strong driving maul before the scoring pass emerged. Pollard’s conversion saw the Boks enjoy a commanding 20-3 lead at the halftime break.
The Boks were off to a strong start when the second half started and threatened briefly and they took play into the Scottish 22m area but they failed to make their advantage count. Instead, Scotland responded with a passage of play that was worth 10 points and the SA lead was reduced to seven points.
First Laidlaw goaled a 45th penalty and soon afterwards a Tommy Seymour try followed after a brilliant interception by flyhalf Duncan Weir. Laidlaw converted for a 20-13 scoreline.
Scotland suffered a double whammy a few minutes later when Pollard regained some lost ground with a drop-goal and then Laidlaw was yellow-carded (23-13).
In Laidlaw’s absence Weir took over the place-kicking duties and on the hour mark he was on target with penalty but Pollard restored the lead two minutes later with a long-range attempt, moments before the Scottish captain rejoined the fray (26-16).
The Boks slowly wrested the initiative again and though they kept probing the defence for openings their next score advance was another Pollard penalty in the 67th minute as the game started drifting away from the Scots in the closing stages (29-16).
Leftwing Bryan Habana rounded off splendidly in the 72nd minute with a try in the corner as the Scotland were unable to contain a powerful upfield surge. Pollard missed the conversion (34-16).
Scorers: South Africa: Tries: Schalk Burger, JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana. Conversions: Handré Pollard (2). Penalties: Pollard (4). Drop goal: Pollard
Scotland: Try: Tommy Seymour. Conversion: Greig Laidlaw. Penalties: Laidlaw (2), Duncan Weir
African News Agency