Not much arguing with this. Scotland threw everything at this match, setting their beloved stadium on a roar time and again, but four tries to none tells its own story. And a familiar one at that. South Africa, without ever really seeming to play much more than within themselves, were just too strong.
The image of a lusty puncher failing to land a single blow came to mind, as the Springboks held a swinging Scotland at arm’s length, rarely too troubled, for all their opponents’ fire and enthusiasm. Time and again either side of half-time, Scotland broke out, but they could not quite score a try, let alone four of them. Eben Etzebeth, the only Springbok forward to play the whole match, was the icon, huge, commanding and, at times, laughing in his opponents’ faces.
For Scotland, Tom Jordan was a notable success, particularly with ball in hand. Picked in the unfamiliar position of full-back, he made countless breaks out wide. Scotland found most joy against the Springbok defence when working the ball into these positions, but the telling blow proved elusive.
“I’m proud of our performance,” said Sione Tuipulotu, Scotland’s captain. “Just disappointed we didn’t win. We have to take responsibility for that. The game was there to be won, but we didn’t execute.”
Signs that this was not to be their day came early on, when Scott Cummings was shown a red card for a clear-out on Franco Mostert. Those who think 20-minute red cards are going to unleash wave after wave of lawlessness, as cynical coaches (the logic presumably runs) instruct their players to infringe at will, should be consoled at least by the fact that it looks as if these half-fat reds are going to be issued more often than the full-fat versions were. Both coaches agreed afterwards that the incident was accidental and the outcome harsh; both agreed a full red card for a moment like that in the 11th minute would have been almost unthinkable under the old system.
Cummings’ infringement happened in the blink of an eye, when Mostert, who looked already off balance and falling backwards, landed in ugly fashion, his legs trapped beneath him. Scotland negotiated the 20 minutes disadvantaged well enough, 12-9 down when Max Williamson replaced Cummings in the 32nd minute. Finn Russell landed his third penalty as Williamson entered the fray.
Moments earlier, South Africa had retaken the lead with that outlandish try. Bongi Mbonambi had been struggling at the lineout already when he could not quite find Mostert at an attacking set piece just inside Scotland’s 22. But the loose ball fell to Thomas du Toit, and the Springbok prop found himself with a gentle stroll to the line.
Bad luck for Scotland there, but no arguing with South Africa’s two other first-half tries, both finished expertly by Mazole Mapimpi, but brilliant in the construction. Scotland’s defence out wide seemed strangely absent for both, but the cross-kicks that set up Mapimpi for each, by Handré Pollard in the fourth minute and Willie le Roux in the 35th, were spot on, Le Roux’s in particular a thing of genius.
Scotland thought they had scored on the stroke of half-time – and how. Tuipuloto released Jordan, who looked every inch the full-back as he streaked away. His inside ball found Ben White, to send Murrayfield into delirium. Alas, the television match official spotted a knock-on at an earlier ruck by Huw Jones, so the try was chalked off, the Springboks’ 19-9 lead surviving into the break.
Russell cut it back to seven only a few minutes into the second half, after a rare Springbok infringement at the scrum. Within another couple of minutes, South Africa had unloaded all seven of the forwards on their bench, but this seemed only to inspire Scotland.
Their purplest patch followed, the Scots tearing through the Springbok defence, one minute Jones stepping this way and that, the next Jordan doing much the same. Surely they must score, all the more so when Mapimpi was shown yellow at the height of the excitement.
But when you are playing the world champions, such breakthroughs must be consummated with points – and lots of them. All Scotland could take from the spell, a good 15 minutes or so of pressure, was another three points from Russell on the hour, to pull Scotland to within four.
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That was as close as they came. The Springbok machine, particularly ruthless at scrum time, cranked up for the final quarter. Pollard landed two penalties to put them 10 points ahead with around five minutes to go. When another Scotland scrum splintered in the final minute, Jasper Wiese scored South Africa’s fourth.
An ugly scoreline for a vaguely encouraging performance by Scotland, but some narratives are set in stone. These South Africans can beat you in any number of different ways. They are well worth their status as the world’s best.
