In a thrilling match, the Boks gave up good leads before pulling away at the death.
Springbok prop Boan Venter is tackled during their Nations Championship match against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night. Picture: by Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
The Springboks overpowered a game Scotland team 42-28 in their Nations Championship encounter at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, to continue their strong start to the new competition.
It was a largely inexperienced Bok team that did the job on the night, and it showed after they twice took solid leads, only for them to allow Scotland back into the game, before the world champions secured the win late on.
Here are three takeaways from what was an entertaining match:
A tale of four quarters
The opening half was a tale of two quarters after the Boks started off well in the first 20 minutes, but then became error strewn, allowing the Scots back in. They took a 14-0 lead by the 20th minute after two tries, but were pegged back level by the halftime break.
Embrose Papier was first in with a stunning solo try, beating at least five players on his way to the tryline off a ruck on the 22m line, while Evan Roos crashed over from close range shortly after. But Scotland hit back through tries by Matt Fagerson and Kyle Rowe to level things up.
It was a similar story in the second half, with the Boks producing a strong third quarter, as Elrigh Louw and Damian Willemse went over for scores to put them up 28-14. But this time they went further ahead, as Zach Porthen burrowed over, before Scotland responded through Josh Bayliss and Ben White.
Jesse Kriel then sealed the win late on with his team’s sixth try.
Scrum domination
The Springbok pack enjoyed a relatively dominant night in the scrums, although Scotland did hit them with a sucker punch. The strong forward performance started early with a big defensive scrum in their 22m that allowed them to clear their lines.
A penalty in Scotland’s 22m, almost in front of the uprights, then saw the Boks choose to scrum twice, first earning another penalty, and then a free kick after an early shove. But Scotland hit back in the build up to their first try, earning a penalty on a Bok defensive put-in on their own 5m.
The second half saw a string of forward replacements early, but the good scrumming continued, with a penalty in their own 22m, and some good pressure on Scotland’s scrum keeping them on top. They closed out their scrumming performance with a massive scrum on the fulltime hooter to earn a penalty and end the match.
Fringe performances
A number of the Boks’ fringe brigade put in decent showings to push their case to become playing regulars, while others didn’t impress. Scrumhalf Embrose Papier was the big winner with a strong performance, as he provided crisp service, a solid kicking game and he scored a stunning solo try.
Lock Cobus Wiese was good in the lineout and made a few big bollocking runs, including one off the kick-off in the lead up to the Boks’ second try, but went off in the first half with an injury. Evan Roos crashed over for a try and had a few good runs, while Paul de Villiers was involved in plenty of the action.
BJ Dixon came on in the first half and was yellow carded for head contact while cleaning out a ruck. Elrigh Louw smashed his way over for a try. Quan Horn came on early in the second half at flyhalf and looked assured in his performance. Zach Porthen scrummed well and burrowed over for a try.
