The Springboks made it two wins from two in the Nations Championship, scoring six tries to beat a spirited Scotland 42-28 in front of 45,053 fans at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday, 11 July.
On a day when Scotland refused to go away, South Africa’s firepower and composure in the final quarter proved decisive, with flyhalf Handre Pollard named man of the match for a commanding kicking display that yielded five conversions.
Fast start, fierce fightback
The hosts flew out of the blocks, with scrumhalf Embrose Papier darting over in the 17th minute and No 8 Evan Roos following two minutes later to open a 14-0 lead. But Scotland hit back through Matt Fagerson and Kyle Rowe to level matters at 14-14 by half-time.
The second half brought fresh drama. South Africa were reduced to 14 men when Ben-Jason Dixon was shown a yellow card, but the defence held firm and Scotland could not make the extra man count.
The champions pull clear
Restored to a full complement, the Springboks shifted through the gears. Elrigh Louw crashed over in the 57th minute, Damian Willemse added another three minutes later, and tighthead Zach Porthen powered in on 66 minutes to stretch the lead to 35-14.
Still Scotland came, with Josh Bayliss and Ben White cutting the deficit to seven points with ten minutes remaining. The response was vintage Springbok composure: Pollard dinked a clever grubber in behind the defence and centre Jesse Kriel scooped it up, bumping off two defenders to score the sealing try two minutes from time.
Two from two, Wales up next
The win, refereed by Frenchman Pierre Brousset, keeps South Africa perfect in the new competition after the seven-try demolition of England at Ellis Park in the opening round.
Captain Pieter-Steph du Toit led from the front in a pack that included Boan Venter, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw, Cobus Wiese, Ruan Nortje and Paul de Villiers, while Aphelele Fassi, Edwill van der Merwe and Ethan Hooker provided the spark out wide.
South Africa’s try scorers on the day were Papier (17′), Roos (19′), Louw (57′), Willemse (60′), Porthen (66′) and Kriel (78′), with Pollard adding five conversions and Horn slotting the sixth.
Next up for the Springboks is Wales next weekend, as the men in green and gold chase a perfect start to the inaugural Nations Championship, according to the match record at autumn-internationals.co.uk.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
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