Scotland gave it everything but South Africa are not the defending world champions by accident. Having wobbled slightly in the opening 40 minutes, the Springboks tightened up significantly after the interval to secure a key victory in Pool B courtesy of two tries inside four minutes from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse.
For a brief moment Scotland were threatening to register a famous win, trotting in at half-time just 6-3 down having applied some genuine pressure to the South African scrum. Dreams of a first Scottish victory against the Boks outside Scotland, however, were snuffed out by an impenetrable South African defence which permitted just one long-range Finn Russell penalty in the entire match.
There was some controversy, nevertheless, after Jesse Kriel put in an upright tackle on the Scotland No 8 Jack Dempsey inside the first minute but received no sanction. The inconsistency of some of the decisions surrounding tackle-height outcomes is already apparent after just three days of this seven-week tournament.
If South Africa were not as impressive in attack as they were against New Zealand at Twickenham last month, they remain as hard to break down as ever. At first glance their peppermint-and-white kit diluted some of their aura but their steely determination to regain their title is visibly unchanged.
Stopping them from reaching the final of this competition is going to take something special. On a road outside the ground before kick-off, in front of the traffic, was a unicyclist juggling knives with a ball balanced on his head. It was a decent metaphor for the multidimensional task facing the Scots as they embarked on the challenge of beating the defending world champions.
Russell tried his hardest in the first half to stretch the Boks from side to side like a giant piece of elastic but the finishing touches proved frustratingly elusive. Scotland also tried to get stuck in physically. After one mass scuffle spilled over the touchline and threatened to escalate, the Australian referee Angus Gardner warned: “I don’t want any more scrapping. Is that clear?”
The early departure of Eben Etzebeth, however, robbed South Africa of one of their key enforcers and Scotland continued to take the game to their opponents at every opportunity. Arendse was a tough fortunate not to be pinged for what could have been deemed a deliberate knock-on and a flowing Scottish backs move might have yielded a try had Graham not clung on with two men outside him.
Russell was at the heart of almost everything and, despite being penalised for a no-arms tackle on Arendse, his desire to keep his side on the front foot was proving infectious. Sione Tuipuloto ran straight over Manie Libbok at one stage as South Africa were forced to swallow a dose of their own physical medicine.
Even better was to follow when the Scottish scrum cranked up the pressure on their opposite numbers and the formidable Frans Malherbe was forced to the floor. Russell nailed the penalty from 45 metres and, at only 6-3 up, it was South Africa who trotted in at half-time looking the more pensive side.
They needed some kind of response and it materialised soon enough. First Du Toit was driven over beneath of pile of bodies and, within four minutes, a perfect cross-kick from Libbok was taken in his stride by a sprinting Arendse who burned off the cover to score his side’s second. From that moment there was never much chance of a Scottish miracle.
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South Africa’s Du Toit and Arendse break Scotland resistance for win - The Guardian
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