Vern Cotter’s first month in charge of Scotland ended with a record defeat to the Springboks in South Africa. He did not need a match against the side ranked second in the world to appreciate the transformation he needs to oversee, although four Tests in different countries in as many weeks would have taxed a country with far greater resources.
Scotland were outmuscled and overrun in Port Elizabeth despite the changes South Africa had to make from the series against Wales because the players based in Europe were not available for a Test match outside the official window. The Springboks were more accurate, cohesive and ruthless than they had been on the three previous weekends. The only consolation for Scotland was that it could have been worse.
Sparked by the scrum-half Fourie du Preez, they played with a pace and directness that disoriented Scotland. South Africa scored three tries in the opening 16 minutes and it was only when Du Preez sustained a leg injury that forced him off after 28 minutes that Scotland were able to feel their way back into the game.
Adam Ashe was making his debut for Scotland at No8 even though he has yet to start a match for Glasgow. The game was three minutes old when he found himself defending his line as Marcel Coetzee, supported by the bulk of Duane Vermuelen, looked to finish off a move that had started with a ball from the top of the lineout. Ashe was forced backwards and it was to take Scotland a while to deal with the physical might of their hosts.
By then, they had conceded two more tries. Willie le Roux, the tormentor of Wales, scored a fourth try in four matches in June after a weighted pass from the debut fly-half Handre Pollard before two long passes allowed JP Pietersen to get outside Peter Horne and chip to the line for Lwazi Mvovo to pick up and score.
Duncan Weir had kicked a penalty for Scotland but it was not until after 20 minutes that they asked anything of the South Africa defence. It ended when a move from a lineout was thwarted by Bismarck du Plessis forcing a turnover on his line, but as the Springboks lost width in the absence of Du Preez, the Scotland scrum-half Henry Pyrgos started sniping around the fringes and finding open spaces.
He forced South Africa to commit more players to the breakdown and infringe. The early pace of the game was lost as the referee, Glen Jackson, kept reaching for his whistle. He blew for 18 penalties in the first half but it was not until after the 50th minute that he remembered where his yellow card was after Tim Swinson had been spotted pulling back an opponent off the ball.
Scotland were then 22-6 behind, Weir’s penalty just before the break countered by Pollard four minutes into the second period, but by the time Swinson returned, his side was 28 points behind and facing a record defeat against the Springboks in South Africa. Swinson had barely sat down when Coetzee was driven over from a lineout and Le Roux’s long pass to Pietersen stretched an already vexed defence and allowed the centre to see off three tacklers.
Two mistakes by Pyrgos in three minutes resulted in the next two tries. The scrum-half’s pass to Dougie Fife was intercepted by Mvovo who had an unopposed 60-metre run to the line before the second row Lood de Jager profited from Pyrgos’s failure to secure a kick. Scotland had only once conceded 50 points to South Africa and they were 90 seconds from preventing a second when De Jager scored his side’s eighth try.
“We gave them half their points and the first 20 minutes was a case of what not to do in rugby,” Cotter said. “This tour was about looking at players and where we want to shift to next with the World Cup a year away and there was not a lot to take from this. We were dominated physically at the end of a long season but we showed character. A lot of it is about belief and these guys have to believe more and repeat the good things we did.”
