Donal Lenihan: Somehow, Scotland always manage to locate self-destruct button

Autumn Internationals: With the Springboks looming, Ireland coach Andy Farrell has some big selection calls to make this week.

Scotland were lead 21-10 against Argentina after 54 minutes when a yellow card for Blair Kinghorn gave Felipe Contepomi's side a chance - they took it. Pic: Steve Welsh/PA Wire.

WHERE Irish fans were moved to greet Mack Hanson’s withdrawal with 10 minutes to go against Australia late on Saturday with a fully deserved standing ovation, the following afternoon their Scottish counterparts marked the final whistle against Argentina with a chorus of boos at Murrayfield for the first time in living memory.

Sport has the capacity to elicit such responses. Just think of the reaction when Troy Parrott scored his third goal deep in injury time on Sunday in Budapest to secure Ireland’s passage to a World Cup play off which sparked a leap from my chair. It’s been a while since I jumped that high.

It’s why we love sport. It’s why fans get so animated when things don’t go the way of their team and why the surge of adrenaline is even greater when you win, against the odds, with time running out.

If Irish fans were feeling a little frustrated with their team's recent Autumn internationals performances, just imagine what it feels like for their beleaguered Scottish counterparts. We won’t even mention where Wales sit at the moment.

Scotland are a disaster. With hopes high after contributing 12 players, including an entire backline, to the Lions this summer, somehow, they still manage to find a way to find the self-destruct button.

Coming from a position where they trailed New Zealand by 17 points at half-time the previous week before levelling in the final quarter, they collapsed spectacularly on the last lap despite the All Blacks having Wallace Sititi yellow carded on the 60th minute. Somehow the Scots found a way to lose 17-25.

They always seem to find a way to mess things up in big games. Even by their modest standards, last Saturday's capitulation to Argentina was extraordinary. Ahead 21-0 on 54 minutes, a yellow card for Blair Kinghorn offered Argentina a tiny sniff.

Coming into the game, an unlikely 16-point win was required to elevate Scotland to sixth in the world thus securing a top pool seeding for the RWC draw that takes place next month. Entering the final quarter, Scotland were in dream land.

Inspired by the introduction of five fresh players in one swoop off their bench, Felipe Contepomi’s men went on to record the greatest comeback in the history of Argentine rugby, winning 24-33.

More than ever, rugby has become a 23-man game with South Africa’s bomb squad, under the inspiration of Rassie Erasmus, leading the way on that front. Even Steve Borthwick has chosen to go down this route, choosing to keep six recent Lions in reserve on his bench to be unleashed in the second half. The Pom squad have arrived.

If recent evidence is anything to go by, it's working with England now unbeaten in their last 10 matches, including a convincing 33-19 win over New Zealand last Saturday.

Astonishing then that Gregor Townsend left three of his eight replacements rooted to the bench at a time when everything around him was unraveling. No wonder he’s coming under big pressure to retain his job after eight largely unproductive years at the helm.

THE result of Saturday’s mouth-watering game against South Africa, back at the Aviva Stadium, carries no Budapest-or-bust jeopardy for Irish rugby fans which is just as well given the Springboks form, resilience and creativity at the moment.

The last time a game between the two sides carried such importance was at the pool stage of the 2023 World Cup. Ireland won that night at the Stade de France but the Springboks went on to retain the Webb Ellis Cup.

However that defeat in Paris still lingers as an itch that Erasmus and his players feel compelled to eradicate, especially when Ireland followed up that victory by drawing a two test series against the World champions back in South Africa the following summer. In addition, Ireland also beat them on their three most recent visits to Dublin in 2014, 2017 and 2022.

In fact, it was the embarrassing 38-3 hammering eight years ago that hit such a nerve and impacted most when Erasmus and his fellow Munster coach Jacques Nienaber, sitting side by side that day in Lansdowne Road, committed to returning home in order to address the embarrassing slide of Springbok rugby.

Munster’s loss definitely proved South Africa’s gain. In less than two years Erasmus transformed the fate of the national team to the point where their captain Saya Kolisi was lifting the World Cup.

You wonder what would have transpired for both Munster and South Africa had Erasmus chosen to stay in Limerick that day? Such is the state of Springbok rugby now, nobody would bet against them winning a third World Cup in a row.

That’s what makes Saturday’s meeting compulsory viewing. Ireland took a few steps forward last weekend when recording a record win over Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies. Remember Australia not only managed to defeat South Africa 22-38 in Johannesburg as recently as August but did so recovering from a position where they were 22 points in arrears after 20 minutes.

If anything that defeat proved a catalyst for change with Erasmus dropping nine of the Springbok team that started that day, including a clatter of seasoned campaigners up front in Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Wilco Louw and Pieter-Steph du Toit with a further five alterations to his bench, eliciting the desired response, beating the Wallabies the following week.

As a result, South Africa’s depth took a massive leap forward. Couple that with the call to switch former Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen who started in midfield in Johannesburg, to a back rower for the first time in his career thus offering further scope to tweak his bench.

It’s the equivalent of Andy Farrell asking Bundee Aki to cover that role off the bench. When you think about it, that might not be a bad idea for the very same reason, thus influencing how many backs you need to carry on your bench.

With the Springboks looming, Farrell has some big selection calls to make this week. Paddy McCarthy has already made his mark at loose head prop but the Springbok scrum is a different proposition to anything he has faced to date. Remember he’s only featured for Leinster ten times. Only five of those were starts.

England have been holding back their strongest scrummaging front row for bench impact after 50 minutes but, against South Africa, it could be too late at that stage meaning Andrew Porter may get the nod to start this time.

Elsewhere, now that Josh van der Flier is available for selection after injury, Farrell has to decide whether to start his captain Caelan Doris in his favoured No 8 role or create another line out option by retaining last weeks trio of Doris, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan.

After that the biggest call, once again, revolves around who starts at out half. Sam Prendergast was superb against Australia, his kicking and passing game sublime. However, there are ongoing concerns about his defence. As a result, Jack Crowley was originally earmarked to start this one.

We’ll have to wait and see if Farrell still intends going down that road when the team is announced Thursday and if Prendergast is rewarded for the quality of his performance against the Wallabies. 

Rassie will also be watching that call with interest.