Boks flex muscles with clinical and controlled win over Scotland

2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France 10/9/2023

The Springboks mildly flexed their muscles with a clinical performance against Scotland to open the defence of their world title with little fuss.

The two-try 18-3 victory, built on the back of their dominant breakdown and strong set piece, which took some time to fully get going, was an ominous signal for the rest of the competition.

It also showed that they continue to be a well-oiled machine that feels like it only plays in spurts. They have conceded just 10 points in their last two Tests against the All Blacks and Scotland, underlining that defence, which is often the route to winning World Cups, remains on point.

Although coach Jacques Nienaber was at pains to suggest that their only focus was on Romania for the next clash, and that Ireland on 23 September is not in their crosshairs yet, this would've certainly raised Ireland’s interest. And the Boks will definitely have one eye on Irish progress.

That clash at Stade de France is looking increasingly like a group decider.

The Boks only hit occasional peaks against Scotland, particularly in the 10-minute period after halftime when they scored both their tries. There was a visible upping of intensity after the break.

Captain Siya Kolisi admitted that he felt the intensity was a little flat early on. “Winning or losing is not the first thing we care about in the early stages. We’re more focused on whether the intensity is good, and it wasn’t where it needed to be.” 

They still enjoyed the bulk of territory in the first half – 62% - but were unable to really make it count with flyhalf Manie Libbok kicking two penalties for their only return.

Scotland defended well, which was the main reason the Boks failed to have any joy, but they also were not good enough to make the most of their dominance.

In fact, the best try-scoring chance of the half fell to the Scots. Wing Darcy Graham was hauled down in a brilliant tackle by Libbok with an open Duhan van der Merwe waiting to finish.

The Boks knew this was never going to be an easy match and they simply had to get a result, regardless of the performance. That’s not to say it was a poor performance – not at all because that would be a disservice to Scotland who made it difficult – but there is room for improvement.

“This was a slippery one, playing the number five team in the world and they deserve it. We knew it was going to be a grind,” Bok coach Jacques Nienaber said.

“If you look at history the last time we played them the points difference was 15 points [a 30-15 win at Murrayfield in 2021] and it was 15 today. They are a tough team that sticks in there.” 

The Boks left a few points, with four missed kicks between Libbok and Faf de Klerk, but again it’s not something that is overly concerning the coach or the skipper. Nienaber has said before that he’d rather have Libbok creating tries, as he did for Kurt-Lee Arendse, than kicking all his goals.

Kolisi came to the defence of the flyhalf, who had a strong game despite a few stray kicks from the tee.

“This question about missing kicks gets asked a lot, but we play as a team,” Kolisi said. “Sometimes you are not good at one thing on the day, but the way he attacked today and how he took control and how he was a general amongst us. There are other guys who can kick.

“He is not going to be good at everything every single day. We are working as a group.” 

Strangely Scotland dominated the scrums in the first half, winning two penalties, but the wheels came off after halftime when the Boks visibly climbed in.

South Africa earned three scrum penalties in the second half and opened the scoring after a sustained attack almost from the restart after halftime.

A nine phase move took them deep into Scotland territory and from the ensuing scrum and a couple more phases, flank Pieter-Steph du Toit, with a head of steam, smashed hooker George Turner out of his way for the first try.

Minutes later, under advantage with Scotland creaking, Libbok stabbed a beautiful kick/pass across field for wing Kurt Lee Arendse to take in his full stride. He is quite a sight in full flight and the Scotland cover was unable to stop him scoring his 12th try in just his 11 Test.

That was that for the scoring as the Boks then seemed to shut the match down and spend the rest of it running a defensive drill. Scotland enjoyed more possession in the final quarter and attacked without so much as finding a crack in the green wall.

Although the Boks were not overly stressed and will face tougher tests in this tournament, their watertight defence was definitely eye-catching.

They came off the line with pace and shut Russell down, denying the playmaker the space and time to, well, make plays. Scotland just ran down blind alleys with the ball they had and even when they did beat the rush, like Darcy in the first half, the Bok scramble got them.

“Defence is beautiful for me,” said Nienaber. “All credit to Scotland. They play with great speed and innovation on attack, so we had to be really sharp to cut out their options.

“The players worked very hard off and on the field this past week to keep them at bay.”