Rugby College: South Africa score eight tries in 55-6 victory over Scotland in Port Elizabeth

Saturday 28 June 2014

South Africa score eight tries in 55-6 victory over Scotland in Port Elizabeth

marcell coetzee south africa scotland

Marcell Coetzee: Flanker scored twice for the Springboks

handre pollard south africa scotland

Handre Pollard: Made an impressive debut at fly-half

lwazi mvovo south africa scotland

Lwazi Mvovo: Dotted down twice for South Africa in Port Elizabeth

South Africa laid down an impressive marker ahead of The Rugby Championship with an emphatic 55-6 win over Scotland.

Flanker Marcell Coetzee, winger Lwazi Mvovo and lock Lood de Jager scored two tries apiece as South Africa thumped Scotland in a Test in which both sides were far from full strength.

With the match falling outside of the IRB’s international window, the Springboks were missing seven France-based players while the tourists were without their English Premiership charges, and the gap in quality between the replacements was clear, as South Africa ran in eight unanswered tries.Â

Willie le Roux and JP Pietersen also got on the scoresheet for the hosts, while Handre Pollard notched five conversions and a penalty on his international debut.

Fly-half Duncan Weir’s two penalties were as good as it got for Scotland, who found themselves outclassed in just about every department.

The home side ran riot in the first and final quarters, while their cast-iron defence made sure there was no consolation reply for a young Scottish side.

While it was impressive stuff from South Africa, the best that could be said for the Scots was that they were gutsy – but totally outgunned.

Again, mistakes made sure the tourists could not capitalise on the few hints of a half-chance they created.

Both sides had gone into the match with largely experimental teams, though South Africa had a major advantage in terms of experience with 502 caps in their starting line-up compared with Scotland’s 275.

Inevitable

At the start the Scots twice allowed South Africa through the first tackle, including a confidence-boosting cut through the middle for Pollard only a couple of touches into his first Test.

Penalties came but the hosts refused the easy points and went for the line-out and inevitable rolling maul.

The first go was stopped but they kept pounding the Scots line and eventually flanker Coetzee forced his way over with debutant Pollard adding the conversion.

Scotland did manage to claw their way back with a Duncan Weir penalty but the ease with which South Africa were breaking the defence – and the penalty count against the Scots – were ominous.

Centre Jan Serfontein came on the crash ball to set the Scots on the back foot and full-back Le Roux finished with style just inside the touchline. Pollard again added the extras.

Bad was soon worse as centre JP Pietersen cut cleanly through and his chip ahead was perfectly placed for wingÂ Mvovo to beat the Scots’ cover to the ball and cross for the third try inside the first quarter.

Staring at the possibility of a rout, the Scots tightened their game and did manage to secure more ball – partly because the home side started to make the odd mistake and partly as their own back row began to win the odd turnover.

With a secure scrum and solid line-out, Scotland took the game to South Africa but crucial mistakes cost them the chance to benefit until Weir added a second penalty just before the break.

Mirror image

The second half, however, mirrored the first with Scots mistakes and South African speed and power getting the scoreboard back on the move.

Pollard started the points spree with a penalty before Coetzee was the man on the back of a rolling maul to claim his second try.

Soon after that the floodgates opened as Tim Swinson was sent to the sin bin – and the 14-man Scots had no answer.

Pietersen found space out wide and his floated pass beat Tommy Seymour’s attempt to intercept, to lay on a score for Cornal Hendricks on his first international start.

Then Mvovo intercepted as the Scots tried to open out and raced clear to score in front of a crowd of more than 40,000.

The seventh try came when the Scots failed to take a high ball and lock De Jager ran the loose ball back for a 66th-minute touchdown on his first start.

De Jager then found himself in the right place in the 78th minute to capitalise on a Hendricks break and crash over for the eighth Springbok try, which was converted by Marnitz Boshoff as he made his international debut from the bench.