South Africa’s Springboks finished their June Internationals with a 55-6 hammering of Scotland at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
The loss for Scotland was their first under new coach Vern Cotter who has been in charge since the start of the month and had been unbeaten in their past three Tests.
The result means that South Africa have played four Tests in June and remained unbeaten and they will take a psychological edge with them over Scotland when they face each other at next year’s Rugby World Cup as their are in the same pool.
The Springboks made their intentions clear from the outset as the Scots were
forced into a huddle behind the posts only two minutes after the kick-off.
Instead of going for the three points through a penalty conversion from a kickable
position, the Boks went for a lineout metres out.
After taking the ball up for a few phases, fiery flanker Marcell Coetzee scored
the first try of the match after a pick-and-go, with flyhalf Handre Pollard
converting.
The visitors pulled back three points five minutes later when Duncan Weir kicked
a penalty.
For South Africa the highlight of the June internationals has been the gifted
Willie le Roux and his outstanding touches at fullback.
Le Roux featured early in the match as he scored the second try of the evening
after 10 minutes of play.
The Boks again used the lineout to great effect to set up an attacking opportunity
with the ball spread swiftly through the hands where Le Roux finished in the
right-hand corner.
Pollard converted to extend the lead to 11 points and he did not have to wait
long before he lined up another conversion kick, six minutes later.
The youngsters executed a beautiful floating skip pass to a JP Pietersen, who
sliced through the Scottish defence before he dropped the ball on his left foot
for a speeding Lwazi Mvovo to collect just before the line to dot down.
Pollard pulled the conversion kick, with the Boks enjoying a 19-3 lead only
16 minutes into the clash.
With the Scots showing little resistance in the opening salvoes, a proper hiding
was on the cards for the tourists.
The Springboks suffered an injury blow on the half-hour mark when Fourie du
Preez left the field, to be replaced by Francois Hougaard.
While the visitors halted the Springboks’ momentum, they could only add a three-pointer
three minutes from the half-time break through another Weir penalty conversion.
Pollard opened the scoring in the second half with a penalty goal four minutes
after the restart to extend the lead to 16 points.
Scotland received a yellow card in the 50th minute when Tim Swinson was binned
for holding Hougaard back in play.
The Springboks immediately pounced as they set up a driving maul from a lineout
10 metres out where Coetzee scored from the back of the drive, with Pollard
converting.
They showed their ruthless intent as they added three more tries in the following
15 minutes starting with Pietersen touching down in the 56th minute.
Four minutes later Mvovo showed why he is called the Umtata Express when he
pounced on a fumbled Scotland ball to sprint from just inside his half to score
— to give him a brace for the match.
The rest of the match belonged to lanky lock Lood de Jager, who had a cracker
of a game in both the tight and loose play.
In the 65th minute De Jager was put into space by Coetzee, another standout
player, and showed the defenders a clean pair of heels from inside the Scottish
22.
By this time the Scots were a spent force, and Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer
rung the changes which saw four more players — Stephan Lewies, Teboho Mohoje,
Marnitz Boshoff and Marcell van der Merwe — earning their Springbok
