Clinical win for Boks

After 100 years in existence the Springboks celebrated with a clinical and well-thought-out 36-16 victory over Scotland at King’s Park Stadium in Durban on Saturday.

A revamped Bok outfit outscored their northern hemisphere counterparts by four tries to none and also had four penalties and two conversions.

Coming into the match on the back of heavy criticism after their uninspiring 30-27 win over the World XV at Ellis Park last Saturday, the Boks proved their critics wrong with their thorough performance against the Scots. Key to the Boks’ win was crushing the Scots up front and giving them little breathing space.

In the early exchanges the Scots seemed to get the better of their hosts as they rumbled pound for pound with the Boks. However, matters changed rather quickly as the home side eventually got into their stride and into their meticulously calculated rhythm which has seen them unbeaten in the last two seasons on home soil.

After the Boks had successfully subdued the overzealous and hyperactive Scottish pack, they sought to get the necessary points on the board through the reliable boot of Percy Montgomery who came to Durban in search of 600 Test points.

After swapping penalties in the first quarter, the Boks turned on the heat and scored two quick tries from Schalk Burger and Breyton Paulse respectively to blast off to a 15-3 lead. Paulse’s try came in the 19th minute, a minute after Burger’s try, from quick reaction by the Bok loose forwards who found a lurking Fourie du Preez on the blind side who eventually fed Paulse the ball to dive in the corner. Scotland tried to keep within reach of the now destructive Bok side through the boot of Chris Paterson.

Montgomery added another penalty in the dying moments of the first half to give the Boks a commanding 18-6 half-time lead. The writing was clearly on the wall for the Scots who had come to South Africa with intentions of breaking their winless record on African soil and also to claim their third major scalp after beating England and France in the Six Nations.

But the Boks also had plans of their own and quickly went about the second half putting on the final touches to a polished rugby outing.

In a sublime backline move, Andre Snyman found himself on the end of a Jean de Villiers break which stretched the Boks lead even further to 25-9.

Montgomery added the finishing touches with a try in the 64th minute and a penalty six minutes later to give the home side an unattainable 36-9 lead with 10 minutes left on the clock. The Scots got a consolation try for their tireless efforts when replacement Simon Webster scored with three minutes before the fulltime.

Too much emphasis on history and little on the danger the Boks pose could have been Scotland’s Achilles but it was clear from before the kick-off that this was a mismatch. Another one for the record books as the Boks ended as victors with their record against the Scots firmly intact.

Scorers

South Africa: Tries: Schalk Burger, Breyton Paulse, Andre Snyman, Percy Montgomery. Conversions: Percy Montgomery (2). Penalties: Percy Montgomery (4).

Scotland: Try: Simon Webster. Conversions: Chris Paterson. Penalties: Chris Paterson (3).