South Africa continued with their fine recent form when they beat Scotland 26-20 in their November international at Murrayfield on Saturday.
In an entertaining encounter, in which momentum between the teams ebbed and flowed, the Springboks' superior physicality played a big part in this victory especially in the second-half when the match was on a knife edge for long periods.
Both sides scored two tries apiece and Handré Pollard led the way for the visitors with an 18-point haul courtesy of a try, three penalties and two conversions.
The result means the Springboks extend their winning run against Scotland to six matches and they have now won three successive Tests at Murrayfield.
As expected, this was a fast-paced match with both sides giving the ball plenty of air and this tactic reaped reward for the Springboks as early as the sixth minute when Jesse Kriel scored the opening try. This, after Pollard made the initial break and Embrose Papier, RG Snyman, Steven Kitshoff and Sbu Nkosi all handled the ball before the latter was brought to ground close to Scotland's try-line. The ball was recycled quickly and Papier got a pass out to the onrushing Kriel, who dotted down.
Pollard slotted the conversion but despite trailing on the scoreboard, Scotland stayed true to their attacking roots and were rewarded midway through the half when Peter Horne rounded off after Huw Jones and Sean Maitland combined brilliantly in the build-up.
The Boks did not take long to respond though and after Damian de Allende and Siya Kolisi did well to win a turnover at a ruck, the ball was shifted wide to Pollard, who sold Maitland a dummy before crossing for his side's second try.
The Boks pulled further ahead in the 25th minute via a penalty from Pollard, when WP Nel was blown up for illegal scrummaging. But that effort was cancelled out when Greig Laidlaw also added a penalty — after offside play at a kick from Aphiwe Dyantyi — which meant South Africa were leading 17-10 by the half-hour mark.
Five minutes later, the home side drew level with a converted try from Hamish Watson which came when they caught the Boks napping with an innovative move at a lineout in which Watson came through the front of the set-piece, which was on South Africa's five-metre line, before crashing over.
That drew the sides level but just before half-time Pollard succeeded with his second penalty, after another indiscretion at a scrum from Nel, which gave the visitors a narrow 20-17 lead at the break.
The second-half started poorly for South Africa when, six minutes after the restart, Willie le Roux was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on from a Horne pass midway between the Boks' 22 and their 10-metre line. Laidlaw made no mistake from the kicking tee which drew the sides level again.
From the restart, the Boks won a turnover and were soon on the attack inside Scotland's 22.
In the 53rd minute, Stuart McInally slowed the ball down cynically at a ruck close to his try-line and Pollard punished that indiscretion by adding his third penalty which restored the visitors' three-point lead.
Three minutes later, Scotland were blown up for another infringement at the breakdown and Pollard lined up a shot at goal but his effort struck a post.
The next 10 minutes was an attritional affair as both teams tried to gain the ascendancy and Pollard had another opportunity to extend the Boks' lead in the 67th minute off the kicking tee, but he scuffed his kick which was well wide of the target.
The Boks continued to dominate the breakdown and in the 73rd minute they won another penalty in that facet of play. Elton Jantjies took over the goal-kicking duties from Pollard and was on target with his effort which also sealed the win for his team.
The scorers:
For Scotland:
Tries: Horne, Watson
Cons: Laidlaw 2
Pens: Laidlaw 2
For South Africa:
Tries: Kriel, Pollard
Cons: Pollard 2
Pens: Pollard 3, Jantjies
Yellow Card: Le Roux
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Cheslin Kolbe
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Frank Murphy (Ireland)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
Argentina, meanwhile, have suffered their fourth successive defeat and will be desperate to reverse their downward spiral, just as France did here.
In a match billed as being the game of the November series, it was a brutal encounter, but the scoring was left to the respective kickers in the first half – Johnny Sexton and Beauden Barrett – as they traded a brace of three-pointers in the opening half-an-hour.
The visitors were outstanding in the opening 40 minutes, deservedly going into the break ahead thanks to Ryoto Nakamura and Michael Leitch tries. In contrast, the Red Rose were slack and, despite Danny Care’s try and Elliot Daly’s penalty, the hosts struggled to control possession.
Tonga got themselves off to the worst possible start when they conceded a penalty try and a yellow card to Leva Fifita for bringing down a Wales' driving maul that had marched upfield in the second minute.
Despite outscoring the Azzurri by four tries to one, this was far from a convincing performance from Australia, who were on the back foot for long periods especially during the second-half.
In a tight Test, in which momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed, both sides scored two tries apiece but Mbonambi proved to be the match-winner when he dotted down off the back of a line-out drive deep inside France's 22.
It was a topsy-turvy contest and one where Los Pumas very much came to play. There was little in it at the interval, with Kieran Marmion and Bundee Aki going over for the hosts and Bautista Delguy responding for the Argentinians.
In an evenly contested and often dour encounter, both sides committed a plethora of unforced errors and as the scoreline suggests, neither managed to cross the whitewash.
Similar to the Owen Farrell incident last week, which cost South Africa a chance of winning the game, this time the hosts were denied when Sam Underhill thought he had scored, only for television match official Marius Jonker to rule it out.
The visitors started the game on the front foot. However, they emerged from their spell of dominance with only a Ben Volavola penalty kick to their name.
In a fast paced and exciting game, Italy were the dominant side for most of the match and eventually outscored their visitors by four tries to two with Tommaso Allan contributing 13 points courtesy of a try, two penalties and a conversion.
The Grand Slam champions and the number two side in the world controlled the match from beginning to end and are building up momentum at just the right time ahead of that crucial clash with the All Blacks on November 17.
England will have the psychological momentum going into the World Cup next year with this slender victory, safe in the knowledge they have emerged victorious on the previous two of the four meetings played between the sides this year.
Tries from George North and Jonathan Davies and the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, who kicked 11 points, saw Warren Gatland's outfit to victory.
A 10-try performance saw Dane Coles, Richie Mo'unga, Ngani Laumape (3), Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, George Bridge (2), Waisake Naholo and Matt Proctor cross the whitewash while fly-half Mo'unga also kicked 17 points off the tee, with Jordie Barrett adding the remaining conversion.
New Zealand though were scoring at will and Naholo's try, after an impressive carry from Gareth Evans, put their seventh try on the board.
Although Australia were aiming to repeat last year's Bledisloe Cup dead rubber win, New Zealand had other ideas and delivered a dominant display in which they outscored the Wallabies by five tries to two with Beauden Barrett leading the way with a 17-point haul courtesy of a try, three conversions and two penalties.
The visitors, who scored through Michael Hooper, Izack Rodda, Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty (2) and David Pocock, avoid the wooden spoon, thus handing bottom spot to the Pumas, who will rue how they let slip that buffer at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena.
In a tightly contested match, the home side made a bright start and dominated the early exchanges but two Handré Pollard penalties were all they had to show for their efforts before the All Blacks struck back with two penalties of their own from Beauden Barrett, which meant the sides were level at 6-6 at half-time.
Once again, Pollard was successful off the kicking tee but the All Blacks responded shortly afterwards courtesy of an Aaron Smith try after Codie Taylor tore the home side's defence to shreds with a superb run in the build-up.
Tries from Rieko Ioane (2), Waisake Naholo, Patrick Tuipulotu and Anton Lienert-Brown saw them prevail, with Beauden Barrett kicking eight points while replacement Richie Mo'unga added the other conversion as New Zealand bounced back from that loss to the Boks in good fashion.
In a tightly contested match, the Springboks were made to work hard for this result as they were under plenty of pressure for long periods but a solid defensive effort, particularly in the second half, kept the Wallabies at bay.