South Africa kicked off their Rugby World Cup title defence with a bruising and streetwise 18-3 victory over Pool B rivals Scotland in Marseille on Sunday.
It wasn’t a game full of entertaining and free-flowing rugby as both sides rolled up their sleeves in a battle that the Springboks ultimately got the better of.
Tries from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse helped them to victory, with Manie Libbok kicking two penalties and Faf de Klerk one conversion.
There was controversy early on, however, as centre Jesse Kriel made head on head contact with Scotland number eight Jack Dempsey that went unpunished.
The defeat leaves Gregor Townsend’s side with no margin for error in their remaining three matches against Tonga, Romania and Ireland if they are to qualify for the quarter-finals.
The two sides went into the tournament in confident mood following encouraging summer campaigns which left the Boks ranked second and the Scots fifth in the world, but with Ireland – the top-ranked team – also in Pool B, the pressure was on both nations to start with a victory.
The Springboks started in more assured fashion and had a chance to get the scoreboard up and running in the 11th minute when the Scots were deemed to have collapsed the scrum, but Libbok hooked his penalty wide from 40 metres.
The South African fly-half made no such mistake, however, when presented with another opportunity two minutes later after Finn Russell was penalised for a deliberate knock-on as he sent his kick soaring between the posts from a central position 35 metres out.
Tempers flared on the side of the pitch just after the midway point in the first half after Damian de Allende was slammed into touch but referee Angus Gardner – after reviewing the skirmish – spoke to four players, but decided no further action was required.
Libbok doubled the Boks’ lead to six points shortly afterwards with another penalty after Sione Tuipulotu failed to release.
After South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth limped off to be replaced by RG Snyman, Scotland, who had been struggling to get their attacking game going, carved out a brilliant chance to score, but Darcy Graham opted to go himself and ran into trouble when fellow wing Duhan van der Merwe, on his outside, was crying out for a pass and appeared to have a free run to the line.
Despite being unable to impose their game on the Boks, the Scots were generally standing up well to the physical challenge of their opponents and they cut their deficit to three points in the last action of the first half when Russell – who had earlier needed treatment following a bang to the ribs – kicked a penalty from 45 metres right on half-time.
Two minutes after the restart Libbok attempted to kick a penalty from almost five metres inside his own half, but he failed to get enough distance on it and the Scots were able to gather.
South Africa got their first try of the match in the 47th minute when Du Toit pushed over on the left after a sustained spell of pressure. Libbok was off target with his conversion attempt.
🇿🇦 Ridiculous from Manie Libbok to Kurt-Lee Arendse! #RSAvSCO pic.twitter.com/raQkZEpmai
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) September 10, 2023
Thing got worse for the Scots four minutes later when Arendse ran in to touch down in the right corner after a lovely cross-field kick from Libbok set him free. With the fly-half having missed three of his five attempts at goal, scrum-half De Klerk took over kicking duties and duly pinged the conversion between the posts.
Scotland have made a habit in recent times of mounting impressive fightbacks, but this time they were unable to find a way of breaching the obdurate Boks.
The teams
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Duane Vermeulen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Willie le Roux
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie (c), 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Ollie Smith
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
The game was filled with running from start to finish with the sharp-shooting boot of fly-half Rikiya Matsuda and six tries enough to secure the Brave Blossoms their first victory of this year’s tournament.
Despite being without Tom Curry after he received an upgraded yellow card to red after barely three minutes, England produced an inspired performance.
The fly-half played 66 minutes in Bordeaux, and he celebrated his comeback match with two tries and seven conversions as the Irish cruised to five points.
The drought is finally over for the Wallabies as tries from Jordan Petaia, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Ben Donaldson (2) sealed a first-up pool triumph.
Although it was a comfortable win in the end, the Azzurri were made to work hard for the result, especially in the opening half when their opponents put in a competitive performance.
Tries from Damian Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet were added to by 17 points from the boot of Thomas Ramos as Les Bleus claimed a deserved triumph.
In a fast-paced and exciting encounter in which both sides gave the ball plenty of air, Les Bleus were full value for their win as they held the upper-hand for long periods and eventually outscored their opponents by four tries to three.
The visitors created history at the home of English rugby on Saturday as Steve Borthwick’s men fell to a 30-22 loss in front of a disappointed home crowd.
Trailing 10-7 at the interval before a further Lima Sopoaga penalty extended the margin to six points on 46 minutes, Ireland managed to avoid a shock defeat.
It was a frustrating opening 40 minutes for Gregor Townsend’s men as two Luka Matkava penalties sent the Lelos into the half-time interval with a narrow lead.
The Azzurri’s wings Ange Capuozzo and Monty Ioane were on song as they caused huge problems throughout the clash, which led to some beautiful tries.
On this evidence, the defending champions will be incredibly difficult to beat in France as they utterly dismantled their opponents on Friday to secure a record victory.
Crossings from Bundee Aki, Garry Ringrose, James Lowe, Mack Hansen and Keith Earls saw the Irish to a comfortable triumph in Dublin on Saturday.
It was a statement win from the reigning World Cup champions ahead of the tournament, as Siya Kolisi marked his comeback with a superb 40 minutes.
Despite fielding a makeshift side, Les Bleus still impressed and opened up a 16-3 advantage through Peato Mauvaka’s try and three Melvyn Jaminet penalties.
It was a clinical performance from the home side, who dominated for long periods, but their task was made much easier after referee Luke Pearce issued a red card to Motoc in the 10th minute, after he led with his head while clearing out Italy captain Michele Lamaro at a ruck.
Steve Borthwick named the most experienced England team ever, with 1067 Test caps worth of experience for the fixture.
A brace from Scotland winger Kyle Steyn almost secured the visitors the win, but in the end, Ramos’ boot had the final say at the end of the game.
It was a much improved performance from the home side ― who finished winless and at the bottom of the table during the recent Pacific Nations Cup ― as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored their opponents by four tries to none.
Second-half tries from Gareth Davies and George North saw Wales to a confidence-boosting success after what’s been an unsteady period for the squad.
Doris scored a try in both halves that was added to by Dave Kilcoyne’s early crossing, with Stuart McCloskey and Cian Healy also going over in Dublin.
The Springboks opened the game’s account via a Manie Libbok penalty, but Los Pumas would go into the break 10-3 in front through Gonzalo Bertranou’s try and Emiliano Boffelli’s three-pointer.
It was quite the turnaround from Gregor Townsend’s charges as they looked well off the pace in the opening 40 minutes, going in 18 points behind Les Bleus.