Check out the Springboks player ratings vs Scotland in their Autumn Nations Series opener at British Gas Murrayfield in Edinburgh.
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It was a heart-pounding clash at a packed Murrayfield as South Africa edged out Scotland in a match far tighter than the final 17-point gap suggests. The Springboks may have come out on top, but the Scots gave the world champions a scare with a relentless, never-say-die attitude.
Scott Cummings’ Cruel Red Card
Scotland’s hopes took a serious hit when Scott Cummings saw yellow midway through the first half. In a controversial moment, the card was upgraded to red after review—a decision that had the Murrayfield faithful in disbelief. Playing 20 minutes a man down left Scotland with a mountain to climb.
Missed Chances for the Brave Scots
Despite the setback, Scotland roared back with determination. The second half saw them create multiple scoring opportunities in a pulsating passage of play. Yet, for all their bravery and attacking intent, they couldn’t turn pressure into points, leaving the door open for South Africa.
A dramatic encounter that will be remembered for Scotland’s resilience—and South Africa’s clinical edge when it mattered most.
Scroll down for the Springboks player ratings vs Scotland.
Scotland: 15
- Tries:
- Cons:
- Pens: Finn Russell (16′, 21′, 32′, 43′, 60′)
South Africa: 32
- Tries: Makazole Mapimpi (03′, 34′), Thomas du Toit (29′), Jasper Wiese (79′)
- Cons: Handre Pollard (30′, 35′,79′)
- Pens: Handre Pollard 64′, 73′)
Springboks player ratings vs Scotland
15 Willie le Roux – 8
The Springbok fullback made a solid performance in today’s fixture. His talent for the game was shown through his misleading dummy passes to fool the Scot’s, keeping the ball alive and in South African possession. He was especially deadly in noticing where the empty space was, delivering a spectacular nudge to Mapimpi to score the team’s first try of the game. A sensational performance worthy to wear the Springbok jersey.
14 Canan Moodie – 9
A medical marvel in how he performed in today’s fixture; chasing kicks, dominating tackles, battling in the air, he did it all. Moodie looked as if he was playing off instinct and knew exactly what was going to happen. His speed was unmatched, and confidence going against players made him dominate in every aspect of the game he played. Forwards fell to the ground with ease in his tackles, and quick lineouts played by him gave the visitors yards to spare. One of the key factors of the game.
13 Lukhanyo Am – 6
Lukhanyo has a difficult first half with handling errors and losing possession in tackles. Though his effort came back during the second half, when he was there as support for Moodie in a quick lineout to help gaining yards. Though he managed to make some solid plays for the Boks, if Rassie Erasmus had included some backs on his bench rather than just his ‘bomb squad’ forwards, can’t help but think ‘would Lukhanyo Am have been subbed at half time?
12 Andre Esterhuizen – 7.5
Another key aspect to the Springboks plays in the first half. Getting great control of the ball when it was lost by the Scottish attack, he dictated where players needed to be like a chess grand master moving his pieces. Doing this led to an awesome cross kick to number 11, Makazole Mapimpi, which secured an uncontested try for the visitors.
11 Makazole Mapimpi – 7.5
A sensational player who made a sensational impact on the score board for South Africa. Makazole Mapimpi was simply too quick for the home side on attack. He is a player you cannot give any room to move in, and he capitalised on it with no problem. However, his defence was lacking somewhat when he didnt cover his inside man which allowed the Scottish number 9 to score an open try; luckily for him it was disallowed because of a knock on back down the field. In the second half standards really dropped when he was sent off to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on. A dampening second half to an otherwise near perfect performance.
10 Handré Pollard – 7
A player than makes an impact wherever he goes; whether it be for Leicester Tigers or the Spirngboks, Handré Pollard makes his mark; though today was an easier day for the World Cup winner. He controlled the game by dictating play and making pressure against the Scottish defence, but he himself was easily knocked down by the home sides forwards in attack. None the less, he scored highly with his legendary right foot; scoring the first points for the Boks in the second half.
9 Jaden Hendrikse – 7
A role normally reserved for Faf De Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse took to the position with ease. He made great yards with his excellent box kicks at the rucks, and playing the ball quickly to keep the Scottish defence guessing; however, his quick play of the ball caught up to him when he dropped it giving the home side an easy penalty, which could’ve been avoided if he hadn’t rushed the pass. A solid performance, but it was rough around the edges.
8 Kwagga Smith – 4
A tough day at the office for Kwagga Smith. He conceded a penalty for not rolling away in the ruck, and dropped the ball in the kick off. You could see Rassie Erasmus fuming in the coach box overseeing the game; there’s argument made that Rassie was angry at the referee’s call, though with the calls that Christophe Ridley was making against the Scots i would assume Rassie would feeling nothing but gratitude for the official. The Springbok scrum was sensational, and Kwagga was part of that; but individually, he’s a much better player than what we saw.
7 Elrigh Louw – 7
A player that made a huge impact defensively in the game. Along with Etzebeth, when the Scots ever made a line break, the forward was there to stop then and get them out of the field of play. He was another Springbok to be penalised for not rolling away, which saw standards slip among the forward pack in the first half. But he was a key element in dominating in defence which punished the Scots for thinking they could beat the World Champions.
6 Marco van Staden – 6
The Springbok scrum was a biblical sight to see in tonight’s fixture, obviously not if you’re a Scottish supporter, and Marco Van Staden was an element to that. He kept his height, power, and strength to what was required of him; but that was it. Sadly, not much else could be said about the flanker. There wasnt anything special produced, only the job that was required of him. Sometimes all you need is a player to turn up, do their job, and go home; that’s what Van Staden did, but he did it well!
5 Franco Mostert – 5
Another tough day for another World Cup winner. His main highlight of the match was being penalised for obstruction. Though the South African team performed well in most aspects of the game, their forwards pack did start to lose standards. Franco Mostert is a sensational player and his future is just a bright as his World Cup winning past, but today was not one he will put on his highlight reel.
4 Eben Etzebeth (Captain) – 8
Not much can be said about the most capped Springbok player in history. His talent and knowledge of the game is what makes him on of the best in the world. But one of his best moments was his diplomacy talking to the ref; Etzebeth asked for a potential could play to be looked at by the official, Christophe Ridley, and it led to Scott Cummings being given a red card for a dangerous tackle. With skill, talent and knowledge, Etzebeth also comes with rage. He was penalised for pushing, shoving, and throwing a Scottish player to the ground; this was not the only time his standards slipped in the game. But it begs the question is there need for this attitude? And should he have been sent off? Since the call of player safety from World Rugby, it seems only logical to punish unnecessary physical behaviour.
3 Thomas du Toit – 6.5
Thomas Du Toit had a shaky start to the game. He was penalised for taking down the man who was lifting a play in a lineout, but that was soon rectified when sheer forced of the South African Scrum powered through Scotland and the prop only had to ground the ball. The scrum left a hole in the home sides defence, and South Africa saw that, so instead of playing out wide they simply went forward. The Springbok prop then went on to play simple, yet effective rugby which helped see the visitors claim another victory.
2 Bongi Mbonambi – 5
The World Cup winning hooker is known to creat stories on the field of play, both good and bad. but today was an off day. He made an impressive run to start with, punching through the middle line and getting to the half way line. But that was the highlight of his game, other than throwing the ball at lineouts. Bongi Mbonambi has had some great games in teh past, but unfortunately today wasn’t one of them.
1 Ox Nche – 4
the sad truth about this props performance is simply that it wasn’t rememberable. Ox Nche is a world class player who strikes fear into the hearts of any man, but today something was missing, some flair which we would normally see. Not to take away from his work in making sure the scrum was unstoppable, he didn’t do anything special; like earlier, sometimes you just need players to come in, do their job, and go home.
Replacements
16 Malcolm Marx – 4
Malcom Marx came on at 45 minutes…that was the last that was heard of him. He was part of the ‘bomb squad’ that came on, and the hooker did manage to keep the standard of play the scrum was at, and then some, but he was unable to show some excitement outside of that, much like Ox. But I have no doubt that he will perform better in future fixtures.
17 Gerhard Steenekamp – 7
A key part in the bomb squad, not only in the ruck, but also for the defensive line. He came on and had simple tasks; tackle hard, maintain the scrum, and be a pain in the backside for Scotland. That he was. He shot head first into tackles, with no regard to his own body. He understood that the Springbok jersey is more than one man and he wasn’t afraid to spill blood for it.
18 Vincent Koch – 7
The bomb squad continues. The main highlight, as repeated over and over again, in the game was the scrum. Vincent Kock was part of it and also part of getting in the heads of Scottish players, especially South African born Scottish players. Being excellent at keeping players up when tackled, it allowed his team to get in that defensive line again and make and even bigger impact on the Scottish attack.
19 RG Snyman – 7.5
The first of the subs to come on, at half time, Snyman is a fantastic ball carrier. He’s not nervous about making risky passes to keep the ball moving, which was shown when with a spectacular offload off the floor for the Boks to keep on running. His technique on every aspect of the game as a forward is textbook. A player that if anyone copied how he played they would go very far professionally. It might’ve been worth having him start? But with the impact made, I guess we’ll never know.
20 Siya Kolisi – 8
The World Cup captain made an awesome appearance off the bench despite him still recovering from a face injury. His face swollen, looking like he couldn’t open his eye, he performed as if in his prime. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how strong Kolisi is. He managed to lift Bok number 21, Pieter-Steph Du Toit, who weighs 115kilos! By himself! He was first in rucks to protect the ball and his man on the ground with no regard to his own safety, and set the standard for everyone who came off the bench.
21 Pieter-Steph du Toit – 6
A controversial one. Pieter-Steph Du Toit made a brilliant impact on teh game and deserved to be there, no doubt. It’s probably more controversion of the referee’s part as what seemed like a blatant knock on was committed by Du Toit, but play was continued – credit to Du Toit for acting like nothing happened. There were some more obvious handling errors for this bomb squad member, but he was excellent in the forwards pack in maintaining that line of defence which seemed unbreakable at times.
22 Jasper Wiese – 8
The final member of the home squad to be brought on, and what an impact Jasper Wiese made! His line speed made him look like one of the back line. His fast pace made him cause handling errors from the Scottish side, and sheer power of the scrum made him become the second forward of the Boks to score a try. He was one of the better performing bomb squad members, not because he scored, but because his effort in line speed to tackle the home side was unmatched.
23 Grant Williams
Grant Williams came on at number 9 with less that 12 minutes (plus change) to go. Not many players could make an impact in that time like he did. He was surgical with his kicking game, opening up the opportunity for the players to run for the goal line and make great ground. He was also confident in himself to make the line break, and get past the home defence, backing himself in tackles, and trusting his team to support him. It could’ve been worth playing Williams a bit earlier to give him some extra game time, but his time on field was excellent none the less.
The Springboks did show why they’re the world champions. It could be argued that their performance this match was better than their entire World Cup knock out campaign, but it wasn’t without its issue. Handling and breakdown errors saw needless penalties being given away, but they did the basics best; defence, finding the space, and backing themselves.
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