STILL some way to go then. A brutal second-half display by South Africa left Scotland pondering anew the realities of international rugby. A confident display against Australia six days earlier seemed much further away than that by the end of this. South Africa laid into Scotland from start to finish.
It took a while to tell, but the home side steadily unwound as the second half progressed, floundering beneath a barrage of pressure and muscle.
South Africa’s set piece remains supreme. They scored a couple of fine tries either side of half-time, Makazole Mapimpi as deadly as ever in claiming both, but the slower-burning virtues of his mates inside were the telling factors. Scotland’s scrum was in trouble throughout, and then their line-out imploded too.
Finn Russell missed eight points’ worth of kicks, which would have been most handy had they been secured when offered, and Scotland needed every one
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