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South Africa have got the defence of their title off to an impressive start with a second-half surge allowing them to overpower a toothless Scotland 18-3 and move into a strong position in the World Cup’s “group of death”.
Two tries in three second-half minutes from flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse pulled the Springboks clear in Sunday’s (Monday AEST) clash and Scotland were unable to find a way back into the contest, barely threatening the South African tryline all game.
The game featured a bigtalking point with Springbok Jesse Kriel escaping any sanction when his head clashed with the head of ball carrying Jack Dempsey in the opening minutes. It came after Tom Curry of England was red carded for a similar, and a yellow card was dished out in the Japan vs Chile game.
The three similar clashes – leading to three different results – has fans up in arms over the inconsistencies at play. Referee and TMO intrepretations were always going to be the elephant in the room and it didn’t take long for it to become an issue.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has been asked directly about the Jesse Kriel tackle on Jack Dempsey which went unpunished.
“I saw it about two screens away,” he said. “It looked like a head-on-head collision and I was expecting the TMO to come in.
“Who knows? [If it would have changed the game]. A red card last night didn’t change the match too much in terms of Argentina.
“We had a promising attacking position outside the 22 and the TMO came in for a body check [by Finn Russell]. I didn’t know how that ended up being a penalty. So yes there are still inconsistencies. when there has been a head contact.
“We’re frustrated at that but we’re more frustrated at our own performance.”
Scotland now face a difficult road to qualify from Pool B for the quarter-finals and will likely have to beat Ireland when the teams meet in their final group game in Paris on October 7 to stand a chance.
Scotland, with former Wallaby Dempsey and another Australian Sione Tuipolotu in their ranks, matched South Africa’s power in the opening 40 minutes and trailed 6-3 at the break, still in the contest without creating many scoring opportunities.
Once the Boks’ powerful forwards came off the bench in the second period, there was another shift in momentum and they were able to comfortably keep the Scots at bay.
That being said, the best chance of the first half fell to the northern hemisphere side as wing Darcy Graham created a three-on-one opportunity but held onto the ball when he needed to release a teammate to canter over the Bok line.
South Africa lost lock Eben Etzebeth after 26 minutes, replaced by RG Snyman, and that changed the dynamic of a scrum battle they had been winning to that point.
Scotland forced a penalty from the set-piece in their own 22, and then shortly afterwards another in range for Finn Russell to secure three points and halve the deficit on the stroke of halftime.
South Africa came out with renewed intensity in the second period, smashing their opponents backwards at the scrum to earn a penalty that put them in Scotland’s 22.
From there they moved the ball through phases, gaining a few metres at a time, before Du Toit crashed over from close range.
One try became two three minutes later as Libbok spotted Arendse in acres of space on the right wing and his cross-kick was perfect for the diminutive back to score in the corner.
It was poor defending and a sucker-punch for the Scots.
“I think it could have been a slippery one. Scotland are a good side; they are not number five in the world for nothing,” said Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber.
“They pushed things a long way in the game. I thought we had a little bit of dominance in the first-half but we had to grind the win out.
“Rugby is not a very complicated sport. If you get a good platform from your forwards, they can create momentum that can create some space, and then you have some backs who can make some magic.
“We could not build scoreboard pressure so we need to have a look at that and make sure we turn up with the right mentality against Romania.”
South Africa play their second pool game against Romania in Bordeaux next Sunday (Monday AEST), while Scotland have to wait two weeks before they take on Tonga in Nice on September 24.
Earlier, Japan had to withstand a ferocious physical challenge from debutants Chile in their bonus-point 42-12 Rugby World Cup win in Toulouse as coach Jamie Joseph saluted their courageous opponents for tackling “like demons” in the searing heat.
Japan scored six tries in what looks a comfortable win on the scoreboard but was anything but in reality for the 2019 World Cup quarter-finalists on Sunday against a fired-up, emotional South American side, many of who were in tears at the anthems.
“Chile came with a really spirited performance, really hearty, tackled like demons, turned our ball over, really put us under pressure. We had to deal with that without losing confidence,” Joseph said.
“The support for their team was amazing. They cheered for everything, as the Japanese do, so you really feel they had a whole bunch of people behind them.”
Japan captain Yutaka Nagare conceded they struggled with the physicality of the newcomers at times.
“We struggled a little bit physically, but we executed our game plan, which was great for us,” he said.
After opening the scoring through an early try from Rodrigo Fernandez, Chile, the lowest-ranked team at this World Cup, added another from Alfonso Escobar with Santiago Vila slotting over the conversion.
But Japan made the most of Chile’s two yellow cards to prevail with a brace by Amato Fakatava and other tries from Jone Naikabula, Michael Leitch, Ryoto Nakamura and Warner Dearns, all six being converted by Rikiya Matsuda.
A rousing rendition of the Chilean national anthem was followed by a spirited start from the first World Cup debutants since Russia in 2011, and then a dream try in the sixth minute, manufactured with Latin flair and finished off with a dollop of good fortune.
Fullback Inaki Ayarza broke through two tackles to set up the opportunity, but captain Martin Sigren looked to have spoilt it when the ball was knocked out of his hand in the tackle.
But it went backwards and quick-thinking five-eighth Fernandez pounced on the loose ball, dribbling it forward and then diving on it to dot down.
Chilean euphoria lasted less than 120 seconds as they dropped the ball from the kick-off, allowing Japan to score as lock Fakatava showed a fleetness of foot to burst through and sprint away from the defenders for a quick reply.
Basic errors betrayed Chile’s naivety and a late tackle from Matias Dittus on fellow prop Koo Ji-won meant a 10-minute spell in the sin bin, during which time Japan went in the lead on the half-hour mark as winger Naikabula stretched over for their second try.
Sigren was also binned after head contact in a tackle on Kotaro Matsushima and with the numerical advantage Japan were able to maul over on the stroke of halftime as Fakatava claimed his second try and stretched the lead to 21-7.
But the rookies continued to resist as Escobar burst over for a 48th minute try to fire up the crowd and cut Japan’s lead to nine points.
That was as good as it got for the gutsy Chileans, with Leitch scoring Japan’s fourth try in the 53rd minute, centre Nakamura the next 10 minutes from time and 21-year-old Dearns used all of his two-metre frame to stretch over and score at the end of the game.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.