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Boks hold on to beat Scots

Edinburgh - The Springboks survived a second-half surge from Scotland to win 21-10 in their Test match at Murrayfield on Saturday, making it two wins out of two on their European tour.

Both Bok tries came from hooker Adriaan Strauss with flyhalf Patrick Lambie adding one conversion and three penalties.

For Scotland, scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos came off the bench to score a try and Greg Laidlaw had one conversion and one penalty.

Video highlights: Scotland v South Africa


The South Africans will now take wins over Ireland and Scotland on to Twickenham next Saturday when they will be looking to finish off their autumn series in style with a win over England.

The loss was Scotland's fourth straight defeat at Murrayfield and it means crucially that they will not be among the top eight seeds when the 2015 World Cup draw is made next month.

Scotland made three changes from the team that lost 51-22 to the All Blacks, with David Denton and John Barclay joining skipper Kelly Brown in the back row for the injured Ross Rennie and Alasdair Strokosch, and Euan Murray back in at tighthead prop in place of Geoff Cross.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer opted for two changes from the side that edged Ireland 16-12 in Dublin with  Gurthrö Steenkamp in for CJ van der Linde at loosehead prop and Juan de Jong taking over from Jaco Taute at outside centre.

South Africa applied the early pressure and signalled their attacking intentions after four minutes by punting into touch close to the Scottish line instead of kicking a makeable penalty.

That attack floundered, but three minutes later flyhalf Lambie opened the scoring for the visitors with a penalty from just inside the Scottish half.

Laidlaw levelled at 3-3 in the 10th minute when a Springbok forward failed to roll away in the tackle, but Lambie restored the South African lead shortly after when Laidlaw was penalised at a lineout.

Some big hits from the Boks in the tackle and deft footwork from Lambie had Scotland back-pedalling and the pressure paid dividends after 21 minutes when the Springbok pack mauled its way over the Scottish line and Strauss touched down.

There was further trouble for the Scots as tearaway lock Richie Gray was forced off the field after taking a heavy knock to the head and then Laidlaw missed a straightforward penalty kick.

The Boks were well on top against a static Scotland side and further infringements by the home side saw Lambie stretch the lead to 14-3 with a penalty after 31 minutes.

Scotland finally threatened the Springbok line two minutes later, but after a series of rucks, flanker Alastair Kellock was penalised for not releasing the ball and the teams went in at the break with South Africa well in command at 14-3.

Things went from bad to worse for the Scots shortly after the restart when hooker Strauss intercepted a Mike Blair pass 30m out and trundled in under the posts for his second try which put South Africa 21-3 up.

Scotland then brought on Glasgow scrumhalf Pyrgos for his second cap, replacing Blair, and he immediately made his mark by bursting through a gap in the Springbok lineout to score.

The home side were suddenly in the driving seat and came close to adding a second try only to be thwarted by some stout defending from the Springboks camped on their own line.

The South Africans were reduced to 14 men for the last five minutes when lock Flip van der Merwe was yellow-carded for coming in from the side, but despite their pressure, the Scots were unable to score again.

Scorers:

Scotland:

Penalty: Greig Laidlaw

Try: Henry Pyrgos

Conversion: Laidlaw

South Africa:


Try: Adriaan Strauss (2)

Penalties: Patrick Lambie (3)

Conversion: Lambie

Teams:

Scotland:

15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick de Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown (captain), 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant

Substitutes: 16-Dougie Hall, 17-Kyle Traynor, 18-Geoff Cross, 19-Alastair Kellock, 20-Stuart McInally, 21-Henry Pyrgos, 22-Ruaridh Jackson, 23-Peter Murchie

South Africa:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp

Substitutes: 16. Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo

Referee: George Clancy (IRL)

HAVE YOUR SAY: How did you rate the Springboks’ performance against Scotland on Saturday? Will the same effort be enough to also beat England at Twickenham? Send your thoughts to Sport24.
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