Sunday Herald - 11 June 2006
Finding out the hard way
South Africa 36 / Scotland 16
Alasdair Reid at ABSA Stadium, Durban

How massive does disappointment get? The scoreboard might suggest a reasonably competitive Scotland performance, but beneath the clear blue skies of the Natal winter, there was a distinct feeling Frank Hadden’s men were lucky to get off so lightly. They had come to South Africa with confid ence raised by their best finish in the Six Nations, but their hopes juddered into the buffers of a mighty and muscular Springboks side.

The Scots could reflect ruefully on a couple of decisions by the officials that extinguished any prospect that they might generate early momentum, but could have no complaints about the patterns of the match as a whole. They were smashed in the tackle and smashed far behind the gain line, and any side who suffer ignominies like those are bound to come out of a game counting a margin of defeat as well as the bruises on their bodies.

As it was, they were fortunate the only injury replacement that had to be made was for Sean Lamont, the winger who bashed his knee in what looked like an excruciating collision with South African centre Jean de Villiers before half time. Allister Hogg, the number 8 whose participation had still been in doubt earlier in the week, also required early treatment, but came through the rest of the match unscathed. It was a tribute to the fitness of those involved that the dressing rooms were not casualty stations at the end.

Their respective moods, though, could hardly have been more different. The Springboks could bask in the warm satisfaction of knowing their Test season is up and running, even if elements of their performance, particularly the precision of their handling, left room for improvement. For Scotland, however, there could only have been desperate disappointment, a sense that so much of the good work earlier in the year had just been undone.

Hadden’s troops appeared to have taken a significant step backwards with the quality of their work in contact. We saw little of the jackhammer tackling of Jason White, and there was a strong suspicion the Springboks had done their homework well as they moved the point of attack and kept the Scots guessing. At the end, it was almost impossible to recall a single truly destructive tackle by a Scottish player.

Still, there were aspects to gladden Scottish hearts too. Donnie Macfadyen made a reassuringly effective return to Test action, a characteristically irritating presence at the breakdowns and no mean presence with his last-ditch tackling as well. We also saw another impeccable kicking performance from Chris Paterson, landing three penalties and a conversion for 11 of the Scottish points. In the media room afterwards, the consensus view was that Paterson has now gone five full games for his country without missing a single kick at goal, a remarkable record that is almost without parallel at this level.

The credit column included a much improved Scottish lineout performance, too, but all those consolations add up to very little on the bigger canvas on which South Africa glistened with quality and the Scots seemed drab. There was sharpness and alacrity as the Springboks went forward. In sharp contrast to some of what the southern hemisphere has produced in recent years, there was also an enthus iasm for graft as well. If the Scottish back row, hailed as world class in the aftermath of the Six Nations, was almost invisible, their disappearance owed much to the sheer grunt of the South African tight forwards.

Being kicked in the teeth by match officials is another thing altogether, and the International Rugby Board’s people might like to examine two performances, in particular, that soured the experience for players and spect ators alike in Durban’s ABSA Stadium.

The first came in the 18th minute, when South African flanker Schalk Burger wrestled the ball over the Scottish line from a ruck a few yards short.

Correctly, referee Donal Courtney called for a decision from the television match official, who then ruled that the score was good. To most eyes, however, it seemed Burger had grounded the ball in open play and then shoved the thing over the line – an illegal double movement. Just to spice things up, the video official was Simon McDowell, who became embroiled in another controversy last year after chalking off what would have been a match- winning try by Hogg against France.

So much for conspiracy; now for some cock-up as well. From Scotland’s restart, South Africa raced the ball down the right, feeding winger Breyton Paulse who sprinted towards the corner. Mike Blair covered and began to line up the tackle, at which point he clattered into Courtney. It was a desperately clumsy moment from the referee and it gifted South Africa a try.

But it would be churlish to make more of those incidents as they had no significant influence on the result.

Scotland stemmed the tide of South African attacks until the interval, conceding just a couple of penalties to Percy Montgomery, but never had control for more than a few moments and coughed up possession with ease.

Even Paterson’s third penalty, just after the break, only interrupted the flow. The Springboks powered on with tries from Andre Snyman and Montgomery, before throttling back towards the end. That allowed replacement winger Simon Webster to nip in and grab a Scottish consolation, greeted by some very muted Scottish celebrations. The day demanded nothing more.

South Africa: P Montgomery; B Paulse, J Fourie, J De Villiers, A Snyman; J Van Der Westhuyzen, F Du Preez; O Du Randt, J Smit (Captain), E Andrews, D Rossouw, V Matfield, S Burger, J Smith, J Van Niekerk. Replacements used: H Shimange, L Sephaka, J Muller, P Wannenburg, R Januarie, W Oliver, G Du Toit.

Scotland: H Southwell; C Paterson, M Di Rollo, A Henderson, S Lamont; D Parks, M Blair; G Kerr, S Lawson, B Douglas, N Hines, S Murray, J White (captain), D Macfadyen, A Hogg. Replacements used: D Hall, C Smith, A Kellock, K Brown, S Pinder, G Ross, S Webster.

Referee: D Courtney (Ireland)

This article was posted on 11-Jun-2006, 07:20 by Hugh Barrow.