The Springboks are on the high road at the Rugby World Cup 2023 after beating Scotland 18-3 in their Pool B opener in Marseille, France.
Job done. One win of seven ticked off. A ferocious 10-minute explosion after halftime saw the Springboks ensure their 2023 World Cup campaign started on a bright note with a hard-earned 18-3 win over Scotland.
The performance was polished in that the Boks were clinical in almost every facet, but they did not have as much cutting edge as perhaps they expected. The Scottish pack was game and earned a few scrum penalties but they conceded four in the second half, as the bone-crunching impact the Boks demand on the gain line took its toll.
Kurt-Lee Arendse of South Africa celebrates with RG Snyman of South Africa after scoring a try during the Rugby World Cup 2023 match between South Africa and Scotland at Stade de Marseille on 10 September 2023 in Marseille, France. The Springboks were probably scratching their heads over how they went into halftime only three points to the good thanks to two Libbok penalties to the one of Russell.
Scotland perhaps had the best opportunity of the half, when they worked an overlap on the left, which only failed to yield points when Libbok made a superb tackle on wing Darcy Graham from behind.Libbok wrapped Graham up, not allowing him to make the offload to a waiting Duhan van der Merwe with nothing but 15 open metres between him and the tryline.
Wing Cheslin Kolbe worked tirelessly off and on the ball to make something happen, but even his ankle-breaking stepping couldn’t punch a hole through the well-organised Scotland defence. Jasper Wiese of South Africa in action during the Rugby World Cup 2023 match between South Africa and Scotland at Stade de Marseille on 10 September 2023 in Marseille, France.
The final quarter saw the Boks doing much more defending and it felt like a training drill at times, but it also showed their energy and commitment as they smothered Scotland until the end.Not true, Finn Russell made two try-saving tackles, so played a moerse part in the outcome. But he should have been off the field.I think Kriel was lucky to stay on the field. Head contact in tackle looked very similar to Tom Curry’s but the TMO did not look at it.
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