Scotland fall short in 10-try thriller with South Africa

Nations Championship round two

South Africa (14) 42

Tries: Papier, Roos, Louw, Willemse, Porthen, Kriel Cons: Pollard 6

Scotland (14) 28

Tries: M Fagerson, Rowe, Bayliss, White Cons: Russell 4

Scotland pushed a much-changed South Africa all the way in a thrilling Nations Championship contest but were left to rue wasted opportunities in Pretoria.

Seeking a first win on South African soil, Scotland scored four tries to gain a bonus point.

And they might have matched the home tally of six if they had been slightly more clinical in attack.

The world champions made 10 starting alterations after flattening England in Johannesburg and such is their strength in depth they could extend their winning streak against Scotland to 10 Tests, finding the killer touch at the right moments.

After a cagey opening, two home tries inside two minutes from Embrose Papier and Evan Roos had Scotland gasping for air at altitude.

However, Gregor Townsend's side kept their heads admirably and finished the first half strongly, with Matt Fagerson and Kyle Rowe going over to level the game at the break.

A yellow card for Ben-Jason Dixon gave Scotland impetus but they could not find a score in the subsequent 10 minutes, spurning good chances in the face of ferocious Springbok defending.

Another quick one-two from Elrigh Louw and Damien Willemse gave South Africa breathing space and the game looked over when Zachary Porthen extended their lead.

Scotland had other ideas and came roaring back again as Josh Bayliss finished off after great work from Scott Cummings before Ben White found a gap.

Play was stretched and utterly frantic as the visitors threw what they had left in the tank at finding a way to get back on level terms and fatigue looked a factor as Jesse Kriel bounced through two tackles to finish the job for South Africa.

Scotland have never scored four tries against South Africa before. They should have had more and that will sting.

There were two stirring comebacks within the 80 minutes but there were also too many mistakes.

Soon after Papier slalomed through for the opening score on 16 minutes, Roos rumbled over after the strange sight of Cobus Weise being hoisted forward in the air by his team-mates.

Scotland responded well and a South Africa team missing several of their big names were rattled.

The host were pinned back for a long period and Matt Fagerson finally found a way through from close range.

On the stroke of half-time, inventive scrambling from Finn Russell allowed Sione Tuipulotu to blast through a flurry of flailing hands and set up Rowe to run under the posts.

Early in the second half, Dixon was penalised as his burrowing head clashed with Cummings and, with Russell at the heart of everything, Scotland really cranked up the tempo.

Kyle Steyn was stopped short after an electric burst and Ewan Ashman was held up while over the whitewash moments later.

Bayliss then almost crawled in to score on his knees before a big Bok hand dragged him back.

Scotland could not profit from their advantage in personnel as South Africa dug in with impressive belligerence and then came a huge momentum shift as Louw crashed in from close range and Willemse wriggled free.

The Scottish defence was creaking under pressure and Porthen became the third home player to celebrate a first international try, after Papier and Roos.

The Loftus Versfeld crowd were in full party mode, but the reply was immediate as Cummings bolted through a hole of his own making and popped a pass off to Bayliss for a simple score.

A stretching White then touched down with his fingertips and suddenly there were seven points in it.

Scotland kept coming and winger Steyn just couldn't hold on to a tremendous crossfield kick from Tom Jordan.

With three minutes left on the clock, Handre Pollard knocked the ball in behind the Scottish line and Kriel saw off two tired opponents to end the visitors' positive resistance.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend told ITV: "We're really frustrated we didn't get more points on the board in the first half and then during that period when the Boks go down to 14 men.

"We were sloppy for 10 minutes and found ourselves 21 points down.

"I'm massively proud of the effort to come back in. At 70 minutes I was believing we would go on and win, but it wasn't to be. It's a learning for us, there were a lot of good parts to the play but we've got to be better for 80 minutes.

"There's a lot more in us. I just know, with the amount of opportunities the players created through work, skill and intelligence, we've got to take more to beat the world champions.

"So that's the frustrating element, because we don't get to play South Africa very often, we don't get to play them here, so that'll be the feeling we'll have tonight. But I know we've come a long way this season and that was another step forward.

"Credit to South Africa, they found a way to win, but I'd like to think they knew they were up against a serious opponent."

South Africa: Fassi; Van der Merwe, Kriel, Willemse, Hooker; Pollard, Papier; Venter, Grobbelaar, W Louw, C Wiese, Nortje, De Villiers, PS du Toit (capt), Roos.

Replacements: Wessels, Mchunu, Porthen, Dixon, Tshituka, E Louw, Williams, Horn.

Scotland: Rowe; Steyn, Hutchinson, Tuipulotu (capt), Dobie; Russell, White; Schoeman, Ashman, Z Fagerson, Brown, Cummings, M Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey.

Replacements: Hiddleston, Sutherland, Hurd, Williamson, Bayliss, Bradbury, Jordan, McDowall.