Scotland player ratings v Springboks: ‘Exceptional’ rookie shines in brave defeat to world champions

Following their 32-15 defeat to the Springboks at Murrayfield, here are our player ratings for Gregor Townsend’s Scotland side. 

Scotland player ratings v Springboks

15 Tom Jordan: Thrown into the deep end with a start in the 15 jersey, but he was exceptional in this new position. He was a consistent threat with ball-in-hand, and seemed to magically appear in exactly the right spot to burst through a gap in the Boks’ defence. The Glasgow man was also very quick to tidy things up in the backfield when called upon. Could this be his best position? 8

14 Blair Kinghorn: Grew into the game as it went on, and looked to get his hands on the ball as much as he could. Importantly also popped up in different areas to keep the attack firing. 6

13 Huw Jones: Had a decent first-half, but his explosion in the final quarter really swung the momentum back towards Scotland. He linked up brilliantly with Jordan, Tuipulotu and Van der Merwe to get his side in-behind the Boks’ defence, and also chipped in with some decent carries of his own. Also decent in defence. 8

12 Sione Tuipulotu: Faced an almighty contest with counterpart Andre Esterhuizen, but he gave as good as he got with ball-in-hand and linked up well with partner Jones to get Scotland purring. He was also just as effective in defence too. 7

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11 Duhan van der Merwe: Was pretty well managed by the Boks’ defence for the most part, but he was able to make some decent in-roads when called upon in the latter stages of the game. Could easily have got on the scoreboard had that last pass gone straight to hands. 6

10 Finn Russell: Such a classy player, and he was again solid against South Africa. He took full advantage of the scrappy nature of the game to guide his side up the pitch in a broken field, and importantly kicked all his penalties. 7

9 Ben White: Did his job well. Distributed well out of a messy ruck, and also popped up with some clever supporting lines to add to the attack. 6

Back-row

8 Jack Dempsey: Typically industrious showing from the back-rower, but concerningly appeared to pick up a knock and could be in doubt. 6

7 Rory Darge: Potentially lucky to escape punishment for his involvement in the croc roll, but he certainly made the most of this reprieve with a strong showing. Threw himself into the battle up front with some strong carries, and put his body on the line in defence too with 9 tackles. 7

6 Matt Fagerson: Came up with a couple of errors, but on the whole was solid. Got stuck into the battle up front and put his body on the line. 6

Tight five

5 Scott Cummings: Sent to the sin-bin for a croc roll, which was later upgraded to a red card. 2

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4 Grant Gilchrist: Worked incredibly hard for his side, and importantly made a mess of the South African lineout. Just rolled up his sleeves and got involved in the ugly stuff. 6

3 Zander Fagerson: Seriously strong around the park, especially in attack, and improved as the game went on. His work was also pivotal in neutralising the bomb squad when deployed. 7

2 Ewan Ashman: Packed a serious punch in defence, notably sending monstrous Eben Etzebeth motoring backwards, and brought plenty of physicality to proceedings in attack. 6

1 Pierre Schoeman: Copy and paste Faegerson’s bit really. Just grew as the game went on and had the better of the bomb squad at crucial moments. 7

Replacements: There was a time when Scotland looked like they could have done the unthinkable, but unfortunately the bench couldn’t carry on the momentum in the final quarter. Just as everything started to swing in Scotland’s favour, the bench lacked that killer impact you want them to have in Test rugby. Rory Sutherland and Elliot Millar Mills had a tough time of it in the scrum, and elsewhere the forwards just weren’t able to win the contact area when it mattered most. On a positive, Max Williamson made a decent impact on proceedings and continues to look comfortable at this level after an impressive summer tour. Overall, though, the bench just didn’t add any impact. 4

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