South Africa are preparing for a hostile reception when they face Scotland
in Newcastle for their Pool B encounter.
| POOL B – Match #25 – South Africa v Scotland | ||||
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| Overall Stats South Africa | vs | Overall Stats Scotland | ||
| Average Score : South Africa 26.08 vs 10.80 Scotland | ||||
| Games Played | 25 | Games Played | 25 | |
| *Games Won | 20 | *Games Won | 5 | |
| *Games Lost | 5 | *Games Lost | 20 | |
| Games Drawn | 0 | Games Drawn | 0 | |
| *Longest.Winning.Streak | 7 | *Longest.Winning.Streak | 2 | |
| *Longest Losing Streak | 2 | *Longest Losing Streak | 7 | |
| *Largest Points For | 68 | *Largest Points For | 29 | |
| *Largest Points Against | 29 | *Largest Points Against | 68 | |
| *Largest.Winning.Margin | 58 | *Largest.Winning.Margin | 15 | |
| *Largest Losing Margin | -15 | *Largest Losing Margin | -58 | |
| *Total Points For | 652 | *Total Points For | 270 | |
| *Avg Points For | 26.08 | *Avg Points For | 10.8 | |
| *Total Points Against | 270 | *Total Points Against | 652 | |
| *Avg Points Against | 10.8 | *Avg Points Against | 26.08 | |
| *Total Points Difference | 382 | *Total Points Difference | -382 | |
| *Avg Points Difference | 15.28 | *Avg Points Difference | -15.28 | |
| * = By South Africa | * = By Scotland | |||
| Past Ten Meetings | |||||
| 28-Jun-14 | South Africa | 55 | 6 | Scotland | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| 17-Nov-13 | Scotland | 0 | 28 | South Africa | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 15-Jun-13 | South Africa | 30 | 17 | Scotland | Nelspruit, South Africa |
| 17-Nov-12 | Scotland | 10 | 21 | South Africa | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 20-Nov-10 | Scotland | 21 | 17 | South Africa | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 15-Nov-08 | Scotland | 10 | 14 | South Africa | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 25-Aug-07 | Scotland | 3 | 27 | South Africa | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 17-Jun-06 | South Africa | 29 | 15 | Scotland | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| 10-Jun-06 | South Africa | 36 | 16 | Scotland | Durban, South Africa |
| 27-Nov-04 | Scotland | 10 | 45 | South Africa | Edinburgh, Scotland |
POSSIBLE RR World Rankings outcome on Result
RSA (on 81.86 points) at a Neutral venue -vs- SCO (on 77.71 points) in a RWC match
| Possible Outcome | Rating Point Exchange |
New RSA Rating |
New SCO Rating |
Will SCO overtake RSA? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If RSA win by 1-15 points | 1.170 | 83.03 | 76.54 | No |
| If RSA win by more than 15 | 1.755 | 83.61 | 75.95 | No |
| If result is a draw | 0.830 | 81.03 | 78.54 | No |
| If SCO win by 1-15 points | 2.830 | 79.03 | 80.54 | Yes |
| If SCO win by more than 15 | 4.245 | 77.61 | 81.95 | Yes |
History is certainly against the Scots, as they have never defeated South Africa outside of Scotland.
That said, given Newcastle’s proximity to the Scottish border, this may as well be considered a home game as fans are expected to flock over the border.
There is so much on the line for the Springboks, as a loss will put their chances of making the quarter-finals in major jeopardy. The two-time world champions only have themselves and perhaps Eddie Jones to blame, as the Australian was the mastermind behind the sensational Japanese win against them in their opening game.
However, Heyneke Meyer’s men bounced back strongly with a six-try rout of Samoa on Saturday, with winger JP Pietersen crossing the whitewash for a hat-trick.
Meanwhile, Scotland enjoyed one of the easier starts to the competition, as they faced a tired Japan and the USA. Vern Cotter’s charges have taken advantage of the fixture list and picked up their full allotment of points, leaving them sitting pretty the top of Pool B.
South Africa’s tumultuous World Cup meanwhile continued as talismanic captain Jean de Villiers and vice-captain Victor Matfield were both ruled out of Saturday’s match, with the former retiring from international rugby and being put on the first flight home for an operation on his jaw.
This experience vacuum is bound to have an effect on the Springboks, but to what extent we will only know late on Saturday evening.
Meyer has named the mercurial Fourie du Preez as captain, favouring him over one-time test captain Schalk Burger. While Matfield’s absence in the line-out will be felt, Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager have proved themselves as worthy replacements.
Scotland’s Richie and Jonny Gray will certainly look to put pressure on the comparatively inexperienced South African lineout.
However, the real branch of youth will be the 10, 11, 12 combination, which sees the 21 year-old Handré Pollard feeding 23-year-old Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel, who is also 21.
The trio combine for just 23 caps and face a stern test of character on Saturday.
Scotland’s loose trio of David Denton, new arrival Blair Cowan and Josh Struass on the other hand will do well to look after Burger, who leads the tournament in terms of carries with 37.
The Teams :
- South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (c), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein - Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Dave Denton, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 WP Nel, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Lamont
- Date: Saturday, October 3
- Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle
- Kick-off: 16:45 local (15:45 GMT)
- Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
- Assistant Referees: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
- TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
- Full Pool Previews – Click Individual Pool Below
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