Scotland fell agonisingly short of an historic victory over South Africa in the Nations Championship after a truly epic contest in Pretoria.
Seeking to beat the Springboks on their own soil for the first ever time, Gregor Townsend’s men more than played their part in a classic at Loftus Versfeld.
They threw the kitchen sink at it and were within seven points as the match entered the final 10 minutes, only for it to slip away.
A missed opportunity against a South Africa team missing so many of their top players? Perhaps. But to define it in those terms would feel harsh.
Scotland may have lost the war, but they emerged with a tonne of credit for the way they pushed the world champions all the way.
This was a proper performance from Townsend’s side, who scored four tries to South Africa’s six. Although the result did not go in their favour, there was so much good in what Scotland did over the 80 minutes.
Embrose Papier kicks the ball under pressure from Scotland’s Scott Cummings
Up against the best team on the planet, they would rue the manner in which four of South Africa’s tries were scored in such quickfire fashion in each half.
But there were also so many positives. Scotland will now look to round off their summer campaign with a win when they take on Fiji at Murrayfield next weekend.
Scotland always knew that the odds would be stacked against them. Even with South Africa making ten changes to their team from the win over England last week, this was still a mighty challenge.
Part of the issue for Scotland was that they had no real reference point for this fixture. It had been 12 years since the last time these teams clashed on South African soil.
Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu had spoken about this in the build-up, pointing to how rare these opportunities come along, and how his team-mates needed to seize the moment.
The opening ten minutes or so were played at a quite incredible pace. Even beyond the altitude issue in Pretoria, it was breathless stuff from both teams.
Scotland were more than holding their own — but they shipped two tries in the space of two minutes as South Africa clicked into gear in the blink of an eye.
The first score came from scrum-half Embrose Papier, who was sniping around the base of a ruck and spotted a gap to break free from Zander Fagerson.
Papier then showed some magnificent footwork to dance away from two more tackles before touching down, with Handre Pollard slotting the conversion.
That was a terrific try in its own right — but what followed was arguably even better as the Boks virtually went straight up the field from the restart and scored again.
Cobus Wiese was hoisted aloft to collect the ball, before then being carried – whilst still in mid-air — through the heart of Scotland’s defence.
Scotland back Jamie Dobie makes a break through the South Africa defence
Scotland were all at sea and it was eventually Evan Roos who went over to make it a quickfire double for the Boks, with Pollard once again adding the extras.
In those moments, you feared for Scotland. With the crowd revelling in some spectacular rugby from the home side, this could have turned messy.
Yet, full credit where it’s due, Scotland rallied. They dug deep, they held on, and they fought back. Their resilience was excellent.
Their first try came on 34 minutes when Matt Fagerson powered over at the end of a sustained period of pressure inside the Boks’ 22.
It was crucial for Scotland to score. Had they left without any points, it would have been utterly deflating. But Russell ensured they left with seven points after adding the conversion.
Scotland’s talisman was then instrumental in the creation of the second try right on the cusp of half-time, popping an outrageous pass out the back of his hand for Tuipulotu to collect.
Kyle Rowe ran a great support line and went in to score under the posts, with Russell’s conversion pulling Scotland level at 14-14 as the teams went in at half-time.
It had been a proper Test match. Scotland could easily have buckled when they lost those two tries in quick succession.
Ben White touches down for Scotland’s fourth try in Pretoria
Instead, they came out swinging and landed a couple of hefty blows of their own. It was compelling stuff, with Townsend thumping his desk in celebration up in the coaches’ box.
South Africa were reduced to 14 men in the early stages of the second half when Ben-Jason Dixon was deemed to have made a dangerous clear-out on Scott Cummings in a ruck.
Scotland very nearly capitalised immediately, with Ewan Ashman peeling off a lineout maul to throw himself over the line; held-up was the call from French referee Pierre Brousset.
After a bunker review, it was eventually decided that Dixon’s period in the sin bin would not be upgraded to a red card. He could consider himself fortunate to be met with such leniency.
Scotland were dominant. They were asking South Africa all kinds of questions and putting them under a heap of pressure, but they couldn’t find a way through.
There was always a danger that inability to convert pressure into more points might come back to haunt them — and so it proved.
Ben White offloads the ball to start an attack for Scotland against South Africa
Just before the hour, it was South Africa who showed a far more ruthless edge and scored their third try of the night through Elrigh Louw, with Pollard kicking the extras to restore a seven-point lead at 21-14.
Once again, as was the case in the first half, one try was quickly followed by another. They ripped through Scotland and threw the ball wide, with Damian Willemse reaching to finish off a brilliant team move.
It looked like Scotland were dead and buried when Zach Porthen went over to score South Africa’s fifth try and extend their lead to 35-14.
But the Scots came roaring back once again, with the outstanding Cummings galloping through and feeding Josh Bayliss on the inside to score.
Only a couple of minutes later, Ben White then pilfered another try for the visitors with a terrific finish. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Scotland were only seven points behind heading into the final 10 minutes.
Chasing a try to level the scores, a cross-field kick from Russell fell agonisingly beyond the reach of Kyle Steyn, before the Boks then finally killed it off when Jesse Kriel broke through to score in the closing stages.
