South Africa v Scotland LIVE: Score and updates as Springboks seek more Nations Championship success – UK Times

How good was Damian Willemse last week? The South Africa full-back should have got the player of the match prize, only for a mix-up with the host broadcaster SuperSport leading to Damian de Allende being mistakenly awarded the prize. Willemse takes his teammate’s shirt today, moving from No 15 into the centres as Rassie Erasmus remodels his backline.

I’d expect Scotland to try and test the back three in the air. Aphelele Fassi is light on rugby this year after injury, while Edwill van der Merwe and Canan Moodie are both freshly introduced. Moodie is an excellent aerial operator but Scotland have one of their own in Kyle Steyn. As ever, the contestable battle will be key.

I think the scrum battle today could be fascinating. Boan Venter will know the Scottish front row intimately from his five years at Edinburgh – although that works the other way, of course, and Pierre Schoeman will be keen to get one over the country of his birth. He’ll lock horns with Wilco Louw, perhaps the world’s best in the scrum skirmish.

Replacement Springbok props Ntuthuko Mchunu and Zach Porthen are newer faces, though both extremely highly-rated. Losing Elliot Millar Mills to injury is a blow to Scotland’s stocks; Zander Fagerson may have to go deep before Will Hurd takes over later on.

Gregor Townsend has challenged his Scotland players to deliver a performance that gives them a fighting chance of glory in one of the flagship games of their career in Pretoria.

The Scots are huge underdogs as they prepare to face South Africa away from home for the first time in 12 years in Saturday’s Nations Championship showdown at Loftus Versfeld.

“None of the 23 have played a Test match against the Springboks out here and to do it when they’re world champions, it’s obviously a game that will stand out in most of the players’ careers,” said head coach Townsend.

“You get those big challenges in your career, whether it’s finals for your club, whether it’s massive games in the Six Nations and World Cup, but also those one-off games that you don’t get to play very often.

“In our case, it’s the only occasion we play the Springboks (away) with this squad, so those are the ones where you get that extra edge in your preparation. I can’t wait for our players to go in there and I’m sure they’re looking forward to it too.”

Referee: Pierre Brousset (Fra)

ARs: James Doleman (NZ) & Andrew Brace (Ire)

Finn Russell has recovered from a calf injury to start at fly half for Scotland having missed the win over Argentina. Zander Fagerson and Gregor Brown are promoted into the starting tight five off the bench, while Rory Hutchinson and Kyle Rowe continue at outside centre and full-back after strong performances a week ago.

There are six forwards on the bench, with Jamie Dobie the scrum-half cover if required.

Scotland XV: 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Zander Fagerson; 4 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings; 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey; 9 Ben White, 10 Finn Russell; 11 Jamie Dobie, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (capt.), 13 Rory Hutchinson, 14 Kyle Steyn; 15 Kyle Rowe.

Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Magnus Bradbury; 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Stafford McDowall.

It’s a new-look South African team, again led by Pieter-Steph du Toit after the flanker stood in following Siya Kolisi’s late withdrawal against England. Four of the tight five in front of the flanker are freshly involved, while Van Roos replaces Jasper Wiese at No 8.

Damian Willemse, so impressive at full-back a week ago, shifts into the centres with Aphelele Fassi wearing the No 15 shirt, while Handre Pollard starts at fly half at his home club ground. Six forwards are ready to make an impact from the bench.

South Africa XV: 1 Boan Venter, 2 Johann Grobbelaar, 3 Wilco Louw; 4 Cobus Wiese, 5 Ruan Nortje; 6 Paul de Villiers, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (capt.), 8 Evan Roos; 9 Embrose Papier, 10 Handre Pollard; 11 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian Willemse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Edwill van der Merwe; 15 Aphelele Fassi.

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zach Porthen, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Vincent Tshituka, 21 Elrigh Louw; 22 Grant Williams, 23 Quan Horn.

Scotland wasted little time getting to South Africa after their win over Argentina, landing in Johannesburg last Sunday and checking in to their Sandton hotel before a bruised England had even left for home. Have they had enough time to adjust to the altitude? Loftus Versfled isn’t quite as high as Ellis Park, but it is still up on the Highveld.

Rassie Erasmus oversees his 55th Springboks Test today, breaking the record of Jake White as the most of any South Africa coach. Erasmus has actually been present for rather more matches than that, moving upstairs after the 2019 World Cup with Jacques Nienaber officially in charge – but the scheming supremo still wielded plenty of power. This is Test No 94 since his arrival in 2018 – what a transformation it has been.

Rory Darge is ready to be tested like never before in Pretoria after feeling the full force of South Africa twice already in his career.

The Scots are braced for a formidable challenge at Loftus Versfeld in their second match of the Nations Championship after kicking off their campaign with an impressive win in Argentina last weekend.

Darge, 26, faced South Africa for the first time on neutral territory in Marseille as the Scots lost 18-3 in a pool-stage match at the 2023 World Cup and he and his team-mates endured more disappointment 14 months later, in November 2024, when they went down 32-15 at Murrayfield.

“Both games, they were a hard team to play against,” said the Glasgow back-rower. “They do their things very well, the physicality side of things, the set-piece, the athletes within their side, they’re really trying to disrupt your play and take you away from your game around the breakdown and your own attack, so, yes, I definitely felt that.

“In terms of how it prepares you (for Saturday), I think there are bits from those games you can look at, but both teams are so different now and have evolved with different players. The pressure they put you under and the pressure that you feel, it’s hard to replicate until you get into the Test match. It’s definitely one of the toughest challenges going against South Africa at Loftus.”

This second Saturday of the Nations Championship has already been hectic. Here’s how you can follow every game of rugby’s new competition: