South Africa has got their Rugby World Cup title defence in France off to a winning start.
The Springboks defeated fifth ranked Scotland in their opening match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Marseilles.
Outclassing their opponents with two tries, the defending champions recorded a 18-3 victory.
The Boks are on the board at #RWC2023 – thanks for a tough game @Scotlandteam #StrongerTogether #Springboks #RSAvSCO pic.twitter.com/SUFztQjx8a
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 10, 2023
In a tense first half, two Manie Libbok penalties had South Africa ahead but a morale-boosting scrum penalty shortly before halftime, slotted by Finn Russell, gave the Scots a real lift as they headed into the changing rooms 6-3 down and still dreaming of an upset.
The Springboks, however, came out with a new intensity and two tries within three minutes effectively settled the outcome.
A typically powerful set of ball carries eventually created the space for Pieter Steph du Toit to charge over and then a brilliantly disguised Libbok kick found Kurt-Lee Arendse inexplicably in acres of space to catch and fall over the line and the shell-shocked Scots never looked able to mount any sort of comeback.
South Africa will now be highly fancied to progress to the quarter-finals while Scotland, ranked fifth in the world, are likely to need to beat world number one Ireland to avoid a pool-stage exit. – additional reporting by Reuters
