South Africa Dominates Scotland In Rugby World Cup
The South African Rugby team pulled out another win over the weekend to keep their Rugby World Cup hopes alive. Pitted against Scotland, arguably their toughest competition thus far, the Springboks secured the victory by a score of 34-16.
Heading into the World Cup, many expected South Africa to advance through Pool B fairly easily. Afterall, they are the third-ranked ranked team in the world and one of the best in the history of the sport. But after the Springboks were upset by Japan in their first game, doubts began to spread and many questioned how strong the team truly was.
South Africa has responded well to the embarrassing loss to Japan, finishing with two consecutive victories. They came out strong against Scotland, with flanker Schalk Burger and Winger JP Pietersen dominating the first half, leading to a 20-3 lead at the interval.
Scotland was able to fight back in the second half, pulling the score to 23-16 at one point. But South Africa proved to be the stronger of a team and continually halted any momentum by Scotland. It was clear that South Africa was not going to let another game get away from them.
The Springboks coach, Heyneke Meyer conveyed his relief after the match. “I thank the Lord for being with us. It’s been a tough two weeks,” he stated. “In the second half we lost momentum. But you have to give credit to Scotland. We knew this was a must-win.”
In the end, the Springboks had to overcome a great deal of adversity in order to advance to the next round of the tournament. The win over Scotland shows that the Springboks are once again a formidable opponent.
South Africa will finish out Pool B play against the the United States on Wednesday. Scotland, ranked second in the Pool B table, will take on Samoa next Saturday. A victory in that game will qualify them for the next round of play.
Check out highlights from the exciting match below.
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