Defending champions South Africa got their Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign off to a winning start by beating Scotland 18-3 at Stade de Marseille on Sunday.
The teams went into the break with the Springboks only 6-3 ahead after two Manie Libbok penalties and one from Scotland fly-half Finn Russell.
However, in the second half the pace and power of South Africa’s game told as first Pieter-Steph du Toit muscled his way over from close range, before Kurt-Lee Arendse got on the end of Libbok’s pinpoint cross-field kick to dot down in the corner.
“Obviously I saw the space out wide and knew what I wanted to do, and managed to get it there,” Libbok, the Mastercard Player of the Match, said. “I practise that stuff a lot so it was good that it came off.
“I am just stoked the first game went like it did.”
Head coach Jacques Nienaber said the game was closer than the scoreline suggested: “We were only leading 6-3 at half-time after having some dominance. Scotland are a nuggety team and hats off to them. We had to grind the win out.”
Scotland – ‘Loads to play for’
South Africa finish the weekend second in Pool B, behind leaders Ireland who beat Romania on Saturday while Scotland head into their bye week with work to do.
“We’re going to give everybody three days off, a good chance not to think about rugby,” head coach Gregor Townsend said. “Then we’ll have a 10-day preparation for Tonga, which will be tough. We know we’ve got to be much better than we were today.”
Captain Jamie Ritchie agreed: “We just couldn’t execute under pressure. We pride ourselves on taking opportunities so we’ve got to be better. We’ve just got to dust ourselves off. I said to the guys: all the hard work we’ve put in hasn’t gone away, we’ve still got loads to play for.”
Mastercard Player of the Match Manie Libbok:
On his cross-kick for Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try:
“I am just thankful for my forwards for giving me the platform to do what I did. Obviously I saw the space out wide and knew what I wanted to do, and managed to get it there. I practise that stuff a lot so it was good that it came off.”
On playing at his first Rugby World Cup:
“I am just honoured and grateful to wear the jersey. To have the opportunity at a World Cup is a dream come true for me. I am just stoked the first game went like it did. I can take confidence out of this and move forward now.”
Captain Siya Kolisi:
On how the game panned out:
“It was tough in the first half. Everything was close. They are an amazing side, all credit to them. We were a bit slow to get into our game and take opportunities. Second half we took our opportunities from the set-piece and I am proud of the way the boys did that.”
On making his return in time for Rugby World Cup 2023:
“For me it doesn’t matter whether it is the World Cup or another game – to wear this jersey is amazing. We are playing for something far bigger than ourselves, for all the hard-working people back home who don’t give up. That is where we get our energy from.
“To see so many South Africans come out, I am so grateful. France has made this World Cup special from the first game so I am looking forward to seeing more of it.”
Head coach Jacques Nienaber:
On South Africa’s performance:
“It was a slippery one. Scotland are a good team, they are not number five in the world for nothing. We were only leading 6-3 at half-time after having some dominance. They are a nuggety team and hats off to them. We had to grind the win out.”
On how they turned the screw in the second half:
“Rugby is not a complicated sport. If you get a good platform from the forwards, then you can create space and create some magic.”
On how they will approach their next game against Romania:
“The big thing for us to get a return for our dominance. We just couldn’t build any scoreboard pressure. There is a lot to look at and we have to make sure we pitch up with the right mentality against Romania.”
Head coach Jacques Nienaber:
On if result more important than performance:
“This was a slippery one, playing number five team in the world and they deserve it. We knew it was going to be a grind.
“If you look at history the last time we played them the points difference was 15 points [a 30-15 win at Murrayfield in 2021] and it was 15 today. They are a tough team that’s sticks in there.”
On shoulder injury to Eben Etzebeth:
“I haven’t even spoken to the doc. It will be assessed tomorrow. In the game they said it was a shoulder, but I’d be speculating in terms of extent.”
On South Africa’s defensive effort:
“Scotland can create something miraculous out of nothing, so credit to the players. There was a lot of hard work off the field and on the field tonight to keep them at bay.”
On traffic light system:
“In terms of the lights, it started when we played France in Marseille. I don’t know if you’ve been pitch-side or close, with this dome the sound is phenomenal so you can’t hear people.
“Sometimes it’s difficult for us to talk to our support staff. I am sure a lot of teams will have systems, whether it is green or red, what is the extent of the injury, so they can communicate.”
One whether fly-half Manie Libbok missing three kicks is a concern:
“Not if he wins Man of the Match.”
On if he got permission from World Rugby for traffic light system:
“You can use hand signals for communication. I don’t think you need any permission from World Rugby. I was at Munster and the calls were red if it’s a serious injury and you must consider a substitution, amber is ‘let’s give this guy five or 10 minutes to see if he’s okay’ and green ‘it’s okay’.”
Siya Kolisi, captain
On being one of most important people in South Africa:
“I don’t see myself like that. I want to be a role model for my kids, my brother and sister. If I see myself as a giant it is not going to take me anywhere. Especially around the team, the team is far bigger than the individual.
“Credit to the coaches, whenever my head gets too big, they pop it for me. The players also tell me when I’m getting too big for myself. As a person, you have to be a human being before anything else.
“We come from a nation where you think of ‘we’ before ‘I’. That makes it easy for me to keep grounded.”
On the performance:
“We didn’t start with the intensity that we normally want to bring. The conversations were clear and anything they (coaches) say we already knew as we tell each other the same. We came out for the second half with that kind of energy.”
On the singing of the national anthem:
“We barely hear anyway as we sing so loud, our voices are horrible, but that’s what we hear. All I am thinking about when I’m signing the anthem is what’s the next job, what have I got to do. We got the energy we needed from the anthem.”
One whether fly-half Manie Libbok missing three kicks was a concern:
“This question about missing kicks gets asked a lot, but we play as a team. Sometimes you are not good at one thing on the day, but the way he attacked today and how he took control and how he was a general amongst us. There are other guys who can kick.
“He is not going to be good at everything every single day. We are working as a group.”
Steven Kitshoff, prop
On if they wanted to make a statement in the first scrum of the second half:
“Yeah it was [important], especially after the scrum before half-time. We came out nostrils flaring, making sure we got the upper hand again.”
On whether Scotland surprised them:
“They did, to be honest they fronted up very well defensively. I think they took a few double hits on us and slowed the ball down. Credit to Scotland, we pride ourselves on our physicality and they came out tonight.”
Pieter-Steph du Toit, back row
On stopping Finn Russell:
“It’s something we focused quite a lot on. When he goes into a tackle, he’ll try an offload or keep the ball alive so that is something we focused a lot on.”
Jamie Ritchie, captain and flanker
On Scotland’s frustration:
“Got to give credit to South Africa for putting us under pressure and we just couldn’t execute under that pressure. We pride ourselves on taking those opportunities, so we’ve got to be better.”
On any positives that Scotland can take from the defeat:
“I’m really proud of how we fronted up physically, I thought our defence was excellent today. There’s loads to play for and we’ve got a bye week now, so we’ve just got to dust ourselves off. I said to the guys ‘All the hard work that we’ve put in hasn’t gone away, we’ve still got loads to play for’.”
Gregor Townsend, head coach
On losing the game in a short second-half period:
“We defended well in the first half and grew into the set-piece and I thought we would have kicked on in the second half, but they won the third quarter hands down. A lot of that was down to their good play but also our inaccuracy.”
On bouncing back:
“You’ve got to come out of this a better team, so it’s one step back before we can go two steps forward. We know we can be better. We didn’t get into the flow of our game, which can happen.”
On having a bye week:
“We’re going to give everybody three days off, a good chance not to think about rugby. Then we’ll have a 10-day preparation for Tonga, which will be tough. We know we’ve got to be much better than we were today.”
Jamie Ritchie, captain and flanker
On Scotland’s performance:
“A little bit mixed. Full credit to South Africa, they put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t execute under pressure.
“There are things in our control that, hopefully, are easily fixed.”
On if South Africa are on a different level defensively:
“I wouldn’t say different level. It’s a different style that we normally face.”
On Scotland’s remaining pool games:
“As a group, we have got three massive games to come for us. We can’t afford to slip up. The pressure is on us now. We have to hit the ground running in two weeks’ time.
“Ireland was always going to be a really important game for us, but all the games are must-win now.”
Gregor Townsend, head coach
On if South Africa’s Jesse Kriel should have been red-carded for the head clash with Jack Dempsey in the first minute:
“I saw it from two screens away. It did look like it was a head-on-head collision and I was expecting the TMO to come in and make the referee aware of that.”
On if the incident was a potential game-changer:
“Who knows? Last night a red card didn’t change the game much in terms of Argentina’s favour, so who knows?”
On if it’s frustrating:
There are still inconsistencies in seeing these things. We are frustrated by that. But we are more frustrated by our own performance.”
On fly-half Finn Russell’s display after getting treatment:
“It did look like he was coming off initially, it seemed a rib injury was going to stop him continuing. But he dug deep and fought really hard. I thought some of his defensive work in the second half was outstanding.
“It just shows how much he cares about his team-mates and playing for Scotland.”
On his thoughts about Scotland’s performance:
“Disappointed, really disappointed. We were slow to get going in the first half. We built into the game and physically we were more than up for the challenge of the way South Africa play.”
On what has to improve to qualify from the pool:
“Accuracy in attack. We only scored three points, that’s unusual for us. Credit to South Africa’s defence but we will have to be much better there.”
Dave Cherry, hooker
On South Africa’s physicality being the difference:
“I don’t think so. Physically, we stood up pretty well, it’s just execution. The breakdown and things like that, it’s not physically are you capable, it’s skillset. It’s a skill at the breakdown. It’s a skill catching under pressure. So that’s it for me, physically I don’t think we were out of all the races.”
Huw Jones, centre
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