Scotland left Loftus Versfeld with points and pride, but not the result they wanted, after South Africa beat them 42-28 in the Nations Championship on Saturday. The scoreline was pulled wide enough that Scotland's sharpest attacking moments never became a route back into the contest.
That is why the performances of Sione Tuipulotu and Finn Russell matter so much in the wake of the defeat. Tuipulotu played the full 80 minutes and finished with a match-high 72 metres gained from 14 carries, while Russell slotted four conversions and kept Scotland moving in attack for long stretches. Kyle Rowe also made his mark with a first-half try, 54 metres gained, two clean breaks and five defenders beaten, while Matt Fagerson added a late first-half try and Jack Dempsey finished with a joint team-high 15 tackle completions and 44 attacking metres.
For long spells, Scotland had enough individual edge to make South Africa work, but they could not match that with control across the full match. Ben White's try in the dying moments made the margin look more respectable than it felt, because the game had already tilted too far away by then. The gap between Scotland's attacking numbers and the 42 points they conceded is what will linger most from Pretoria.
The broader picture is that this was a player-ratings story after a Nations Championship loss, and several Scotland players did their part even as the team was beaten. Kyle Steyn made strong attacking runs and competed bravely under the high ball, Scott Cummings added 30 metres and worked well at lineout time, and Gregor Brown made 11 tackles, while the changes for Rory Darge, Rory Hutchinson and Jamie Dobie showed the match drifting into a stretch where Scotland were forced to chase rather than shape the contest. South Africa, with Handre Pollard and Pieter-Steph du Toit standing out in the accompanying ratings, had already done enough to keep them behind.
What Scotland take from Pretoria is not a mystery. The attack travelled, but the points against stayed higher, and that leaves the same hard lesson for the next test: individual class can keep a team alive, but it cannot save a defence that allows 42.
