Koen crafts Springboks' escape

South Africa 29 Scotland 25

Typical Springbok resilience allied to a second-half tidal wave of utter desperation saw the home side squeak home against the plucky Scots, but not even the most one-eyed fan in Durban was deluded into believing their team deserved the spoils.

In a finale of incredible drama, wave after wave of Scottish attacks foundered inches short of the Springbok line. There were four minutes of frantic play after the full-time hooter had sounded, but the visitors could not convert penalty after penalty in front of the posts into the try they needed for back-to-back victories over the Springboks, and their first ever win on South African soil.

The match ended with the TV referee adjudging that lock Nathan Hines had lost the ball as he stretched over the line, thus denying the Scots. The Boks were down to 14 men , their captain, Joost van der Westhuizen, having been sin-binned two minutes earlier for killing the ball.

As poor as the Boks were, credit must be given to them for the tenacity with which they fought back to overturn a 25-12 deficit. Perhaps it was the booing that broke out that stung them into action - never before have the Boks been vocally humiliated by their fans.

The crowd made their sentiments clear when the Boks gathered behind their posts 10 minutes into the second half, after the excellent wing Chris Paterson had weaved through for Scotland's third try, a score born in a fine break down the middle of the field by the wing Kenny Logan.

A flurry of penalties by Louis Koen and a clever try in the corner by wing Stefan Terblanche pushed the Boks back into contention, although when Paterson landed two penalties of his own it seemed the Scots had done enough.

But in a moment of drama typical of this afternoon of theatre, the Boks sprung into the lead eight minutes from time, when a Koen penalty bounced off the upright and the ball was spread wide for centre Trevor Halstead to score.

Almost unbelievably the Boks were ahead, and though Scotland mustered every last ounce of strength they could not - quite - regain the lead.

In the first half they had scored two good tries, one by the flanker Jason White and the other by the centre Andy Craig, both engineered by long cut-out passes by fly-half Gregor Townsend that found the South Africans' defence wanting out wide.

In that first half the Boks' pack had dominated the setpieces, but were spectacularly poor in their efforts to do anything with the possession gained. The Scottish forwards improved as the game wore on, perhaps with the realisation that these Boks were emminently beatable.

Nobody had expected this brand-new Springbok combination to set Durban on fire, perhaps, but by the same token nobody could have predicted such a complete and utter shambles from this sad, sorry bunch.

After the horrors of last year's record losses in Europe, the Boks yesterday were supposed to lay the first concrete foundations on which to build a credible World Cup challenge. Instead, the rubble around Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli lies thicker than ever, while Scotland will go to Johannesburg next week with their heads held high.

South Africa 29 Scotland 25
Tries: Terblanche, Halstead Tries: White, Craig, Paterson
Cons: Koen 2 Cons: Paterson 2
Pens: Koen 5 Pens: Paterson 2

Half-time: 6-12 Attendance: 37,528

South Africa: R Loubscher (Sharks); S Terblanche (Sharks), A Snyman (Sharks), T Halstead (Sharks), A Willemse (Lions); L Koen (Lions), Joost van der Westhuizen (Bulls, capt); L Sephaka (Lions), D Coetzee (Bulls), R Bands (Bulls), B Botha (Bulls), V Matfield (Bulls), H Gerber (Western Province), W van Heerden (Lions), P Wannenburg (Bulls). Replacements: R Kempson (Stormers) for Sephaka, 65; C Visagie (Western Province) for Bands, 72; S Boome (Western Province) for Botha, 62; J Smith (Free State Cheetahs) for Wannenburg, 62; Jaco van der Westhuyzen (Bulls) for Loubscher, 72.

Scotland: G Metcalfe (Glasgow); C Paterson (Edinburgh), A Craig (Orrell), A Henderson (Glasgow), K Logan (Wasps); G Townsend (Borders), B Redpath (Sale, capt); G Kerr (Leeds), G Bulloch (Glasgow), B Douglas (Borders), S Murray (Edinburgh), N Hines (Edinburgh), J White (Sale), S Taylor (Edinburgh), A Mower (Newcastle). Replacements: R Russell (Saracens) for Bulloch, 72; G McIlwham (Bordeaux-Bègles) for Kerr, 70; J Petrie (Glasgow) for Mower, 72; M Leslie (Edinburgh) for White, 62; J McLaren (Bordeaux-Bègles) for Henderson, 75.

Referee: J Jutge (France).