Best Boks v Scotland: Ironman Etzebeth Leads From The Front

Eben Etzebeth led from the front as the Springboks kicked off their end-of-year tour with a 32-15 win over a spirited Scotland side at Murrayfield on Sunday, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

The men in Green and Gold made several elementary mistakes but scored three unanswered tries to lead 19-9 at halftime, with the hosts having shown good fight after being down a man for 20 minutes following a red card to Scott Cummings for what was deemed a croc roll.

The game Scots reduced the deficit to 19-15 with 20 minutes to go, however, the back-to-back World Cup winners – with their experience, quality off the bench, dominant scrum and ability to scramble in defence when double try-scorer Makazole Mapimpi was in the sin bin – closed out the match like the champion side they are.

Ultimately, the visitors outscored the hosts by four tries to none to seal a victory that’ll see them return to the summit of the world rankings.

Our top three Springbok standouts were:

Eben Etzebeth

In a game in which the Boks didn’t have it all their own way for the most part, Etzebeth was the man who provided the grit from start to finish.

Captaining his country for the 14th time, the colossal lock was the glue that kept his team together in an ironman effort that earned him the Man of the Match award.

The most-capped Bok of all time was a prominent ball carrier, making a joint-team-high 12 hit-ups, and big in defence, leading by example such as when he dragged Duane van der Merwe into touch and he made a vital tackle on the South African-born winger in the 55th minute.

His gas tank is often underappreciated, thus, this was the type of all-action performance that highlighted his world-class conditioning. He also won a lineout on Scotland’s throw to immediately make up for conceding a penalty for a bit of argy-bargy.

Andre Esterhuizen

An 18-wheeler with a V8 engine, Esterhuizen was a powerhouse in midfield that got the Boks on the front foot time and time again. Poor Ben White found himself in Esterhuizen’s lane on one occasion and was duly run over. 

For a variety of reasons, the hulking centre hasn’t had a Test performance to hang his hat on for a while. This was it as he delivered strongly on both sides of the ball, adding soft touches to his hard carries and standing up well in defence.

Makazole Mapimpi

An experienced assassin, Mapimpi showed he still has plenty more to give with his two-try effort.

A classy finisher, his symbiosis with Willie le Roux, in particular, is something special and saw him top his first try with his second, while he made three clean breaks and largely nullified Blair Kinghorn.

There are a number of young, hungry wingers nipping at his heels, but with performances like this, the 34-year-old will hang around for a while yet. His yellow card for cynical offside was a pity, but the Boks managed the 10-minute period with aplomb. 

Makazole Mapimpi goes over in the corner 🤟

Inch-perfect from the boot of Handre Pollard, the Springboks take an early lead at Murrayfield.

📺 Stream #AutumnNationsSeries on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNho4A4 pic.twitter.com/XIpbJhTL8L

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) November 10, 2024

👏 Mapimpi scores again!

🇿🇦 Incredible skills from the @Springboks, the kick-pass was perfection!#SCOvRSA | #AutumnNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/lWftNBkYTO

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 10, 2024