Scotland player ratings vs South Africa | Nations Championship 2026

Scotland player ratings: Scotland’s hopes of a first ever win over the Springboks in South Africa – and first against the world champions since 2010 – ultimately fell short despite a bravura display in defeat in Pretoria.

The Scots fell 14-0 down inside the opening quarter as the Boks’ early physical barrage yielded tries for Embrose Papier and Evan Roos, but Gregor Townsend’s side remained calm to level the scores by half-time with well-worked tries for Matt Fagerson and Kyle Rowe.

Kyle Steyn and Sione Tuipulotu were both held short and Ewan Ashman held up over the line as the visitors threatened to take the lead before South Africa reasserted themselves with three tries around the hour.

But Townsend’s troops stayed in the fight and tries from Josh Bayliss and Ben White closed the gap to seven points and set up a grandstand finish before Jesse Kriel’s try with three minutes left ultimately secured the Springboks’ 10^th successive victory over Scotland.

Here is how the Scotland players fared:

22m Entries

Avg. Points Scored

5.2

8

Entries

Avg. Points Scored

2.5

11

Entries

15. Kyle Rowe – 8
Missed one high ball early on but a composed operator in the eye of the storm, stepping calmly away from Springboks tacklers. One classy pick-up off his toes and up in support to take Tuipulotu’s offload to score his eighth Test try just before the interval.

14. Kyle Steyn – 5
Scotland aimed a series of high balls for him to chase early on, but couldn’t get any of them back on his own side. Also lost a high ball in defence but at his most effective when coming off his flank and injecting different angles into Scotland’s attack, one surge up the left flank early in the second half ending just short of the line. Couldn’t hold on to Jordan’s cross-kick with the line gaping late on.

13. Rory Hutchinson – 6
Few opportunities in attack to show his wares with the ball in space, but helped create it for others with some deft short and long passes. One loose kick straight back to the Boks, but his partnership with Tuipulotu continues to show promise.

12. Sione Tuipulotu – 9
Right in the thick of the action, leading from the front with five strong carries inside the opening 10 minutes and 14 overall as he caused the Boks’ plenty of problems in defence. Also showed his range of passing to create space for others. Brilliant half-break and offload just before the break put Rowe over for a game-levelling try. Held up just short as Scotland threatened to take the lead in the third quarter and kept knocking at the door right to the end.

11. Jamie Dobie – 6
A little uncertain under the high ball and few opportunities to escape in attack, although came off his wing looking for work and injected pace around the fringes.

10. Finn Russell – 8
Playing his first game in eight weeks after missing Bath’s last three games of the domestic season and Scotland’s stunning win in Argentina a week ago, the fly-half maestro showed few signs of rust. Plenty of pinpoint passing and probing kicks, spun out of two tackles in one half-break and changed direction before offloading to Tuipulotu in build-up to Rowe’s try. Continued to direct operations with aplomb after the interval, launching attacks from deep. Landed four from four kicks at goal.

9. Ben White – 7.5
Outstanding against Argentina, the Toulon scrum-half struggled to assert quite the same authority here but his service remained sharp in a full 80-minute shift, his half-back partnership with Russell a huge point of strength for the Scots. Brilliant finish to spot a gap and stretch out of Porthen’s tackle for his 10^th Test try with 10 minutes left.

1. Pierre Schoeman – 7.5
After a bulldozing try to mark his 50^th cap a week ago, the loosehead was a big presence defensively initially, getting through eight tackles in the first quarter alone and 13 in all in his 68 minutes on the pitch. His carrying game also came to the fore as Scotland recovered from the early barrage. Had his hands full with Wilco Louw at scrum-time, and conceded a penalty against replacement Porthen, but refused to buckle.

2. Ewan Ashman – 7
Saw plenty of the ball in wide areas, particularly down the left flank where he continually popped up to good effect. Penalised early on for crawling after barrelling through a tackle, and a frustrating knock-on close to the line ended a promising first-half attack. Also held up over the line as Scotland failed to finish off a maul. One lineout picked off by Du Toit, but otherwise a solid outing at set-piece.

3. Zander Fagerson – 7
Restored to the starting XV following a huge contribution when replacing the stricken Elliot Millar Mills against the Pumas, Scotland’s most capped prop was exposed defensively by the electric Papier for the scrum-half’s try, but recovered swiftly to put in his usual energetic shift. Helped win the scrum penalty on South Africa’s put-in that allowed brother Matt to score.

4. Gregor Brown – 6.5

Taking over from the veteran Jonny Gray in the second row, the Aberdonian was a willing carrier and injected dynamism at times. Smashed back in one tackle but a big carry in the build-up to Matt Fagerson’s try and did his work in the tight exchanges, weighing in with 11 tackles. Replaced by Williamson just after the hour.

5. Scott Cummings – 8.5

A big shift in the boiler house from the Glasgow lock. Won an early penalty on the floor, a safe source of lineout ball and got through plenty of hard yards with ball in hand.  Copped one on the nose from Ben-Jason Dixon’s head at a ruck, reducing the Boks to 14 men for 10 minutes. Brilliant bullocking break between two Boks defenders laid on a try for Bayliss on a plate, and another half-break put Bradbury through a gap.

6. Matt Fagerson – 7
Slipped off a couple of first-half tackles but otherwise put in a monster shift around the field, with seven tackles in the first quarter alone and 15 overall. Took a high ball under pressure, showed nifty footwork and soft hands in attack. Excellent speed of thought to spot a gap and barge past Venter for his sixth Test try before giving way to Bradbury just before the hour.

7. Rory Darge – 5.5
Plenty of smart carries around the fringes which made important yards and put in his fair share of tackles as always but failed to reappear for the second half, with Bayliss taking over in the back row.

8. Jack Dempsey – 8
A huge intervention to hold up South Africa over the line was one example of his defensive resolve, making 14 tackles overall. Also made metres around the fringes when given the opportunity and a reliable source of lineout ball at the front. One knock-on close to the Boks’ line from a Bayliss pass was unfortunate, but that apart, little to reproach himself about.

Replacements: 8
Josh Bayliss came on for the second half and injected pace and dynamism, finishing off a Cummings break to launch the late fightback.  Gregor Hiddleston, with a bullocking run to create the platform for White’s try, Magnus Bradbury and Max Williamson all weighed in with line-breaks in a pulsating final quarter. Tom Jordan almost created a try with a superb cross-kick, but couldn’t stop Kriel from powering away for the clinching score. Rory Sutherland also enjoyed a couple of rumbles after coming on for his 50th cap.