Scotland 10-14 South Africa

Nov 16 2008 David Kelso Reports

SCOTLAND face a World Cup nightmare after blowing a great chance to beat the holders.

Frank Hadden's men needed to beat South Africa at Murrayfield to safeguard their place among the elite top eight sides on the planet.

It looked so good for the Scots as they stormed into a 10-0 interval lead but the Springboks bounced back to edge the honours with a fine display.

As a result the Scots will not be among the main seeds in next month's draw for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand and will be pitched into a group with two of the game's giants.

That means Hadden's troops will be up against it as they try to maintain their record of reaching every quarter-final.

Scotland have only themselves to blame after missing a succession of goal kicks. But at least they broke their 14-month try duck on home territory.

The Scots were under instant pressure when their opening clearance kick was charged down.

They were reprieved, however, as three South Africans illegally plunged to the deck at the next ruck.

There was a further let-off for the Scots when World Cup scoring sensation Bryan Habana spilled a pass during the next raid.

The Springboks were forced to rejig their front row as hooker Bismarck du Plessis hobbled off with hamstring trouble.

Skipper John Smit moved to No2, while his tighthead slot was filled by Brian Mujati.

Scotland also had to reshuffle as Chris Paterson and Phil Godman were replaced by Hugo Southwell and Dan Parks.

Having weathered the early storm the Scots were looking more of a threat and had the chance to break the deadlock when Schalk Burger floored Ross Ford with a dangerous tackle.

But the anticipation of the home crowd turned to dismay as they watched Parks' effort screw past the near post.

Parks was immediately back in the spotlight with a penalty from a wider angle but again hooked it off course.

A superb Conrad Jantjes chip set up the next Springbok attack from which they had the chance to go ahead. But Ruan Pienaar suffered the same way as Parks to keep the scoresheet blank.

At the other end Rory Lamont teased the Bok back ranks with a hanging kick in the danger zone but Jantjes rose to pull off a great catch.

Seconds later Scotland earned another penalty and it was thirdtime lucky as the patched-up Godman slotted it between the sticks.

Having been under the cosh for a long spell South Africa returned to attack mode with a charge across halfway by Jean de Villiers.

But the momentum was lost when they gave away their umpteenth penalty for ruck offences.

Then came the moment the Murrayfield faithful had been waiting so long for.

A darting run by Godman on the brink of half time set up a series of rucks close to the Bok line and the patient approach paid off when Nathan Hines hurled himself over.

Godman added the conversion to pave the way for a tense second half.

South Africa came back out with all guns blazing and only a last-ditch tackle by Southwell on de Villiers stopped them scoring in the corner.

They kept pressing and the gap was narrowed when Pienaar clipped over a pointblank range penalty for offside.

He repeated the dose in the 55th minute to pile more pressure on the hosts who were beginning to feel the pace.

And the tide turned within seconds as sub winger Jaques Fourie grabbed an excellent try following a slick handling move to edge his side in front.

The tension level rose when Godman squandered a penalty bid at the other end - and Pienaar quickly completed his treble.

Even worse was to come for Godman as he bungled another simple kick just when it looked as if Scotland had found a second wind.

Scorers: Scotland - Try: Hines. Pen: Godman. Con: Godman.

South Africa - Try: Fourie. Pen: Pienaar 3.