Rugby: Ford says Scotland will keep foot on pedal

Aware that victory over the reigning world champions - only the second time Scotland have achieved that feat and backing up the 18-12 downing of England in 2006 - means Scotland are unbeaten in five of their last six outings Ford, nevertheless, insisted there could be no sitting on laurels.

"We'll savour the moment and enjoy it then get back to work.

"We have Samoa at Aberdeen on Saturday and they have really talented players like Seilala Mapasua of London Irish in the centre who is a strong runner and a good ball player

"Samoa are a class act and it certainly won't be any less physical.

"But with the main focus on what we do it is now about taking on what we did and improving what we need to improve.If we want to put a run together we have to be consistent.

"That means competing every time we take the field and last week against New Zealand we didn't turn up.

"We can't afford to beat teams like South Africa one day then take a step back so this Saturday is an extremely important game for us as we try to build going forward" said the Edinburgh star.

The last time (outwith world cups) Scotland had the chance to go for six out of seven matches unbeaten was during the build-up to, and subsequent achievement of, the 1990 Grand Slam.

And few players would be more entitled to enjoy a win based on six penalties and a drop goal from Dan Parks more than Ford who was part of a Lions squad beaten by the Springboks in 2009 and if he came off the bench for the final Test the series was already forfeited by that stage in the tour.

Acknowledging first hand knowledge of the rugby-mad environment from which the Springboks, who had eight of their World Cup final winning squad on duty, are created made him appreciate the moment all the more Ford, understandably, prefers to live in the now.

"It was a really good win especially as we got our reward for some hard work in the aftermath of losing to New Zealand," he said.

"Our defence was a lot sharper and we were a lot more intensive at the breakdown."

Scotland conceded the only try to sub Willem Alberts near the end in what defence coach Graham Steadman described as a "freak" in considering the line-out throw which spawned it had gone astray but tactically they were superior in coming up with ploys in keeping with wet conditions.

"To be honest I think we have a side capable of playing in all weather and rain didn't necessarily help us" said Ford, adding:

"But we knew it wasn't a day for fantastic rugby; rather it was about managing the conditions.

"We only tried to handle the ball when it was on to do so.

"We like an open game and tried to play one the previous week but weren't at the races.

"This time we were a bit more clinical at the breakdowns and followed through with plans to meet South Africa toe-to-toe.

"We talked beforehand about not letting them go at us.

"All around the pitch we refused to let them get a foothold and when they attacked we defended very well and turned over a bit of possession."

With Parks well on the way to a 100 per cent kicking return, Hugo Southwell composure personified at full back, John Barclay chopping down everything that moved and the front row proving rock solid in the scrums after a shaky start, Scotland went in 12-9 ahead.

"We spoke during the interval about how we had started by letting South Africa get into the game for a 6-0 lead," said Ford.

"Emphasis was placed on continuing to pull it together and keeping up the improved discipline.

"One thing in our favour at 0-6 was the fact we didn't panic.

"It was about getting into the right areas of the field and when the penalties came our way we new we could rely on our goal-kicker."

At one stage the stadium announcer greeted another three points with the words "deadly Dan Parks does it again" and few could argue with that assessment. True, none of the kicks were on the edge of the Cardiff player's range but with the wind swirling around the stadium nothing was a formality.

What's more it was a day "deadly Dan" entered the individual record books as his 12th international drop goal but his level on the Scottish all-time list with John Rutherford, albeit from 13 more matches.

While Parks' accuracy was put in perspective by the three misses by the world champions -one apiece for Morne Steyn, Francois Steyn and Patrick Lambie - an abiding memory was the sight of visiting captain and world cup final man-of-the-match Victor Matfield looking increasingly agitated as his side resorted to technical misdemeanours to try to stem the dark blue tide.

Fortunately ref Stuart Dickinson was up to spotting persistent ball-killing in rucks leaving Parks to do the rest. Now coach Andy Robinson faces some real selection headaches in looking to build further momentum for centre Joe Ansbro, a late replacement for the injured Max Evans, showed the calm assurance of a veteran when debuting on the pitch where he'd helped Northampton to a Heineken Cup victory over Edinburgh this season.

Likewise Rory Lawson may have owed his scrum half place, and the captaincy, to the head knock suffered by Mike Blair but the Gloucester ace led from the front throughout to make himself virtually undroppable.

Indeed the only alteration this weekend unless coach Robinson feels some are suffering wear and tear from facing the world No.?1s and No.?2s on successive weekend could be at second row where Scott Macleod retired with rib damage.

With Macleod ruled out Nathan Hines who, along with Nikki Walker and late sub Chris Paterson was completing a double over the Boks, having shared in the 2002 triumph, could continue at second row having moved up from flanker.

Richie Vernon would be on from the start at No 8 again but Al Kellock and Jim Hamilton are both in the frame.

Robinson has a few days to ponder his next move but will certainly want to ensure that unlike 2009 when a famous win over Australia was followed immediately by defeat against Argentina the bandwagon rolls on. Initially, though, Scotland looked every inch the 6-1 outsiders when Morne Steyn landed two penalties inside 12 minutes.

Strung by those setbacks Scotland hit back through Parks to lead 12-6 before Steyn notched his third penalty in 35 minutes.

Soon after Steyn had South Africa level but sustained home pressure saw Scotland surge to 21-12 which was adequate insurance against the only try which came when a line-out throw went straight to Alberts who waded over from five metres for the concluding score.