'Special place': South Africa heap praise on Scotland and crowd after win as one coach singled out for impact

Both South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Eben Etzebeth heaped praise on Scotland after the Springboks left Murrayfield with a 32-15 triumph.

Makazole Mapimpi bagged two tries, while Thomas du Toit and Jasper Wiese also crossed the whitewash as the tourists vanquished the Scots for the ninth match in a row. However, Erasmus admitted that the scoreboard flattered his team, while he hailed Scotland defence coach Steve Tandy for the work he has done on the team.

He also revelled in South Africa shutting down the hosts’ main creative source Finn Russell, with the Boks replicating the feat at the World Cup last year of not conceding a try to Scotland.

“I know the scoreboard maybe doesn't tell the whole story,” said Erasmus. “But probably we can be very proud of playing against Finn Russell in two games and not giving a try away. I think, you know, that's really hard to do.

Eben Etzebeth brings down Duhan van der Merwe during South Africa's win over Scotland. | SNS Group / SRU

“In general play, they've got a very different tackle technique where they hold you up. And they're very effective. Their defence coach certainly must get a tap on the back for that, because it's very tough to catch a player like that and hold him up.

“They're definitely a very proud team and we really had to work hard to beat them by 17 points, which we all know, like the World Cup, it could have been a very tight game.”

Etzebeth echoed the sentiments of his coach. “I said in the press conference before the game yesterday that we know their quality side,” said the second row. “ When we prepare for Scotland, we prepare like are we going to play New Zealand or Ireland because they're one of the top teams in the world.

“Maybe the scoreboard does flatter us a little bit, but we still got a good performance in. And we always know it’s going to be a bit of a grind. They have quality side and they definitely stood up to us in the general play with their physicality and brought the game to us as well. So, it was a good battle. It was a good test match. Yeah, compliments to them.”

Erasmus - whose team travels to Twickenham to face England next - was also complimentary of the Murrayfield crowd. “It's a really nice type of crowd to play in front of,” he said. “You know, it's the whole vibe that you get here, the atmosphere in here. It's a special place to play.”

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus hailed the Murrayfield crowd. | SNS Group / SRU

The South Africa head coach was quizzed on the controversial decision to upgrade Scott Cummings’ yellow card to a 20-minute red card for a croc-roll early on in the encounter. The Scotland camp believed the decision was harsh. Erasmus kept his cards close to their chest.

“Ah, you know, I don't want to comment on those cards, because sometimes it's so tough with an accident,” Erasmus, who believes his team can play much better than they did in Edinburgh, added. “Luckily it was not a [full] red card. Sometimes I think it's just bad luck, you know. I don't think any player goes out there and does stuff on purpose.

“When they were actually a red card, we didn't score a point. They actually scored more points in that time. That was really frustrating. When they were 14 men and we were 15 and we couldn't score, that frustrated [me] a bit.”