Scotland Women 17 - 41 South Africa Women: Parker baffled by scoreline after team's brave display

THERE were mixed emotions for Scotland women's coach Gary Parker after seeing his side lose the second of their World Cup warm up matches against South Africa at Lasswade.

Parker had challenged his players to atone for their shortcomings in the first meeting of the sides. And for lengthy spells they did so in some style, displaying the commitment and cohesion that had been lacking. However, a late surge by the powerful Springboks scuppered hopes of a morale-boosting win.

"It's strange that the score in the second game is a bigger margin because I thought we played well," said Parker. "We've got to look at the first 50 minutes and say that when we play like that we are a decent side."

The character of the Scots was evident from the outset, and the ferocity of their defensive effort clearly rattled the visitors who offended repeatedly and ended the first half with a player in the sin bin. Parker's side made the breakthrough in three minutes when Nicola Halfpenny landed a penalty, and they led 14-7 at the break after responding to a converted try by Zenay Jordaan for the Springboks with two more penalties from Halfpenny, coming either side of a try by Heather Lockhart which was the product of a powerful drive from a lineout.

The gap grew when Halfpenny was on target with another penalty but the visitors responded in kind through Zandile Nojoko, whose kick sparked a flurry of attacks that yielded tries for Lorinda Brown and Yolanda Meiring, the latter converted by Nojoko to propel South Africa into a lead they would not surrender.

Scorers – Scotland: Try: Lockhart. Pens: Halfpenny (4)

South Africa: Tries: Jordaan (2), Brown (2), Meiring, Momoti. Cons: Nojoko (4). Pen: Nojoko

Scotland Women:

N Halfpenny; C Hawthorn, L Millard, V Fitzpatrick (S Newton 60), K Green; E Kerr, L Dalgliesh (S Gill 40); H Lockhart (R Murphy 64), S Walker (A MacDonald 70), B Dickens, G McCord, L Moffat, S Brown (K Holdsworth 74) , R Slaven, D Kennedy (L Reid 53)

South Africa Women:

Z Nojoko; Y Meiring (C Kayser 77) Brown, D Scheepers, P Gadu; Z Jordaan (A Barrett 73), S Booysen (F PLaatjie 77); N Botha, D Sidumba (N Poswa 73), C Kula (P Jonga 77), N Booi, D Mavumengwana (O Moaga 75), N Faleni (L Momoti 66), M Williams, N Siyolo

Referee: C Daniels (RFU)