{"id":545095,"date":"2026-07-11T22:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/545095\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T22:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:44:13","slug":"nations-championship-round-up-wasteful-scotland-left-to-rue-missed-chances-in-south-africa-defeat-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/545095\/","title":{"rendered":"Nations Championship round-up: Wasteful Scotland left to rue missed chances in South Africa defeat \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa<\/a> scored six tries \u200cand held their nerve against a Scottish<\/a> onslaught to claim a 42-28 victory in their Nations Championship clash in Pretoria on Saturday, with the \u200bvisitors left to rue several missed opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Springboks made 10 changes to the team that had defeated England the week before and, with a relatively inexperienced side, were there for the taking.<\/p>\n

But a wasteful Scotland could not capitalise and remain winless in South Africa after eight attempts.<\/p>\n

It \u200bwill be hugely frustrating for coach Gregor Townsend, whose side were on top for large parts of the contest but were let down by \u2060errors in crucial moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a little bit gutted to be honest,\u201d Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu said. \u201cThey [South Africa] \u200ccame \u200cout \u200breally hot but we were able to battle back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the period after halftime hurt us. We had a lot of possession in their 22 and didn\u2019t capitalise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am \u2060very disappointed at the moment but also proud \u200bof the group. We played a positive brand of rugby \u200bbut it wasn\u2019t good enough today.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Africa made it a full haul of 10 points from their opening two games \u200cand will be delighted with the victory \u200bhaving rested so many of their regulars.<\/p>\n

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus took charge of a team-record 55th international fixture.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll credit \u2060to Scotland, they came out and played unbelievably \u2060well. But I am \u200bproud of the guys, we stuck to our systems and finished well at the end,\u201d stand-in Springbok captain Pieter-Steph du Toit said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system is so well prepared in this team, each player comes into the side and knows exactly what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made some mistakes and they saw some weaknesses in our defence. We need to improve on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the score level at 14-14 at halftime, South Africa lost replacement lock Ben-Jason Dixon to a yellow card for head contact at the ruck early in the \u200csecond period, but Scotland did \u2060not manage a point in that period.<\/p>\n

It took the Springboks almost 20 minutes to get into the visitors\u2019 22 in the second half and when they did, replacement loose forward Elrigh Louw crossed \u200cto score.<\/p>\n

That signalled a momentum shift in the match and centre Damien Willemse and replacement prop Zac Porthen crossed for tries to open up \u200ba 21-point lead.<\/p>\n

But the visitors gave themselves hope when Josh Bayliss ran in \u200bunopposed under the posts and scrumhalf Ben White crossed shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n

Centre Jesse Kriel sealed Scotland\u2019s fate when he collected outhalf Handre Pollard\u2019s grubber kick to score a sixth try.<\/p>\n

\"AaronAaron Grandidier-Nkanang is tackled by Australia\u2019s Harry Wilson. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang scored a brace of tries on test debut as France<\/a> came from behind \u200cto crush Australia<\/a> 42-26 in their Nations Championship<\/a> match in Brisbane on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Among eight changes to France\u2019s starting 15, Olympic sevens gold medallist Grandidier-Nkanang touched down in both \u200bhalves to help Les Bleus rebound from their 34-32 loss to New Zealand last week with a bonus-point victory.<\/p>\n

The Six Nations champions trailed 21-12 at half-time at Suncorp Stadium after two early tries from Wallabies flanker Fraser McReight, but they rallied superbly, scoring 30 unanswered points in a four-try burst to dismantle the hosts.<\/p>\n

\"\"Reaction: Ireland run in five tries as they beat Japan<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a \u200bvery, very tough first half,\u201d said outhalf Romain Ntamack. \u201cWe knew we had to keep pushing, and we\u2019re really happy about that second half.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Zealand-born lock Emmanuel Meafou crashed over in the third minute to open the scoring for the French but Australia hit back almost immediately with a try \u2060to hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.<\/p>\n

Grandidier-Nkanang nudged France ahead with his \u200bfirst try in the 18th minute but the match turned again \u200bwhen Meafou was given a yellow card for a high tackle on Rob Valetini.<\/p>\n

McReight burrowed over the line to snatch the lead back for \u200cthe Wallabies and grabbed a second five-pointer from the \u200bback of a maul after a well-executed lineout drive before the interval.<\/p>\n

Maxime Lucu trimmed the lead to six points with a long-range \u2060penalty after the break, and from there France were \u2060unstoppable.<\/p>\n

Yoram Moefana made a terrific line-break \u200bbefore being brought down a metre from the line.<\/p>\n

Lucu shifted the ball wide to fullback Matthieu Jalibert who chipped over to the left corner where Grandidier-Nkanang collected the ball off the bounce and planted it over the line.<\/p>\n

With Wallabies fullback Tom Wright given a yellow card for not rolling away from a ruck near the try-line, France stormed ahead with a showcase of pace, power and precision.<\/p>\n

Ntamack danced through defenders Ryan Lonergan and James Slipper to cross at the left corner in the 53rd minute before lock Florian Verhaeghe dived under the posts.<\/p>\n

With Australia\u2019s defence tiring, Kalvin Gourgues made another line-break on the right \u200cflank, setting up winger Theo Attissogbe \u2060for another try seven minutes from time.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Williams grabbed a late try to improve the scoreboard for the Wallabies but it was scant consolation for the Lang Park crowd little more than a year out from Australia hosting the \u200cWorld Cup.<\/p>\n

Schmidt\u2019s tenure, which began with a winless European tour to close 2025, is ending on a sour note, with Italy his final match before Les Kiss takes \u200bover.<\/p>\n

Forced to play debutant Declan Meredith as starting outhalf after injuries to Carter Gordon and Ben \u200bDonaldson, ashen-faced Schmidt said Australia owed fans a better effort in second halves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t afford to fall away in the back half of games,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will be something we will certainly target next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WillWill Jordan of the New Zealand All Blacks smiles as he runs in for a try during the Nations Championship against Italy. Photograph: Phil Walter\/Getty <\/p>\n

Will Jordan scored a record 50th try for New \u200cZealand in a hat-trick as the All Blacks thrashed Italy 47-17 in the Nations Championship.<\/p>\n

The prolific outside back \u200btouched down once in the first half and twice in three minutes after half-time at Wellington Regional Stadium to eclipse Doug Howlett\u2019s record against the outclassed Italians.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hugely humbling, I guess, as a winger on the end of the chain sometimes,\u201d said 28-year-old \u200bJordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a part of some great teams over the last seven years and in turn I hope I\u2019ve inspired a \u2060few kids to practise their chip-and-chase in the backyard and dream big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deployed on the right wing \u200crather \u200cthan \u200bfullback under new coach Dave Rennie, Jordan has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season.<\/p>\n

He scored a double against France in the 34-32 win in the \u2060Nations Championship opener in Christchurch last week.<\/p>\n

Rennie \u200bnow has back-to-back wins in his first matches in \u200bcharge but the Italians have started the Nations Championship with a 0-2 record, after being beaten 27-10 by \u200cJapan last week.<\/p>\n

The visitors\u2019 cause was not \u200bhelped on Saturday by a dismissal for Niccolo Cannone for headbutting Cameron Roigard at a ruck in \u2060the 52nd minute.<\/p>\n

The referee issued a yellow \u2060card on-field but it \u200bwas upgraded to red by the Television Match Official, leaving Italy undermanned while 26-10 down.<\/p>\n

Loose forward Anton Segner became the first German-born All Black when he took the field in the second half to the delight of his parents who travelled from Frankfurt for his Test debut.<\/p>\n

Italy started brightly and opened the scoring with a try to Tommaso Menoncello in the second minute but did not cross again until Leonardo Marin found space on the right in the \u200c58th minute.<\/p>\n

In between, the All \u2060Blacks set up Jordan for a memorable night.<\/p>\n

A Jordie Barrett grubber kick behind the Italian line found Leroy Carter who dished off to Jordan for his first try on the \u200chalf-hour mark.<\/p>\n

Barrett also had assists in Jordan\u2019s other tries, the last of them in the 54th minute \u2013 triggering a standing ovation \u200bfrom the crowd as he took sole ownership of the record.<\/p>\n

Sam Darry \u200band Roigard crossed for the hosts early in each half, while Tupou Vaa\u2019i barged over for their seventh try after the final siren.<\/p>\n

\"England’sEngland\u2019s Henry Pollock celebrates after scoring a try against Fiji. Photograph: Bruce Rollinson\/PA <\/p>\n

Second half substitute Henry Pollock scored a hat-trick as England ran in 11 tries in a 73-8 thrashing of Fiji in \u200btheir Nations Championship clash on Saturday, ending a run of five successive Test defeats.<\/p>\n

The result at the Hill Dickinson Stadium followed England\u2019s heavy defeat by South Africa in their opening Nations Championship game and a disappointing Six Nations campaign.<\/p>\n

England were 35-3 ahead at \u200bhalf-time and took advantage of Fiji being reduced to 14 men for the second half after scrumhalf Simione Kuruvoli was sent off \u2060for kicking out at England prop Ellis Genge and striking him in the chest. England\u2019s first-half \u200ctry \u200cscorers \u200bwere Marcus Smith, captain Jamie George, Guy Pepper, Benhard Janse van Rensburg and Seb Atkinson. Pollock (3), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade and Noah Caluori added second-half tries while \u2060Fin Smith, who had a commanding game \u200bat outhalf, kicked nine conversions.<\/p>\n

Fiji\u2019s score came from Tevita \u200bIkanivere\u2019s push-over try and a penalty kicked by Caleb Muntz.<\/p>\n

England last won a Test when they beat Wales \u200cearly in the Six Nations and needed \u200ba statement victory, doing so in style with their biggest win over Fiji and were helped by \u2060the high penalty count against the islanders.<\/p>\n

Fiji \u2060ceded home advantage for \u200bthe fixture, as they did last weekend against Wales and will do next Saturday against Scotland due to financial considerations, and will have swelled their union\u2019s coffers with a crowd of more than 50,000, but it was England who were on the money from the start of the first rugby international held at the new Everton ground.<\/p>\n

Marcus Smith\u2019s opening try had an element of good fortune as Finn Smith\u2019s kick out wide to Tommy Freeman bounced over the winger\u2019s head but \u200chit the corner flag, \u2060bouncing back into play, and it was quick thinking from the England fullback that secured a sixth-minute lead.<\/p>\n

They never looked back after that, with debutant Janse van Rensburg scoring with his \u200cfirst touch after briefly coming on as an HIA (head injury assessment) replacement for Slade in the first half. After the break, \u200bteenage winger Caluori marked his first test with a flying dive for \u200ba try, while Pollock\u2019s impressive turn of pace outsprinted the Fijians as he came on and stole the second-half show with an impressive hat-trick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Africa scored six tries \u200cand held their nerve against a Scottish onslaught to claim a 42-28 victory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1451,1452,61,60,86133,75784,112,1450,53328],"class_list":["post-545095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-blacks","tag-france-rugby","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nations-championship","tag-scotland-rugby","tag-sports","tag-springboks","tag-wallabies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}