Newcastle - The last time Scotland played South Africa they were thumped 55-6 in Port Elizabeth in 2014 in a match which marked the Test debut of Handré Pollard at flyhalf.
His Scottish counterpart was Duncan Weir, who will renew his acquaintance with Pollard this evening after the now first-choice No 10 Finn Russell injured his ankle against the USA last week.
Weir said he was impressed by the brave display by the youthful Pollard. “Handré played really well in his first Test and I gave him my jersey after the game,” the Scottish pivot said.
“He looked really comfortable in the Test match arena (he kicked five conversions and two penalties). He’s a player we need to keep an eye on. They have a youthful but very exciting axis in 10, 12 (Damian de Allende) and 13 (Jesse Kriel). We don’t know too much about them but from what we have seen, they could be very dangerous if they get good front-foot ball from their forwards, especially with very experienced wings outside them in (Bryan) Habana and (JP) Pietersen.”
Habana has scored more Test tries than any other Springbok (60 in 112 Tests) and Pietersen is eighth on the all-time Bok try-scoring list with 21 in 62 Tests, including three last week against Samoa in a timely return to form.
“But you need to look at our recent performances as well,” Weir said. “The first two games (of the World Cup) have been great for us. It shows the fitness that we have within our squad and the impact that the bench has brought.
“Scoring five tries in both second halves is a really good outcome. We’ve been finishing games off really strongly and that will be a huge factor because we know it’s going to be a pretty fast start to the game come Saturday.”
While there has been a steady stream of South African fans arriving in Newcastle, Scotland is just 58 miles to the north and there will be torrent of Scots arriving today by train and car.
“Our fans are happy to travel. Last week against the USA in Leeds it felt like a home game for us, so I think it’s going to be a bit bonkers in St James’ Park with the amount of thistles that are going to be about the place,” Weir said.
“I’ve got nine family members coming down in minibus. And that is just me alone...”
Weekend Argus