World Cup 2023: A history of Springbok dominance against Scotland

The Springboks and Scotland will renew their one-sided rivalry when they meet in their opening Rugby World Cup game at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on Sunday.

The Springboks have been overly dominant in their clashes over the years, dating back to 1906.

The teams have faced off in 28 matches, with the Boks winning 23 times and the Scots only on five occasions.

Before the Boks were excluded from international sport, the teams met eight times, between 1906 and 1969.

The Springboks came out on top in five of those meetings while Scotland got the better of them three times.

Fine margins separated the teams in those days, with the biggest win the Boks’ 44-0 hammering of Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in 1951.

SA’s return to international sport

Following South Africa’s return to international sport in the early 1990s, the two nations were formally able to renew their rivalry.

Their first game post-Apartheid was in 1994 at Murrayfield when the Boks won 34-10. The win would kick-start the Boks’ dominance over the Scots: In 12 matches between the teams from 1994 to 2008, South Africa won on 11 occasions, with Scotland getting up just the once, 21-6 at Murrayfield, in 2002.

A decade of unprecedented dominance would then follow; from 2010 to 2021 the two tier one nations played eight Tests with the Boks winning seven. Scotland’s last victory over the Springboks was in 2010 when they won 21-17.

World Cup

Sunday’s encounter will be the third time the Springboks and Scotland play each other in a World Cup match.

The first meeting was in the 1999 World Cup when the Springboks won 46-29 courtesy of tries by Ollie le Roux, Deon Kayser, Joost van der Westhuizen, Robbie Fleck, Andre Venter and Brendan Venter, with Jannie de Beer kicking 16 points.

The second World Cup match was during the 2015 tournament hosted in England. The Springboks needed a win to ensure their progression to the knockout stages, so they fielded a strong team that saw them get a 34-16 victory.

History will be on the side of Jacques Nienaber’s Springboks come Sunday and they will hope to get a win to set them on their way to defending the title they won in Japan four years ago.

Scotland meanwhile have had a good buildup to the tournament and will back themselves to get out of a tough pool, that also includes Ireland, Tonga and Romania, but beating the Boks on neutral ground won’t be easy.