Scottish rugby has constructed a formidable team built on international recruits and club success

Scottish rugby, for various reasons, is arguably stronger than ever despite a world ranking of seventh and the clash against the Springboks at Murrayfield on Sunday is a chance to prove how far they’ve come.

From concentrating their player pool into two major clubs – Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh – to dispersing key players such as Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn to other leagues to help spread experience and create pathways back home for youngsters to come through, Scottish rugby is healthy.

Part of the success in recent years has been to recruit young South Africans and Pacific Islanders. Some have Scottish ancestry and others needed to serve a residency period so that they were eligible to play for Scotland. It is paying dividends.

South African-born wings Duhan van der Merwe and Kyle Steyn (who won’t play this weekend), and props Pierre Schoeman and before him WP Nel and Ollie Kebble, are some examples of South African recruits.

Scotland captain Sione Tuipolutu on the attack during the Six Nations Rugby match against Ireland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on 12 March 2023. (Photo: David Rogers / Getty Images)

Current Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu is Australian-born and of both Tongan and Scottish heritage.

His grandmother emigrated from Scotland to Australia as a young woman and married an Italian man. Her Australian-born daughter in turn married a Tongan-born man and Sione is one of their five children. He probably could have played for Italy or Australia as well.

Even centre Huw Jones comes from Welsh stock. He was schooled in England before making giant strides at the Stormers for a few seasons in the dog days of Super Rugby pre-Covid, before opting to play for Scotland through ancestry.

Glasgow’s coach is South African Franco Smith, who was successful with the Cheetahs and spent some time as a Bok assistant coach. He was a classy flyhalf/centre in his day and is one of the keenest students of the game. It shows in the success of his Warriors team.

Edinburgh have also been improving under another South African in Sean Everitt. The former Sharks mentor has found his groove in Scotland.

Bok centre Andre Esterhuizen, who is set to play against Scotland on Sunday, appeared to have a little dig at the foreign player situation at Scotland.

“I would much rather have 18 Tests for the Boks under my belt than 70 for a country I wasn’t born in. People have different opinions about it, but I’m proudly South African. I love our country and the (Springbok) team, and I’m satisfied,” Esterhuizen said this week.

Some bemoan the situation of so many “foreigners” in the Scotland set-up, complaining that it undermines international rugby and national pride.

The alternative viewpoint though, is that if it improves the overall standard of Test rugby, that has to be a good thing for the global game. 

Closer than ever

Scotland might not have beaten the Springboks since 2010, when the Boks were at the end of a poor season marred by inconsistency, but they are closer than ever.

The Glasgow Warriors’ United Rugby Championship (URC) final win at Loftus Versfeld against the Bulls in June was seismic for the Scottish game.

Against a Bulls team peppered liberally with Springboks, Glasgow showed organisation, skill, courage and nous to beat the Bulls after trailing 13-0 at halftime.

Duhan van der Merwe is tackled by three Vodacom Bulls players during the United Rugby Championship match between Bulls and Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on 28 September 2024. (Photo by Gordon Arons / Gallo Images)

It was an inspiring performance by Smith’s team that will almost certainly be referenced in the Scottish camp before Sunday’s clash at Murrayfield.

The teams last met in the opening game of their respective Rugby World Cup 2023 campaigns in a sweltering Marseille last September.

The Boks played well within themselves in the sapping conditions before upping the tempo and ante after halftime to win 18-3.

Scotland held their own for 40 minutes at Stade Velodrome that day, but barring one half-chance late in the first half, they never looked like scoring. The Boks shut down the creative Russell at source and slowly exerted set-piece dominance. It was like a python constricting its unfortunate prey.

Manie Libbok’s no-look kick-pass for Kurt-Lee Arendse to hare on to for one of the best tries of the tournament is what the match is best remembered for. That move epitomised the Bok game in an instant – the ability to switch from comfortable control to scything ruthlessness in an instant.

But this is not Stade Velodrome, or even Loftus Versfeld any more. This is Murrayfield where it will be considerably cooler but mercifully, it seems, it will be dry.

The old stadium in Edinburgh’s western suburbs is generally convivial and friendly compared with venues such as Stade de France and Twickenham, which are much more hostile to Bok advances.

Sense of confidence

But even so, Glasgow’s URC success and the return of two of Scotland’s two global stars – Bath flyhalf Russell and Toulouse fullback Kinghorn – will add to their sense of confidence.

The Boks are naturally confident considering a year in which they have added the Freedom Cup and the Rugby Championship to their growing list of accolades. Yet they are also realistic enough to know they have to hit the reset button on this tour, which also includes Tests against England and Wales.

Bok lock Ruan Nortje, who has emerged as a genuine long-term prospect during a season where coach Rassie Erasmus had five locks injured at once, captained the Bulls when Glasgow won the 2024 URC final.

Springbok lock Ruan Nortje has become an important part of the team in 2024. (Photo: Grant Pitcher / Gallo Images)

He understands the size of the challenge on Sunday when the Boks and Scotland meet.

“The last two or three years they’ve (Glasgow) definitely started playing a whole different game,” Nortje told the media in Edinburgh.

“They started playing a very quick game. We knew what was coming to Loftus and we respected the team. We know coach Franco Smith and we knew what he was going to tell them and how he would get them up for that game.

“The game management could’ve been better from us, but their experience came through at the end of the game. It just shows how Scottish Rugby has grown.

“If you look at a team like Glasgow, the way they’ve grown in the last two or three years, their forward pack is physical and versatile. So we’re expecting an onslaught from them, and we’re going to have to be ready to match that.”

While the URC defeat still stings for Nortje, as is the Bok way, looking back for motivation is not something they do.

“I don’t need stuff like that to motivate me,” said Nortje of the bitter URC final experience.

“It was in the past and was not meant to be. I have reviewed my personal game and what I could have done better. They were better on the day and deserved it. If I get the opportunity to play this weekend I’ll try to prep myself to the best of my ability and play my game to represent my country.” DM