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Scotland served up one of their best performances in the Frank Hadden reign, yet were berating themselves on Saturday night after the Springboks had stolen a victory that looked unlikely for long periods.
“Gutted,” summed up the view of the Scotland head coach after he had watched his team take a 10-0 lead into the interval only to finish beaten by a Springbok team who looked far from the robust outfit that lifted the World Cup. The only aspect of their game that remains intact is that magnificent and stubborn defence.
“The game was there for the taking,” Hadden said. “The two disappointing aspects were after half-time, when we gave away five penalties in succession and then in the last 10 minutes, when we had real opportunity.”
Scotland were let down by ill-luck, the lack of a back-up kicker for the injured Chris Paterson, and the absence of composure at the end when the Murrayfield crowd roared on their team as captain Mike Blair led by example.
One of Blair’s wriggling runs had paved the way for Nathan Hines’ try two minutes from the interval – the first by Scotland at Murrayfield since last year’s World Cup pool games.
Both teams were shaking their heads at the refereeing of David Pearson, the English official, who officiated by giving bursts of penalties to each team. “We don’t know what you exactly want,” Blair said midway through the second half after another disputed call at the breakdown.
His confusion followed the anxiety of John Smit, the Springbok captain, who was left shaking his head following the first 40 minutes when Scotland gained eight penalties or free kicks to three.
Scotland lost their composure and the ear of referee Pearson in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. For the Springboks, the change in momentum was enough to turn that 10-0 deficit into a 14-10 lead through three penalty goals by Ruan Pienaar and a try from substitute wing Jaque Fourie.
Fourie had appeared 15 minutes into the second half to replace the lacklustre Bryan Habana.
It was a timely switch because Fourie produced the burst of gas that has eluded Habana since the World Cup. The Springboks had strung together a rare coherent move on a disjointed afternoon, finishing with the substitute taking his chance with precision, fending off the tackle of Hugo Southwell to score in the corner.
Southwell had been one of Scotland’s main men, having come on when Paterson went off nursing a suspected fractured cheekbone.
If Southwell could kick goals in the confident manner of his general play then Scotland might have edged a famous victory. Instead, the goal-kicking tee was handed to another substitute in Dan Parks and outside-half Phil Godman.
Parks missed two kicks that were poor efforts, even allowing for a difficult wind.Then to finish the afternoon off, Godman missed a penalty attempt in the final hectic minutes from nearly in front of the posts.
Scotland also had sufficient pressure in the final quarter to win despite the missed goal kicks. The most frustrating moments came when Ally Hogg was penalised under the posts and the opportunity of a
five-metre scrum was wasted by the failure to keep the ball at the base of the scrum.
It left Hadden, for once, failing to see the positive side of a narrow win. So near, yet so far for gallant and brave Scotland.
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Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
Originally Posted by lara93
Scotland looked good, played some of their best rugby in years....
