LIVE SCORING: Springboks v Scotland at Loftus
· The South African
The Springboks’ 2026 Test season got off to the perfect start as they hammered England at Ellis Park last weekend, but a new-look team will face a different challenge against an unpredictable Scotland side on Saturday.
According to reports, the Springboks could also be forced into a late change at Loftus, with Ethan Hooker set to slot in for Canan Moodie, who has apparently picked up an injury.
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Kick off on Saturday is at 17:40.
SPRINGBOKS V SCOTLAND LIVE SCORING
SPRINGBOKS – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Canan Moodie/Ethan Hooker, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Boan Venter.
Subs: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zach Porthen, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Vincent Tshituka, 21 Elrigh Louw, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Quan Horn.
SCOTLAND – 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Subs: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Magnus Bradbury, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Stafford McDowall.
With Scotland having named an experienced matchday squad for the encounter compared to a relatively inexperienced Springbok team on paper, assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said it was an exciting challenge.
“First and foremost, we have belief in these players,” said Stick. “All of them have performed well for their franchises and deserve to be rewarded. They also worked really hard, especially in our conditioning camps in June, and there are youngsters who bring a different energy.
“We always want to build squad depth, so we’re not a team that relies on just one group. It’s a matter of believing in every player in the squad, and when the opportunity presents itself, Rassie is not shy to give players the chance.
“The guys are excited, and I hope we can give the people of Pretoria a good show.”
HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
Played 30, Won 25, Lost 5. Points for: 792, Points against: 339. Tries scored: 96, Tries conceded: 32. Highest score 68, Biggest win 58 points, Average score: 26-11. Win %: 83.3%.
Miscellaneous:
- The Springboks have won nine successive Tests against Scotland since losing 21-17 at Murrayfield in 2010, which marked only their second defeat against the Scots since the game turned professional.
- Pieter-Steph du Toit, who will lead the Boks for second time in as many weeks, requires only four more Test appearances after this match to earn his 100th Test.
- This will mark the first time the Springboks face Scotland in Pretoria. The teams have only met six times in South Africa, with the Boks winning all of those matches.
- This will be Scotland’s fifth Test at Loftus Versfeld though – they played Italy there in a quadrangular series in 2013, as well as three matches at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, including a 48-30 quarter-final defeat against New Zealand.
- This match will mark the first time the Springboks face Scotland in South Africa since 2014, with that match being played in Gqeberha, where the Boks won 55-6 and Handre Pollard made his Test debut.
- The only match the teams have ever played on the Highveld was in Johannesburg in 2003, which the home side won 28-19.
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 445.
- There are 274 caps in the backline, with 171 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 69 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 39, the forwards 21, while the players on the bench average 9.
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