Scotland slip to defeat in their World Cup opener as defending champions South Africa put in a typically ruthless and powerful display in Marseille.
The Scots may point to a potential red card for Jesse Kriel for a dangerous tackle in the opening two minutes that was missed by officials, but they were also undone by errors in key moments, particularly six lineouts going astray while in promising positions.
That never materialised at any point, but in the first half the way the forwards went about taking the game to their opposite numbers was admirable. Defensive pressure forced Scotland back and eventually a turnover yielded ball for Libbok who, having been somewhat wayward off the tee, produced the moment of the match as his no-look kick-pass found Arendse on the wing and he scampered in.
Other than Libbok's moment of brilliance, there was no champagne rugby from South Africa. After a scrappy first 40 they merely doubled down on what makes them so hard to play against. They can consider themselves fortunate that Kriel's tackle on Jack Dempsey, which resulted in a head clash similar to Tom Curry's on Saturday evening, escaped without punishment.
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