Still some way to go then. A brutal second-half display by South Africa left Scotland pondering anew the realities of international rugby. A confident display against Australia six days earlier seemed much further away than that by the end of this. South Africa laid into Scotland from start to finish. It took a while to tell, but the home side steadily unwound as the second half progressed, floundering beneath a barrage of pressure and muscle. South Africa’s set piece remains supreme. They scored a couple of fine tries either side of half-time, Makazole Mapimpi as deadly as ever in claiming both, but the slower-burning virtues of his mates inside were the telling factors. Scotland’s scrum was in trouble throughout, and then their line-out imploded too. Finn Russell missed eight points’ worth of kicks, which would have been most handy had they been secured when offered, and Scotland needed every one of them if they were to make their more quicksilver game tell. They scored two characteristically brilliant tries of their own, both finished by Stuart Hogg, looking at least a match for the first hour or so, but the elemental effort required against these Boks took its toll come the last quarter. “We’re bitterly disappointed,” said captain Hogg, whose brace drew him level with Ian Smith and Tony Stanger at the top of Scotland’s historic try-scoring chart on 24, the same day he became the most capped full-back of any country. “There are boys down there absolutely devastated at the result. That second half was far from where we want to be or need to be.” The expected narrative was quick to unfold, the Springboks taking hold of the ball and carrying it with feeling into the guts of Scotland. Again and again. The first quarter of an hour was brutal. The stats said Scotland’s pack had a slight weight advantage; the reality seemed somewhat different. Eben Etzebeth looks a lot of things – lightweight is not one of them. He and his mates were relentless, but this Scotland team are as tough as carbon fibre. At that point, they did not particularly bend, although South Africa made them creak at scrum time even then. The Scots absorbed the bombardment with seeming confidence. Impressively, it was they who opened the scoring after that quarter-of-an-hour trial by bosh. Improvisation between the ever-imaginative Russell and Duhan van der Merwe had the latter streaking clear to halfway, where South Africa infringed. Russell landed the penalty. His first miss followed a few minutes later, which allowed Elton Jantjies to pull South Africa level with a penalty early in the second quarter, whereupon they finally scored the try their dominance demanded. How ironic that it came from sharp improvisation of their own, Scotland turning the ball over, which was transferred swiftly to Mapimpi. Rufus McLean had given him just an inch too much room down the left. It is all Mapimpi needs. Scotland retook the lead five minutes before half-time with an even better score. Russell played two outrageous kick-passes in the same passage to Van der Merwe in space, which were so flat they went backwards, and Scotland were away. Sam Skinner and Chris Harris joined the off-load party down the left, and Hogg scooped up the loose ball for a 10-8 lead. It was gone within minutes. A high ball by Willie le Roux broke South Africa’s way two minutes into the second half, and the Springboks showed for a second time they need not always play by muscle. Matt Scott showed Damian de Allende the outside, which he took, flipping an offload to that deadly finisher lurking out wide. Mapimpi had his second, converted by Jantjies. South Africa kept coming. Jamie Ritchie was forced to concede two penalties as the Springboks swarmed. Jantjies converted both for a 21-10 lead in seemingly no time. Scotland looked spooked all of a sudden, their offloading frantic rather than deadly. That said, they responded on the hour in some style. A penalty was sent to the corner, and Russell and Scott effected a loop, which gave Van der Merwe half a gap. His pass released Hogg to the corner. Russell missed the conversion, but the Scots were within a score again. Six points was as close as they would get. The final quarter was entirely South Africa’s, turning the screw in such a variety of painful ways, at the scrum, the line-out and the breakdown. Scotland had glimpses with three attacking line-outs. All of them were lost, the Springbok locks laying waste to the home team’s set piece. The penalties followed. Handré Pollard replaced Jantjies, and Francois Steyn came on for Le Roux. Pollard missed his first shot, but he and Steyn sent over three successful kicks in the last quarter to underline South Africa’s supremacy. Reality had tapped the Scots on the shoulder. And it really hurt.