Scotland a 'tough challenge' at Murrayfield, says Rassie

Cape Town - Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is under no illusions that Scotland will be a tough nut to crack on Saturday when the teams meet at Murrayfield.

Scotland have only lost once in their last nine home matches, and that was to the All Blacks last year. 

But it's not just over the last year that Scotland have been impressive at home.

Since February 2016, they have played 14 matches at home and they have won 11 of them for a win percentage of 78.5 percent.

Only one of those matches was not played at Murrayfield when Scotland beat Georgia 43-16 in Kilmarnock. 

Erasmus expects a close-fought affair on Saturday with Scotland motivated by the passionate Murrayfield crowd.

"Scotland is a well-coached side, they are difficult to break down and they will present us with a very tough challenge at Murrayfield," said Erasmus.

"The matches in the northern hemisphere are all closely fought encounters, with the set-piece battle key, and it's important to grab the big moments and finish your opportunities."

The last time Scotland hosted the Boks at Murrayfield was back in 2013 when Heyneke Meyer's men secured a comfortable 28-0 win.  

Saturday's match kicks-off at 19:20 (SA time). 

Teams:

Scotland

15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Sam Skinner 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid

Substitutes: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Josh Strauss, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Ali Price, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris.

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Cheslin Kolbe