South Africa vs Scotland: international rugby returns to Nelson Mandela Bay

  • 26 June 2014 | By Roy Barford

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium 

Test rugby returns to Nelson Mandela Bay for the first time since 2012, when the Springboks host Scotland at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium at 17h00 on Saturday. The first international rugby match to be played in South Africa took place in Port Elizabeth, back in 1891. This match was played at St George's Park, which still hosts international cricket matches.

The Springboks beat the All Blacks 18-5 in the first Test match played at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, and this is also the last time that the Springboks beat the All Blacks (they have suffered four defeats since). The second and last Test match played at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was the 14-14 draw between South Africa and England in June 2012. 

Last year South Africa beat Scotland 30-17 in Nelspruit and then 28-0 in Edinburgh. Scotland have not beaten the Springboks since 2010, and have never beaten the Springboks in South Africa.

Exciting young flyhalf Handré Pollard will make his Springbok debut, while four uncapped players (Marcel van der Merwe, Stephan Lewies, Tebogo "Oupa" Mohoje and Marnitz Boshoff) are included on the bench.

Below are the teams for Saturday.

Scotland

15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Subs: 16 Kevin Bryce, 17 Moray Low, 18 Euan Murray, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Tyrone Holmes, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Dougie Fife, 23 Peter Murchie.

South Africa

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Marcel Coetzee, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Subs: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Tebogo "Oupa" Mohoje, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Marnitz Boshoff, 23 Zane Kirchner

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