South Africa Kickstart Rugby World Cup Title Defence With Victory Over Scotland

• South Africa finally broke down a stubborn Scottish defence to win their opening game of the Rugby World Cup
• Scotland trailed 6-3 at the break, but couldn't score any more points in the second half
• Manie Libbok missed clear-cut chances to extend South Africa's lead against the Scottish

South Africa have started their World Cup defence with a hard-fought win over Scotland.

Ranked number two in the world, the defending champions knew they would not have it all their own way against the fifth-ranked side.

The first half showed that there wasn't much to separate the two sides as the Boks led 6-3 at the break.

Manie Libbok scored two penalties for the Boks, but also missed one. The Scottish, who were resolute in defence for the entirety of the first 40 minutes, pulled three points back thanks to a late penalty.

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Football

With Eben Etzebeth going off injured before the end of the half, there were concerns about how South Africa would perform in the second half.

When Libbok missed another penalty early in the second half, those concerns heightened, but Pieter-Steph du Toit calmed those nerves as he crossed over the try line.

Libbok missed the conversion, leaving the Boks 11-3 up.

They didn't have much time to dwell on that miss as Kurt-Lee Arendse scored another try for the Boks, which Faf de Klerk converted. The Boks had a chance to go 18 points clear, but de Klerk missed a penalty attempt.

It didn't prove costly as the defending champions hung on for the win to open their account in France.

Official rankings ahead of Rugby World Cup

The Springboks are looking to defend their Rugby World Cup title in France but will face stiff competition. South Africa go into the tournament as one of the favourites but aren't the number-one ranked side.

With the World Cup tournament starting on September 8 as Les Bleus take on the All Blacks, Sports Brief looks at the top five ranked teams before France 2023 and their rankings at the 2019 edition.