Scotland rugby head coach Gregor Townsend has accused South Africa’s Ben-Jason Dixon of throwing a “head-butt” that escaped with only a yellow card, after Scotland’s 42-28 Nations Championship defeat to the Springboks in Pretoria.
According to The Scotsman, Townsend said he was left with “a mixture of frustration and pride” once the dust settled on a breathless Loftus Versfeld epic, and was disappointed that referee Pierre Brousset treated a collision moments into the second half as worth only ten minutes in the sin bin.
Scott Cummings Left Reeling As Springboks Replacement Escapes Red
Replacement forward Dixon caught Scotland lock Scott Cummings in what Townsend called “a head-on-head collision” early in the third quarter. “I heard that it was deemed to be a glancing blow, so I was obviously disappointed that a head-butt, which is what it looked like from our case, was viewed that way,” the Scotland coach said.
Scotland had matched the world champions for long spells, level at 14-14 at the break through tries from Matt Fagerson and Kyle Rowe, before a costly ten-minute spell let South Africa surge 35-14 clear. Scores from Josh Bayliss and Ben White cut the gap back to seven points, only for Jesse Kriel to seal it with South Africa’s sixth try in the 77th minute.
The result follows Rassie Erasmus’s record-breaking night in charge of the Springboks, and comes as Scotland were confirmed to have slipped behind England in the world rankings as a direct result of the loss. Townsend’s side now turn to a Murrayfield finale against Fiji next Saturday, knowing that eliminating Sunday’s “sloppy” spells would have been enough to win in Pretoria.
