The scoreline may not look that impressive, but an 18-3 win for the Springboks was more tunderlining their dominance in their opening Rugby World Cup match against Scotland, and while it never felt that comfortable, it was a big statement of effect by the defending World Champions.

A deeper delve into the stats surrounding the Boks victory shows that while Scotland tried to go toe to toe with the Boks throughout the game, they were never likely to break open a defensive wall and the Boks were rather comfortable in the end in downing their significant challenge.

To put it into perspective, Scotland now have two weeks before their next match at this world cup, ran France close in two warm-up matches before the World Cup and told all who would listen that they were intent on upsetting the Springboks in the opening game.

The Boks were naturally wary of this threat, and as the fifth best side in the world, Scotland have more than enough firepower to cause the teams above them some palpatations when they match up.

But even with the fire and fury the Bok defence was superb, their attack could have been better but in the end two tries to zero and a 15 point margin is hardly something to scoff at in test rugby.

So let’s dive a bit deeper, look a bit more at the stats and see where the Boks did their damage, and why they can feel more than satisfied at their own performance in the opening game of the defence of their title.

RUNNING METRES

Traditionally rugby statistics can befuddle, but in terms of running metres, there are two easy metrics that tell a story. The first is running metres, which is quite simply the amount of metres that any player from a side runs with the ball.

These are normally a bit skewed as a fullback would run more from the back with a ball given the space in front of them.

But generally a game averages between 200-300 running metres per match, and sometimes less in tight test contests.

The Springboks averaged 535 metres against Scotland, more than double what the Scots ran at them and if you think of breaks by Cheslin Kolbe and Grant Williams for instance, there was more than enough running that didn’t turn into points that could have ballooned the scoreline significantly.

The second stat that deserves more than just a glance is post-contact running metres - which is the amount of metres made from the first attempted tackle, or tackle from a move.

Here the stat is alarming for Scotland. South Africa made more post-contact metres running with the ball - 315 - than Scotland made the entire game when they carried the ball (226).

And while much has been made of the game, other than two linebreaks that threatened the Boks in the middle of the field, the Bok tryline was never breached nor threatened in any significant way.

Their attack gainline success - which measures times the Boks got over the gainline - or past the defensive line - was significant as well - with nearly twice as many gainline success carries - or 51 to Scotland’s 26.

SCOTLAND FRONTED UP ON DEFENCE

While the Springbok defensive system is a bit different to the traditional systems used by other teams, and they use their outside backs to shout out of line to cut off space, the tactic worked pretty well in cutting off the oxygen to the dangerous Scottish backs.

An attacking team would always try and give the ball air to try and get it outside the shooting player, because then there would be extra space to attack, but the Bok scramble has been quite impressive under Jacques Nienaber and despite missing 22 tackles on the day, it never felt as if the Boks were under severe pressure that they may concede a try.

One thing to note on defence though, was how Scotland fronted up on defence. Dominant tackles, when a player tackles an opposition player back or is dominant in the collision, went Scotland’s way.

By contrast the Boks had just three dominant tackles, but mainly because they were doing a lot of attacking, while Scotland had 10. In addition to this Scotland made four turnovers from tackles against the two from the Springboks.

While the Springbok attack and ruck speed was up by a second - a massive difference compared to their World Cup warm-up games, Scotland couldn’t get quick ball - and the Bok defence should be credited here, as Scotland’s ruck speed was 41.5 per cent slower than the summer series with an average of 4.6 seconds per ruck.

In other words, the Boks managed to slow down Scotland’s ball significantly, allowing their defensive line to set and put the Scots under pressure on attack.

INDIVIDUALS

While it is easy to concentrate on the stars, and Manie Libbok walked away with the man of the match award and Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse with the try scoring accolades, there are always a number of individuals who stood out.

And a number of times, those may not catch the eye of the average fan, but their involvement in the game is critical and would be praised internally by the team as a massive part of the reason why the Boks did so well.

So here are a few individuals who, thanks to the stats, stood out and were counted on both sides

SOUTH AFRICA

Damian de Allende – The most carries of anyone on the pitch with 14; carried for 70 metres, including 59 post-contact, also the most of any player. Also beat 6 defenders, more than any other player.

Franco Mostert – Made the most tackles for South Africa and the joint most of anyone along with Jack Dempsey (11), including 1 dominant tackle.

Jasper Wiese – Won 2 of South Africa’s 5 turnovers.

Cheslin Kolbe – Made 2 of South Africa’s 4 linebreaks.

SCOTLAND

Finn Russell – Made the most carries for Scotland with 11, had the 2nd most metres made (37) and the 3rd most post-contact metres (23). Also kicked for 446 metres; South Africa kicked for 616 in total.

Jack Dempsey – Made the most metres for Scotland (49), the 2nd most post-contact (24) just 1 behind

Duhan Van Der Merwe. Made 2 of Scotland’s 4 ofϐloads, made the most tackles (11) without missing any.

Darcy Graham – Made 2 of Scotland’s 3 linebreaks.