Scotland bloodied and bowed

By the final whistle, Scotland had two players sporting bandages to the head. The claret stuff was pouring through Phil Godman's. It was a close-run thing – tantalisingly close for Scotland – but when it came to the reckoning on the scoreboard the world champions escaped with only a mildly metaphorical bloodying of their noses.

It would have been different had the Scots found the jugular as they went for the kill in the final eight minutes. When Conrad Jantjes, South Africa's full-back, stretched to gather a chip into the right corner by Godman with just seconds remaining, the chance had gone. It was a real Boks-to-the-wall job, but the tourists had got off the hook with just enough of a second-half fightback.

Scotland kept the Springboks scoreless for 40 minutes but three penalties by the outside-half Ruan Pienaar and a try by the replacement wing Jaque Fourie overcame a Nathan Hines try and a Godman conversion and penalty – plus a mountain of heroic endeavour. Frank Hadden's men might have fallen just short of the win they needed to avoid third-class seeding in the 2011 World Cup draw but if they can build on this display that mission in New Zealand might not be a doomed one.

Not that Hadden, Scotland's head coach, was in the mood for consolation. "We'll never have a better chance of beating the world champions," he said. "There was a lack of discipline just after half-time and a lack of composure towards the end. We just didn't close it out."

It might well have been different had Chris Paterson, Scotland's dead-eyed place-kicker, not departed with a suspected fracture of the cheekbone in the 11th minute. With Godman also off the field for treatment, Dan Parks, his temporary replacement at No 10, fluffed two kickable penalties as the Springboks stuttered.

Scotland grew in confidence as the half progressed and they got their reward. Godman nudged them in front with a penalty and then – a minute before the interval – the scrum-half, Mike Blair, broke up the left. Godman followed up and Hines pounced from the back of a ruck. Godman converted for a 10-0 lead at the interval.

A Boklash was inevitable. Three minutes into the second half Jean de Villiers went hell for leather for the left corner and almost got there. There was an anxious wait while the video was scrutinised to see if Ally Hogg had deliberately knocked the ball away when the centre threw it inside to Juan Smith. In fact, De Villiers had been dragged into touch by Hugo Southwell before attempting the pass to the outstanding openside flanker.

The relief proved to be temporary. Pienaar chipped away at Scotland's lead with two penalties and then, with 57 minutes on the clock, the Boks nosed in front. They did so with some snappy handling from a ruck in the shadow of the home posts, culminating in De Villiers fizzing a pass to Fourie, who eluded another noble last-ditch tackle by Southwell to score in the left corner. Fourie had only been on the field for three minutes, a replacement for the anonymous Bryan Habana. It was the new man's 23rd try in 41 Tests for the Boks.

The consolation for Scotland was Pienaar's conversion miss, which left South Africa 11-10 in front. It would have been even better for them had Godman pushed over a penalty from wide on the left. As it was, Pienaar stretched the gap to 14-10 with his third penalty success and then came the big push from the hosts. With six minutes to go Godman missed a sitter of a penalty in front of the posts. Ultimately, Scotland's big chance went begging too.

Scotland: C Paterson (Edinburgh); T Evans (Glasgow), B Cairns, N De Luca (both Edinburgh), R Lamont (Sale); P Godman, M Blair (capt); A Jacobsen, R Ford (all Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), N Hines (Perpignan), J Hamilton (Edinburgh), J White (Sale), A Hogg (Edinburgh), J Barclay (Glasgow). Replacements: H Southwell (Edinburgh) for Paterson, 11; D Parks (Glasgow) for Godman 11-20 & 39-44; S Gray (Northampton) for White, 59; A Dickinson (Gloucester) for Jacobsen, 65; M Mustchin (Edinburgh) for Hines, 75; D Hall (Glasgow) for Ford, 76; R Lawson (Gloucester) for Evans, 78.

South Africa: C Jantjes (Western Province); JP Pietersen (Sharks), A Jacobs (Sharks), J de Villiers (Western Province), B Habana (Blue Bulls); R Pienaar (Sharks), R Januarie (Western Province); T Mtawarira (Sharks), B du Plessis (Sharks), J Smith (Sharks, capt), B Botha (Blue Bulls), V Matfield (Blue Bulls), S Burger (Western Province), P Spies (Blue Bulls), J Smith (Free State). Replacements: B Mujati (Western Province) for Du Plessis, 5); J Fourie (Lions) for Habana, 54; A Bekker (Western Province) for Botha, 61; F Steyn (Sharks) for De Villiers, 66; R Kankowski (Sharks) for Spies, 74; G Steenkamp (Blue Bulls) for Mtawarira, 75; D Rossouw (Blue Bulls) for Burger, 75.

Referee: D Pearson (England).