Scotland v South Africa predictions and rugby union tips: Boks to leave a Marx

Free rugby union tips, best bets and analysis for Saturday's autumn international between Scotland and South Africa at Murrayfield.

Where to watch

Amazon Prime, 1pm Saturday

Best bet

South Africa to win by one to 12 points
1pt 7-4 Betfair

Malcolm Marx last tryscorer
1pt 14-1 each-way Betfair

Match preview

Scotland passed their first serious test of the autumn when edging out Australia but face becoming the latest victim of South Africa’s all-conquering pack at Murrayfield.

The Scots are now hammering at the door of world rugby’s elite after an excellent 2021 continued with a hard-fought 15-13 win over the Wallabies last Sunday, their fifth win in seven Test matches.

No international side has been better defensively than Gregor Townsend’s side this year, conceding 17.5 points per game on average, but the Springboks not far behind at 18.2 points per game.

While Scotland will be keen to exploit the mercurial talents of Finn Russell and the positivity of skipper Stuart Hogg in the backline, with two top defences on show a tactical arm-wrestle appears more likely.

That is the way South Africa will hope the game goes with the intention of leaning on their top-class pack once more. Jacques Nienaber has stuck with the same forward unit and front row replacements who ground down Wales in Cardiff and they should fancy their chances of overpowering a Scotland pack missing Jonny Gray.

It could be a slow and painful demise for the Scots as the world champions slowly wear them down before bringing on the likes of Malcolm Marx to deliver a killer blow.

Marx is one of only eight players from a tier-one nation to score in at least four games this year and is worth a small wager to put the finishing touches on a narrow South Africa win with only one of Scotland's last seven defeats being by a double-digit margin.

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