Scotland forward ruled out 'for weeks' and needs surgery with concerns over another ahead of Fiji match

The Glasgow Warriors lock was named on the bench for the match in Pretoria but was withdrawn before kick-off and replaced by his club-mate, Max Williamson.

Scotland lost 42-28 in an enthralling encounter at Loftus Versfeld but did pick up a bonus point for scoring four tries. It means they are third in the Northern Hemisphere table after two rounds of fixtures with a game against Fiji at Murrayfield this Saturday.

Samuel, 23, who played in Scotland’s opening Nations Championship win over Argentina, will miss the Fiji game.

“Alex Samuel will be getting surgery next week when he comes back, so he'll be out for a number of weeks,” said Gregor Townsend, the Scotland coach.

Max Williamson stepped up

“It's really unfortunate for him, he was due to be on the bench. But I have to say, Max Williamson stepped up today, came off the bench, made a big impact, and I felt Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings went really well as a second-row pairing.

“So yeah, disappointing that Alex didn't get the opportunity, and he played well last week, he's had a great season for Glasgow, and he'll definitely be in the mix at Test level when he comes back from that knee injury.”

Scotland also have concerns around vice-captain Rory Darge who suffered a head injury and was replaced by Josh Bayliss after 40 minutes.

“Rory Darge obviously failed in HIA,” added Townsend, who said other members of the squad would be assessed following a gruelling game against the world champions.

A lot of cramp

“There was a lot of cramp with a few guys. Ben White had 80 minutes which is a huge effort, the way we play and what we demand of our scrum-half. And there was others, obviously Jack Dempsey playing 80. But yeah, I don't think we have anything serious [in terms of other injuries].”

South Africa outscored Scotland by six tries to four at Loftus in a gripping match played at altitude. The Boks led 14-0 in the first quarter through tries from Embrose Papier and Evan Roos but the Scots went in level at half-time at 14-14 after Matt Fagerson and Kyle Rowe replied for the visitors.

South Africa replacement Ben-Jason Dixon was shown a yellow card early in the second half for making head contact with Scott Cummings but Scotland couldn’t capitalise, failing to score any points when Dixon was in the bin.

The Springboks grew stronger and scored three tries in 10 minutes to establish what looked like a commanding 35-14 lead, with Elrigh Louw, Damian Willemse and Zach Porthen all crossing. But Scotland again hit back and tries from Bayliss and Ben White brought them to within seven points of their hosts.

However, Jesse Kriel’s try three minutes from time ended Scottish hopes of a first ever win on South African soil.