How Pollard redeemed himself
The three-tries-to-one triumph put the Springboks in command of World Cup's Pool B, with one round of matches remaining.
If the Boks beat the United States on Wednesday, they will automatically qualify for the play-offs – leaving Scotland and Japan to battle it out for the other quarterfinal spot in the pool.
The 21-year-old flyhalf, Pollard, was very impressive outside the razor-sharp Fourie du Preez – weighing in with 19 points from his right boot that included his second Test drop-goal.
Having taken a commanding 20-3 lead into the half-time break, after a clinical first half by the Boks, a Greig Laidlaw penalty and an intercept try brought the Scots right back into the game.
The culprit of the stray pass was Pollard.
However, he redeemed himself with a crucial drop-goal minutes later and another crucial penalty 10 minutes later – from just on 50 metres out – to again give the Boks breathing space.
Scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, who captained the team for the first time, was full of [raise for the young flyhalf's composed comeback after his earlier error.
"After the intercept try we were under pressure again," Du Preez said.
"Handré and I thought if we could just get a 10-point gap, just give ourselves a bit of breathing space," he added.
Du Preez revealed that no words were spoken at the time of the drop-goal.
"Nothing was said, it was just a glance," the veteran No.9 said, adding: "I was glad he took it – it is a huge credit to him.
"After he made the pass for the intercept try, he made an unbelievable drop-goal and an unbelievable penalty.
"It says a lot about him as a player.
"He is still young, but it is what you do after those mistakes."
The scrumhalf also spoke about the way in which the Boks bounced back from their opening match loss to Japan – possibly the biggest setback in Springbok history.
"It's been immense pressure," said Du Preez.
"These last two games have been two of the most pressure games I've ever played in my life. Not even the 2007 final was as pressured as these two weeks has been."
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer was also full of praise for his team, but admitted he is facing a few interesting selection posers ahead of the final pool match.
He was particularly pleased with the team's strong performance in the set pieces.
"I thought the youngsters [locks Eben Etzebeth and Lodewyk de Jager] did brilliantly at the line-outs, that was the winning and losing of the game," Meyer said.
"I also think the way Fourie [du Preez ] handled the [players at] No.10, No.12 and No.13 was a real confidence booster ."
The coach spoke of the Boks being 'clinical' in their execution of the game plan.
However, the team selection for United States – with just a four-day turnaround, while the US had a much longer 10-day turnaround than the Boks – will require some careful planning.
No doubt the Yanks are planning an ambush similar to that Japan jumped on the Boks.
"We travelled on Sunday, have one training session [on Monday] and a captain's run [on Tuesday]," the coach said.
"It is kind of a catch-22. Some players haven't played a lot, which contributed to the slow start. A lot of those guys are into their third game and we are starting to build some momentum.
"You need fresh players and you also want to give those players more game time – so it will be a balanced approach."
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