South Africa will play Scotland on Saturday in the Rugby World Cup 2015, and this will be a massive game for both teams with huge implications about who will progress to the quarter finals and who may fall short and be sent home early from the competition. The game has a scheduled start time of 4.45 p.m. BST (11.45 p.m. ET) and can be watched online through live stream via the link below.
Today's game takes place at St James' Park in Newcastle and will see a huge clash between the Springboks, still trying to recover from their shock opening defeat to Japan, and Scotland, who know that a loss here today would leave them zero room for any more mistakes in the group stages.
South Africa appear to have found themselves again after their stunning defeat to Japan. In their second game they demolished Samoa by 40 points in a clinical 46-6 victory.
That should be a wake up call enough for Scotland to know that they will be facing one of the best sides in the world despite the Springbok's opening day defeat to Japan 32-34.
Scotland meanwhile had no such problems when they faced Japan, claiming an assured 45-10 win. Scotland followed up that result with another solid display against the United States, winning the game 39-16.
However, today will be a completely different prospect facing Scotland, and South Africa are a team that already knows it has used up its one mistake allowed in the group stages. Following their loss to Japan, every game is a must win for South Africa if they are to qualify for the knock out stages.
Scotland player Matt Scott has said of South Africa ahead of the game: "They're just 15 guys. You can't put them on a pedestal. They're just like any other team. We'll detach the Springbok aura and analyze them as human beings."
Scotland so have somewhat of a dilemma coming into today's game. On one hand they would love to put out their strongest team to try and defeat South Africa, which would guarantee them a place in the quarter finals today. However, if they fail then they would potentially face a must win game against Samoa next week, and they would not want to suffer any injuries and exhaust their top players.
But some changes for today are being forced on Scotland due to injuries already suffered. That leaves Scotland with a far less experienced team than the South Africans and that could prove vital.
In the front row of the scrum, Scotland's combined cap count is just 27, where as South Africa boast 210 caps in that department. In the back row, Scotland have 44 caps compared to South Africa's 149.
If Scotland can win today it would be no small achievement.
South Africa vs Scotland has a start time of 4.45 p.m. BST (11.45 p.m. ET) and can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.
