South Africa were met by a defiant Scotland side, who matched the defending champions' physical onslaught in the first half.

The Boks' pressure eventually told, however, as they earned an 18-3 victory over Gregor Townsend's men to begin Pool B with a vital win.

They did it without Etzebeth for over 50 minutes, with the lock suffering a shoulder problem according to head coach Jacques Nienaber.

"To be honest, I'd lie if I tell you about the extent of his injury now," Nienaber said.

"I haven't even spoken to the team doctor yet, but it will probably be assessed on Monday. During the game, they said it was his shoulder and that's why he came off.

"But I really can't say anything else because I'd speculate. I have no clue."

South Africa showed their strength in depth as replacement RG Snyman shone after coming onto the field.

Snyman played a key role in the triumph over a Scotland side that gave as good as they got, certainly from a physical standpoint, for most of the game.

The Springboks weren't quite at their clinical best as they failed to take their opportunities in the first half, but Nienaber believed that it was partly down to the efforts of Townsend's outfit.

"It was a slippery one," said Nienaber. "Scotland are ranked fifth in the world, and we could see how they pushed against France in their warm-up games, so we knew it would be a grind.

"The historical winning margin between the teams is 15 points and it was the same today. They are a tough team who get stuck in, so it was always going to be a tough battle.

"That said, this is the first step in the right direction. It's going to be difficult to get out of our pool, so our only focus right now is on Romania."

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