50th cap for Borderer Rory Sutherland as Scotland lose out to South Africa in rugby’s Nations Championship

The Glasgow Warriors loosehead prop took over from Pierre Schoeman 67 minutes into the weekend’s 42-28 defeat to claim his 50th cap since making his international debut ten years ago, 28 of them from the bench.

Sutherland, 33, is one of two fellow Borderers in head coach Gregor Townsend’s squad for this summer’s three Nations Championship fixtures, the other being Edinburgh right-winger Darcy Graham, but the 56-times-capped Hawick 29-year-old was left out of Saturday’s 23-strong match-day line-up in Pretoria as the visitors opted for a six-two split of forwards and backs on their bench, with Stafford McDowall and Tom Jordan getting the nod in the latter department.

Father-of-three Sutherland’s wife Tammy was among those to congratulate him on his 50th cap, posting: “My heart couldn’t be prouder.

“This milestone is about so much more than rugby – it’s a testament to your strength, courage, and determination.

“You’ve faced some of the hardest challenges, from injuries that left you in a wheelchair to the countless setbacks along the way, yet you never stopped believing or fighting to get back to the game you love.

“Through every high and every low, we’ve been beside you every step of the way. Me, and our three amazing boys – Mason, Hamish and Brodie – are so incredibly proud to call you our husband and dad.

“Watching you reach this moment reminds us all that resilience, heart and hard work can overcome anything.

“Congratulations on your 50th cap – you’ve earned every single one.”

Sutherland was presented with his latest cap by Scottish Rugby Union president Keith Wallace, saying afterwards: “I remember standing in the changing rooms in Ireland when I received my first cap wondering if it would ever happen again, and I think if you’d told me as a little boy picking a rugby ball up for the first time that he was going to get capped for his country, he would never have believed you, and the man standing in front of you today would never have believed you if you’d told him he was going to get the opportunity to represent his country 50 times.

“That’s an honour that I’ll never forget.

“This cap’s not only mine – it belongs to everyone who’s been on the journey along with me, especially my mum and dad and my grandparents. All the early mornings and the late nights, standing in rain, hail and snow, they were always there next to the pitch and this would never have been possible without them.

“To an amazing wife and kids, through all the ups and downs, they’ve stood by me. They give me pupose and motivation and a reason to get up and do what I do every day. None of that would have been possible without them either.”

Addressing his teammates, he added: “Every time we walk into a changing room and stand in front of that jersey, never take a minute for granted, not one minute. Every minute is so special on and off the field.

“Thanks for making this day so special for me.”

Scotland’s try-scorers, earning them a bonus point, were Matt Fagerson, full-back Kyle Rowe, replacement Josh Bayliss and scrum-half Ben White, with fly-half Finn Russell adding four conversions.

Touching down for their hosts were Embrose Papier, Evan Roos, Elrigh Louw, Damian Willemse, Zac Porthen and Jesse Kriel, with Handre Pollard kicking five conversions and Quan Horn another.

That was South Africa’s tenth win on the bounce against Scotland, the world champions’ last loss to them, by 21-17, having been back in 2010 at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium.

The Scots have got one more championship fixture to go this summer and that’s at home to Fiji this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 2.10pm.

Reviewing Saturday’s match, ex-Gala back Townsend, 53, said: “There’s a mixture of emotions. There’s obviously frustration that we didn’t do enough to win the game. That’s what we set out to do in terms of our training week, our game-plan, the belief we had in our players that we could achieve that.

“I think we created enough to win the game, but we didn’t build on that end of the first half and begin the second half with enough points, and we made it hard for ourselves with just a sloppy five, ten minutes, but we did come back. We got back to within seven points of them and I firmly believe we could have kicked on and won because when we had the ball, we were making breaks, so there’s a mixture of frustration and pride.

“We’ll analyse this game knowing that we are a team that can take on anybody in the world, but we’ve just got to be more clinical if we get a chance again against a team like South Africa.”