Scotland vs. South Africa Rugby 2013: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

In a fixture dating back to 1906, Scotland have only managed to beat South Africa five times in the last century or so and head into this Sunday's Murrayfield matchup as firm underdogs.

The Springboks have come out on top of the other 18 games and have won nine of their last 11 meetings, momentum suggesting they're en route for a 10th.

However, while Heyneke Meyer's side may be among the top few teams in the world—if not only just behind global leaders New Zealand—there is a lot of fight in this Scottish side. Fight that has proved its weight in gold many times before.

In the penultimate match of both teams' November series, Scotland and South Africa will seek to edge their opponents having both won last week, but one of their unbeaten starts will soon come to its end.

Date: Sunday, Nov. 17

Time: 3 p.m. local time (GMT)/10 a.m. ET

Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Viewing Info: BBC One (UK)

Stream: BBC Sport website

Battle of the Locks

The core of changes between both sides this week is in the centres, where Flip van der Merwe is the only survivor of the four locks that started for these two teams last week.

Scott Johnson has been forced to let last week's impressive pairing of Tim Swinson and Alastair Kellock go due to injury, with Jim Hamilton and Richie Gray coming into the side as a result.

In a way, it's a testament to the Scots' strength that the team can call upon two such experienced and potentially dangerous players from the reserves.

Meanwhile, Bakkies Botha makes his triumphant return to the South Africa setup, having not featured since the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

The obvious point of interest with the four is to see how well they can mould back into a starting line-up, Botha in particular, while there will be extra focus on the line-out as a result of the chopping and changing.

Brutal at the Breakdown

Earlier this week, Meyer spoke to the Guardian's Mike Averis regarding Sunday's fixture, highlighting the breakdown as a crucial component for any eventual winner.

So deep is the Springboks' admiration for Scotland's graft at the ruck that Meyer drafted in a Scot of his own, coach Richie Gray (no relation to the second row) in order to get better acquainted with that side of things.

The South Africa coach says:

"

Every time we've played against them, we've struggled because we couldn't get enough quick ball. Without trying to be arrogant, we can score great tries if we get quick ball but, in every game against Scotland, we struggled because they are very good at contesting on the ground.

"

It also puts more than a tinge of burden on Scottish captain Greig Laidlaw, who will look to prove Meyer right by providing his own side with quick ball while preventing the opposition from doing the same.

Meyer Rings the Changes

All in all, this week's South Africa is almost entirely different to the one that overcame Wales at the Millennium Stadium last week as both sides struggle with their respective injury issues.

Morne Steyn's back issues mean that he's only fit for a place on the bench and with Pat Lambie at fly-half, this will be South Africa's first examination in a while without having their Mr. Reliable in the No. 10 jersey.

There's also changes in the front row where Bismarck du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira step onto the bench in place of Adriaan Strauss and Gurthro Steenkamp, respectively.

Willie Le Roux switches to full-back to complete the shake-up and it gives Scotland their opportunity to stage a few surprises against a jumbled XV, albeit one still of incredible quality.

Prediction: Scotland 14-30 South Africa