Following the Springboks’ nightmarish display against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland, here is how we rated Rassie Erasmus’ charges.
Erasmus’ Springboks delivered a sub-par performance en-route to an agonising 24-17 defeat against New Zealand in the Rugby Championship.
The South Africans played second fiddle from start to finish, with none of their players standing up in the one-on-one battles.
With that in mind, here’s how the Springbok players rated individually.
SPRINGBOKS’ PLAYER RATINGS VS NEW ZEALAND
15. Willie le Roux – 5
He offered little to nothing on attack and was poor in defence. It was his defensive lapse – where he dived over the ball-carrier instead of tackling him – that led to the All Blacks’ opening try in the second minute of the game. By the time he was hooked in the second half, he had already been a passenger for too long.
14. Cheslin Kolbe – 6
Lots of effort, little impact from Kolbe in the first half. His first call to action in the second half also resulted in a rare mistake, with him failing to collect the ball in the air with no pressure whatsoever around him.
13. Jesse Kriel (captain) – 7
One of the few warriors in the Springboks’ defensive line. He made smashing midfield hit on Jordie that led to South Africa later winning a much-needed penalty. A mixed day where peaks were high, but lapses mattered.
12. Damian de Allende – 6
Made a couple of strong carries past the first line of defence. Apart from that, De Allende made very little impact.
11. Canan Moodie – 7
Moodie wasn’t faultless, but he was arguably one of the best Springbok on the park, especially in that opening 40 minutes.
10. Handre Pollard – 6
The flyhalf didn’t get much ball on the front-foot and that is because the Springboks’ forwards were outmuscled and ultimately outplayed. He knocked over his first attempt at goal, but his flawless kicking streak came to an end when he skewed his second attempt at goal.
9. Grant Williams – 6
Sharp and dangerous during South Africa’s was patches, but he was forced into panicked reactions when the Springboks were under pressure, which was most of match. Was rightly pulled off early in the second half.
8. Siya Kolisi – 6
Again, another one of those whose contribution was the bare minimum. However, his contributions came under extenuating circumstances as he was a late inclusion due to an injury to Jean-Luc du Preez, even though Kolisi himself is not 100%.
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit – 6
This was arguable one of his most sluggish performance in his Springbok career. He lost most of his battles on the ground,
6. Marco van Stated – 7
The best Bok forward on the field. He was intelligent with his carries through traffic and while Van Stand wasn’t ferocious with his hits at the breakdown, he at least he made those hits to try to put pressure on the All Blacks.
5. Ruan Nortje – 5
The Springboks’ lineout was one of their worst features in this game and Nortje, along with Etzebeth, was at the heart of it. This was an incomplete outing by the lineout jumper.
4. Eben Etzebeth – 5
Like Pieter-Steph du Doit, this is probably a game and individual performance that Etzebeth would like to erase from his memory.
3. Thomas du Toit – 7
Along with his fellow starting front rowers, Du Toit did superb in his primary job, which was to gain the upper-hand at scrum time.
2. Malcolm Marx – 6
Scored South Africa’s first try to spark life into the contest and hope into the Springboks’ ranks. But that doesn’t absolve his from his high error rate in the first half. His lineout throws were more off target than on in that opening 40 minutes.
1. Ox Nche – 7
When the Springboks needed the power, he came through clutch with a monster of a scrum against the feed and against the new All Blacks front row. But while his set-piece work was brutal, Nche’s accuracy around the breakdown wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked it to be.
Replacement:
While the Springboks still lost the game, the feared ‘Bok Bomb Squad’ made a tangible difference to this game. With them on, the Springboks went from an inevitable defeat to almost snatching an unlikely draw at Eden Park.
16. Jan Hendrik Wessels – 7
Made an immediate impact, powerful in the set-piece, carried hard and even showed some deft touches in open play. It was his late turnover at the breakdown that forced the game into stoppage time and kept the Springboks in the hunt for a draw. A strong cameo.
17. Boan Venter – 7
Solid in the scrum, steady in general play and made a few dominant hits to boot.
18. Wilco Louw – 7
Made an immediate impact, powerful in the set-piece, carried hard and even showed some deft touches in open play. A strong cameo.
19. Lood de Jager – 7
A game-changer off the bench. He exploded into contact, returned calm to the previously malfunctioning and unsettled lineout the with his sheer presence.
20. Kwagga Smith – 7
Carried strongly and brought physicality, but he didn’t quite tilt the game South Africa’s way. And his yellow card in the 64th minute, meant his cameo functional, but not quite inspirational.
21. Cobus Reinach – 7
Kept things under control and showed good composure in a terrible situation, and scored a crucial try late in the game.
22. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – 7
Sparked life into the Springboks’ stagnant backline attack from the moment he came on.
23. Ethan Hooker – N/A
Come on too late to judge.
THE BIGGEST REASON FOR THIS SPRINGBOKS RESULT… ?
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