Initial Ratings:
- Mtawarira (6.5)
- Mbonambi (6.0)
- Nyakane (7.5)
- Etzebeth (7.0)
- Mostert (6.5)
- Smith (5.0)
- du Toit (5.8)
- Vermeulen (7.5)
- de Klerk (5.5)
- Pollard (8.0)
- Mapimpi (6.0)
- de Allende (6.5)
- Am (5.8)
- Kolbe (5.8)
- Le Roux (5.0)
- Marx (7.0)
- Kishoff (7.0)
- Malherbe (4.0)
- Snyman (6.5)
- Louw (4.5)
- Jantjies (6.0)
- Steyn (7.0)
- Kriel (5.0)
The front row dominated Los Pumas from start to finish (subs). Trevor made some fantastic stops on our line, better around the field than Beast. Kits made an immediate impact, coming on with energy and purpose; Malherbe looked well off the pace. Looks disinterested, passive, slow. Another very disappointing showing, he is not the Malherbe we saw last year. Marx was more dominant than Bongi in general play.
Damian was his most impactful since the Samoa test of 2015. Didn't do very much on attack, but was disruptive, landing four good tackles and niggling at the breakdown, slowing down the Puma attack. Frans bettered him though.
Kriel had a break in the second half which sums his play up: One man to beat, with support out wide, he takes the contact, cutting to the inside shoulder of the defender and the opportunity is lost. A real 13 would have taken on the defender on the outside shoulder and offered a offload or simple pass. Mixed bag on defence. Was of no consequence. This when the game was opening up for him. Am had a much tougher time with the Puma defence repeatedly catching the clunky Bok attacking structure deep. Am was often caught well behind the gainline, swarmed by defenders. Missed some tackles, but that's his duty, to rush on the outside shoulder of the his man, cutting off the outside. This exposes the inside. We see this exposed time and time again with the team in general.
Pollard was the bok of the game. Arguably his best test in my opinion, he was pulling the strings at will, looked in control of the game. I haven't see play like that since prime Butch.
Faf's box kicks are still poor, but the coach keeps insisting that we persist with a tactic we are not equipped to execute. I'm more inclined to criticise the coach than the players. We do not posses aerially dominant wings, nor do we possess 9s with good boots.
Our wings are largely wasted. We saw them get more into the game in the second half, where they could show their quality. Mapimpi is the more rounded of the two, very physical. Kolbe didn't have his most influential game.
Willie is not in good form right now. Not having the same influence he had last year. He is fast becoming a feeder of one-off runners, forwards. This is not Willie at his best, or being utilised properly. This is worrying.
Mostert was everywhere. Vermeulen was our best carrier in heavy traffic. Very physical, powerful in everything he did. Snyman looked very comfortable man-handling the Pumas. A very authoritative presence. Eben was effective throughout. Four of our best players. Smith as nowhere all game. Louw had a poor game. Steph was the same as usual. exposed for the first break leading to a try.
