Bok Player Ratings Rugby 365

15 Andries Coetzee: His kick-return went straight into touch in his own half and had a kicked charged down after turnover. Also made a good half-break, but then lost ball in contact. Didn't have the best of games overall. 4/10 14 Raymond Rhule: Missed a few tackles. Was solid under the high ball and put lots of pressure on the receiver off restarts, though good chasing. His defence was a little better in the second half. 5/10 13 Jesse Kriel: Kicked ahead after an Uzair Cassiem turnover and gathered to score the try. However, he kicked possession away on attack in the opposition half. Lost the ball on attack with a try-scoring opportunity at the Boks' disposal. Defended well. 5/10 12 Jan Serfontein: Very quiet in first half, not done anything noteworthy. Had a much better second half. Good follow-up work with Siya Kolisi after turnover in the 2nd half and tackled just short of the tryline where he should have looked at options around him, won crucial breakdown penalty when Australia built phases in the Springboks half. 6/10 11 Courtnall Skosan: Lost a high ball and was generally under pressure with the high balls. Did not have lots of ball to work with and he lost ball off restart that lead to the Kurtley Beale try. 4/10 10 Elton Jantjies: Did not have his best game, but slotted most of his kicks and had good tactical play. Slotted a brilliant conversion from wide, but missed relatively penalty. Failed to find touch after a scrum penalty - which lead to a penalty that gave wallabies lead at half time. A restart did not travel 10 metres after an Australian try. 5/10 9 Ross Cronje: Solid for most of the match, but wasn't at his best either. Knocked on at the base of a ruck when on attack in the Wallaby half. 6/10 8 Uzair Cassiem: Conceded a penalty for not rolling away in the fifth minute, but intercepted six meters from own line when Wallabies looked to score. 6/10 7 Jaco Kriel: Conceded a penalty, but had many good carries and made a crucial a turnover when the Wallabies attacked inside the Bok 22. Lost the ball on his way to scoring a try when he was tackled. Was solid in the collisions and at the breakdown. 7/10 6 Siya Kolisi: Had a quiet first half, but solid on defence. Much better second half and made a good break to put Jan Serfontein away in space - which almost resulted in a try. Became much more involved with carries and making dominant tackles. 6/10 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit: After a mediocre Super Rugby season, by is standards, he was one of the best players on the pitch. Won a turnover in the first minute of the match that lead to Jantjies kicking the first points of the match. Won his line-outs and stole one. Great pick up and run at ruck through middle, but conceded a penalty in red zone for offside. 8/10 4 Eben Etzebeth: Lead by example and made solid carries, competed well in the line-outs - although one resulted in a Wallaby try - as they shifted the contact point. Contested well and won all on his own throw and stole a few as well. 7/10 3 Coenie Oosthuizen: Conceded a couple of questionable free kicks and a penalty that got Australia the lead at half-time. Held the scrum up well in the second half and worked well with Steven Kitshoff when he came on. 6/10 2 Malcolm Marx: Was solid with his line-out throwing, but lost one due to miscommunication. Good interplay with Kolisi off a turnover ball. Scored great try from maul and solid on defence. 7/10 1 Tendai Mtawarira: Solid scrumming in latter part of first half and did well in the second half before being replaced. Also made a few good carries. 6/10 Replacements: 23 Damian de Allende: Not used. 22 Handré Pollard: Not used. 21 Francois Hougaard (on for Cronje, 65th min): Conceded a penalty that levelled the scores through a Bernard Foley penalty. The deciding factor of the match outcome. 4/10 20 Jean-Luc Du Preez (on for Cassiem, 54th min): Made a few solid runs and carries. Was rock solid on defence when he came on. 6/10 19 Lodewyk de Jager (on for Du Toit, 65th min): Won all his line-outs and did his primary work well, but did not make a massive impact . 4/10 18 Trevor Nyakane (on for Oosthuizen, 70th min): Not enough time to be rated. 17 Steven Kitshoff (on for Mtawarira, 54th min): Made an immediate impact. Produced a good half-break, won a scrum penalty that resulted in a Springbok try off a maul. Won another penalty with his fellow front row forwards. 8/10 16 Bongi Mbonambi: Not used.

 Best players were Kleintjie Kriel, Stephanie who had his best test, Etzebeth and Kitshoff. Nobody had a shocker, but the inability of our outside backs to create any offence is the biggest concern. I think the ABs will be warning next week's ref about the breakdown where we seemed on the edge the whole game. Hooper catching Stepfontein from behind was embarrassing for a Bok centre. .. The Boks were able to survive today with aggressive breakdown play, poor Aussie set pieces, and shocking defence around the rucks which allowed Stephanie to make two clean pick and go's. .. Overall the Aussies more than doubled our metres gained and had 58% of the possession. They had the game won barring very poor control at the breakdown, leading to several long busts which gave us most of our metres. ... A much better coached Bok team, but the game they played was essentially the old game.....defence, set pieces ....attack from turnover ball. I think that was fine given the vast talent deficit we have in the outside backs.

 All 8 starting forwards got good ratings, backs ratings were not as good with only two players given decent ratings. Sort of makes sense to me as the Wobblies backs are pretty good and their forwards not as good.
It is noteworthy that PSDT had a very good game. Not rated highly by some on this board but the Boks need him playing well as at a minimum they need him for depth.

 True JW, but Serf wasn't too shabby either.

Please he ran 50 metres through open field and then was caught from behind by a flank.

 Serfontein is a plough horse....Kolisi would outrun him. Thought Jaco Kriel and PSDT had outstanding games, Cassiem was a nowhere man and Kolisi had a half decent game.Hougaard's service was a lot better also Kitshoff and Jean Luc Du Pzeez should start not come off the bench. Jantjies overall was ok but his out of hand kicking is ordinary and kicking down Folau's throat was plain stupid.

The main issue, is the main issue we have always had....no creative back play. Nothing was initiated, we attacked a few times off Aussie turnovers. The lineouts were good against a very ordinary Aussie lineout....likewise the scrums. Where we have improved massively is at the breakdown, where the aggressive counter rucking was a huge factor.

 We lost two on our own throw in at the lineout, one at least at a critical time in an attacking position. Serfontein is the problem, he's as creative as my garden gnome and the problem won't be resolved unless they find a backline coach. Serfontein has to go though, man he is slow....snail slow.

 I agree Serf is not a magical player and that they need to find someone better. However, the ESPN stats (attack and defense) for him compared to the other backs aren't so bad (only comparing him to them not what should be).

There's a sameness about the Bok backline, no speed, no creativity, no dynamic and I might add they're intellectually bankrupt as well. Unlike most SAFFAS I've always believed that the cure does not solely depend on a running flyhalf, instead backline smarts is the property of all backline players. A good starting point is speed. The Boks don't have it since the days of Habana.

Totally agree we were much more dangerous when Habana was the fastest man on a rugby field. Speed makes the long range strike a possibility. . We also need an effective centre pairing....the Aussies and NZ with SBW and Crotty have that, we are left with two perfectly ordinary units. Sure the way the game works sometimes they will do something decent, but game in/game out they acheive less than the top pairings. When last did one of these guys beat their direct opponent in a regular backline move?

Another way of looking at this is there are 6 groupings in the game....front row, locks, loosies, halfbacks, centres and back 3. Today we saw dominance by the Boks in the locks and loosies.....Oz was dominant in the centres and back 3. They balanced. .. Next week our best shot is front row dominance with the absence of the AB front row first picks....probably not enough.

 A basic move is to draw and pass, Serfontein crashballs and Kriel passes way to early without drawing in the defender. These guys don't seem to know how to manipulate a defence with the most basic of strategies. We need an Eddie Jones type of backline coach.....on second thoughts, no...UrinerRooi thinks he's useless  Bwhahahahahaha

 I was happy with Jantjies,more than 5/10.
So Moz,your spectator career goes back to the 1960 All Blacks and Boks
Was reading about the duel between Martin Pelser (one eyed maybe played blindside flank) and the AB scrummie "Monkey Briscoe".    

Rover I saw the 1960 test at Ellis Park, but saw many tests at Newlands in the 60s. And Pelser was one-eyed, along with Hugo van Zyl and Doug Hopwood they were a great loosie combination. In those days Gainsford and Englebrecht were as good as any in world rugby. I remember as if it happened yesterday Jannie catching the Welsh sprinter Dewi Bebb from behind......great days in rugby!