Other player ratings by Press (ABs and Boks

I will add them on this thread as I come across them.

Chris Rattue rates the performances from the All Blacks' one-point win over South Africa in Cape Town.

 

All Blacks

Damian McKenzie 9

Jack in the box saved the test with wonder try. Here, there, everywhere. Odd error.

 

Rieko Ioane 8

Might have muffed one try, but rescued All Blacks with long range intercept. Neat defence.

 

Ryan Crotty 8

Snaffled a try, perhaps fortunately. Some driving runs.

 

Sonny Bill Williams 7

Tackling machine. Bit of a workhorse - where is the old magic?

 

Nehe Milner-Skudder 8

Very sharp, memorable round the back pass almost created try. Another bad injury though.

 

Beauden Barrett 7

Vital charge down for Crotty try his last act before sidelined with head knock.

 

Aaron Smith 7

Efficient but lacking a bit of spark this time. Cut back when try line seemed open.

 

Kieran Read 8

Fantastic tackling and defensive reads, but didn't get his team on the front foot.

 

Sam Cane 6

Strangely hard to spot. Didn't seem in touch with the game.

Liam Squire 8

Some bruising moments and strong charges. One drop.

 

Scott Barrett 7

Couple of errors, great chase on Serfontein and some Retallick-like short passing.

 

Sam Whitelock 8

Very prominent early, probably faded a bit but loads of tackling.

 

Nepo Laulala 7

Busy game and stood up well in the scrums.

 

Dane Coles 5

Not the Coles of old. Low involvement, no killer moments apart form smashing little Jantjies.

 

Kane Hames 7

Bad first scrum, got a lot better. Won a big turnover and scrum penalty, tackled well.

 

Reserves

Codie Taylor (Coles, 46m) 6

Standard issue.

 

Wyatt Crockett (Hames, 46m) 6

As with Taylor.

 

Ofa Tu'ungafasi (Laulala, 46m) 6

Starting to make a good fist of the replacement role. One great offload.

 

Patric Tuipulotu (Barrett, 67m) 6

Failed to bring his ball running but got a lineout steal.

 

Matt Todd (Cane, 48m) 7

Added some life for strangely subdued Cane. Won a steal.

 

Tawera Kerr-Barlow 7

Solid shift in maybe his last test.

 

Lima Sopoaga 6

Middling effort but lacks the playmaking spark that McKenzie and co. bring.

 

David Havili 8

Made the move which gave McKenzie the space for his great try. Looks the goods.

Springboks

Andries Coetzee 6

Lots of energy but it didn't produce an awful lot.

 

Dillyn Leyds 5

Very ordinary with the ball, poor miss on Havili.

 

Jesse Kriel 6

Not a lot to report apart form try saving tackle on Ioane.

 

Jan Serfontein 7

Bruising game, typical Springboks inside back.

 

Courtnall Skosan 5

Magnificent 'Bok forwards deserved better outside backs. Part of Ioane try bungle.

 

Elton Janties 6

Should have delivered more behind a rampaging pack. Missed straight early penalty.

 

Ross Cronje 6

Part of the stuff up which led to Ioane try. Average compared to Springboks halfback lineage.

 

Francois Louw 6

Lightweight performance from the veteran. Beaten by McKenzie try run.

 

Pieter-Steph Du Toit 8

Cumbersome customer but he really took it to the All Blacks.

 

Siya Kolisi 5

Apart from one lovely flick pass aside, very hard to spot.

 

Lood de Jager 7

Got hands on the ball without making much ground. Plenty of tackling, nifty offload.

 

Eben Etzebeth 9

Storming game with the ball. Smashed ahead time and time again. Led from the front.

 

Ruan Dreyer 6

Has obvious scrum issues but busy enough around the field.

 

Malcolm Marx 10

Magnificent. Loads of brutal runs, turnovers, tackles. Helped make a try, scored another. Unbelievable game - a new world star?

 

Steven Kitshoff 9

What a game. Endless charges, and almost lasted the full distance. Fantastic.

 

Reserves

Chilliboy Ralepelle DNP

Trevor Nyakane (Kitshoff, 78m) -

 

Wilco Louw (Dreyer, 51m) 6

Hardly sighted.

 

Franco Mostert (de Jager, 56m) 7

Hard working without major impact.

 

Jean-Luc du Preez (Kolisi, 56m) 8

Also toiled well and loomed up perfectly for a try.

 

Rudy Paige DNP

Handre Pollard (Jantjies, 56m) 7

Almost turned the game with offload for try.

 

Damian de Allende (Serfontein, 64m) 4

Stupid late charge on Sopoaga and red card sealed Springboks' 

Rugby 365 Their rating of SBW is a bit harsh. He has been rated by others at 7.

OPINION: NEW ZEALAND ESCAPED WITH A NARROW 25-24 WIN OVER A RESILIENT SOUTH AFRICA SIDE IN CAPE TOWN ON SATURDAY.

The All Blacks took a narrow 8-3 at the break and were forced to dig deep to keep their unbeaten Rugby Championship record intact.

The side, who already bagged the title, found themselves having to chase the lead twice. Nonetheless, their class just proved too good for the Springboks in the end.

Rugby writer Jamie Wall rates the New Zealand players!

15 Damian McKenzie
Best game in a black jersey by far. Scored the winner and had an almost faultless performance under the high ball.
8/10

14 Nehe Milner-Skudder
Easily the All Blacks’ best in the first half, with a linebreak every time he touched the ball. Such a shame he busted his shoulder.
8/10

13 Ryan Crotty
Slotted back into the All Black lineup easily, marshalling the defence and scoring a crucial try in the first half.
7/10

12 Sonny Bill Williams
Not his best game in the All Black jersey, with a couple of key turnovers conceded in the first half.
5/10

11 Rieko Ioane
Botched a try early, but made up for it with his intercept.
7/10

10 Beauden Barrett
Left the field with a head knock just before halftime, but looked pretty assured up until that point.
6/10

9 Aaron Smith
Another excellent display from Smith, who is bouncing back to career-best form.
7/10

8 Kieran Read
Wasn’t quite as prominent as his opposite skipper, but tackled hard and competed well at the breakdown.
6/10

7 Sam Cane
Blue-collar effort, hooked early in the second half for Todd.
5/10

6 Liam Squire
Had a few nice runs, but was well contained by his Bok opposites.
6/10

5 Scott Barrett
Did a fine job at lineout time, an area that proved to be crucial.
7/10

4 Sam Whitelock
One really nice turnover in the first half, otherwise got stuck in to the down and dirty stuff.
7/10

3 Nepo Laulala
Got shoved around early, but the front row gained parity after a while.
6/10

2 Dane Coles
Pretty quiet game, however, it’s the performance of his opposite that will be talked about anyway.
6/10

1 Kane Hames
Ditto Laulala, and showed some good awareness with ball in hand.
6/10

Replacements:  

16 Codie Taylor (on for Coles, 45th min)
Did his job when he came on.
6/10

17 Wyatt Crockett (on for  Hames, 45th min)
Did his job when he came on.
6/10

18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi (on for Laulala, 45th min)
Did his job when he came on.
6/10

19 Patrick Tuipulotu (on for S.Barrett, 65th min)
Won a good lineout steal that led to McKenzie’s try, good showing.
 7/10

20 Matt Todd (on for Cane, 46th min)
Did enough to keep him in consideration for the main squad going forward.
6/10

21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow (on for Smith, 59th min)
Very assured performance in his last test (for now, anyway). Had to come on in a pressure situation and delivered.
7/10

22 Lima Sopoaga (on for B Barrett, 32nd min)
Relieving Barrett is a big task, but once again Sopoaga showed he has ice in his veins when he converted McKenzie’s try. Controlled proceedings well at 10.
8/10

23 David Havili (on for Milner-Skudder, 40th min)
Another excellent showing from the new man, whose patience and skill led to the game-winning try.
8/10

By Jamie Wall, RugbyPass
@JamieWall2
@rugby365com