Captain18,570 posts
25 Jul 2015, 21:34
#1
25 Jul 2015, 21:34#1
The Springboks saw victory slip out of their grasp in the final stages once again as they slumped to defeat against the All Blacks. It was the second week in a row that they had victory taken from them at the death, as the visitors scored 10 unanswered points to claim the win. There will be some concern about the impact, or lack thereof from the bench, in a similar style to their late capitulation to the Wallabies in Brisbane last week. There were nonetheless some outstanding individual performances as some players strengthened their cases as first-choice options at the World Cup considerably. We rate the South African players: 15 Willie le RouxSomething of a mixed bag as he provided both the sublime and the ridiculous. His kicking and tackling was inconsistent but there is no denying his value when given some space.6/10 14 Cornal HendricksGot shut down pretty quickly when he got his hands on the ball but ran hard and came off his wing to look for work.6/10 13 Jesse KrielAnother outstanding performance from the rookie whose electric pace and finishing ability give the Bok backline an edge in midfield.8/10 12 Damian de AllendeHis distribution was top drawer which allowed those outside him to look good, and he proved extremely tough for the All Blacks to bring down.8/10 11 Bryan HabanaCompeted really well in the air and won a few high balls, but there were also a few sloppy moments and questions around his positioning on defence.6/10 10 Handré PollardHis tactical kicking was disappointing, although he showed his value on attack by taking the ball to the line and his pass for Kriel's try was perfectly timed.6/10 9 Ruan PienaarHis service was quite inconsistent and slow at times which robbed the Boks of momentum, but his kicking was accurate and he managed to keep his team on the front foot.5/10 8 Schalk BurgerEmbracing the playmaker role as he popped up at first-receiver often and linked well between forwards and backs, giving nothing away in terms of physicality or workrate either.7/10 7 Francois LouwCarried the ball well in his new role on the blindside and provided his usual threat at the breakdown.6/10 6 Heinrich BrüssowTackled his heart out and lived on the edge at the breakdown, getting blown up and winning a few turnovers as well.6/10 5 Lodewyk de JagerReliable in the line-outs and worked hard in the loose as well, getting over the gainline regularly and coming within an inch of scoring from a well-worked maul.7/10 4 Eben EtzebethBrought his usual physicality as he manhandled a few All Blacks and proved very difficult to bring down.6/10 3 Jannie du PlessisAnother solid outing from the veteran who did not take a backwards step in the scrums and even secured a turnover.6/10 2 Bismarck du PlessisThere were a few missed line-outs and a dodgy pass, but otherwise he was very impressive making some big tackles and turning ball over.6/10 1 Tendai MtawariraGood workrate, with his familiar chant going out often and he was solid in the scrums as well until they were made uncontested.6/10 Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss (On for Mtawarira, 70 mins)Did not have the impact he would have liked playing at prop for the first time in his Test career.5/10 17 Trevor Nyakane (On for Koch, 62 mins)Was not able to scrum despite being able to play on both sides, but made his tackles.6/10 18 Vincent Koch (On for J. Du Plessis, 41 mins)Not the ideal start to his Test career as he dropped the ball just short of the line and went off with a cut on his forehead.5/10 19 Flip van der Merwe (On for De Jager, 60 mins)Provided some grunt in the tight exchanges, but did not get many opportunities.6/10 20 Warren Whiteley (On for Louw, 42 mins)Made an immediate impact with a great little inside ball and got through plenty of work on defence.7/10 21 Cobus Reinach (On for Pienaar, 75 mins)Not enough time to be rated. 22 Pat Lambie (On for Le Roux, 62 mins)Came on at fullback and got held up in the tackle which handed late momentum to the All Blacks.5/10 23 Lionel Mapoe (On for Kriel, 77 mins)Not enough time to be rated. By Michael de Vries
