From: Rugby 365
My opinion in brackets
15 Willie le Roux:
Excellent under the high ball and always posed a threat on the counter-attack while putting in a good kicking effort. Fell apart in the second half.
6/10 (Tried to be waaay to fancy and needs to stop the Quade Coopers hop, it does not fool anyone - 5/10)
14 Cornal Hendricks:
Never had an attacking opportunity but had the best seat in the house for the 50 minutes he was on the field.
3/10 (Did he play? 3/10)
13 Jan Serfontein:
Looked out of his depth and hid himself in the field.
3/10 (We have a problem at 13, which is not helped by playing a 12 that is past it. 3/10)
12 Jean de Villers (captain):
Attempted to straighten the attacking lines. Other than that, was only seen when speaking to the referee.
4/10 (Those early penalty calls probably cost us the game. Did he play? 3/10)
11 Bryan Habana:
Posed no threat in the game. A mere passenger on the side of the field.
3/10 (didn't do much wrong, actually, he didn't do much at all. Not surprising, considering the forwards/scrummy/flyhalf gave the backs just about no clean ball. 4/10)
10 Handré Pollard:
Missed his first kick of the match and never recovered. Was a shadow of his recent self.
4/10 (Didn't look good, but again, almost all the ball he received was bad compliments of Hougardt and the forwards. 5/10)
9 Francois Hougaard:
The less said, the better. Looked out of sorts and left much to be desired.
3/10 (I never thought I'd wish we had Pienaar on the bench, but I did on Saturday. 2/10)
8 Duane Vermeulen:
Must have felt like the lone ranger with yet another monumental effort. Had a chance to have a throw-in when Adriaan Strauss was in the sin bin.
8/10 (Nuff said, even in such a poor game he managed to shine. Maybe we should just play him, and leave out the other 14! 9/10)
7 Teboho Mohoje:
Taking off early in the second half after a workman-like effort in the first 40 minutes. Made life hard for the Irish at the breakdown.
6/10 (Did he play? The most forgettable player! Hope he enjoys his undeserved games in the Bok jersey, cos surely they can't last. 4/10)
6 Marcell Coetzee:
A warrior-like effort in defence was rewarded with a try in the second half.
6/10 (Just an average display. Not bad, but nothing special. 6/10)
5 Victor Matfield:
The veteran showed he is still one of the best line-out jumpers in the world.
5/10 (Decent in the line outs, and thats it. He offers zero go forward. It is almost like he just lies down when he nears an opposing player. 5/10)
4 Eben Etzebeth:
Made a nuisance of himself by stealing some line-out ball. Had some good carries and made plenty of tackles.
6/10 (Stole a line-out or two, but did very little else. I can't believe this is the same player that we saw last year! 5/10)
3 Jannie du Plessis:
Gave a much improved performance and dominated his opponent in the scrums.
6/10 (Scrummed well, outside that, did he play? 5/10)
2 Bismarck du Plessis:
Gave away needless penalties in the first half but turned that around by winning some in the second half. Accurate with his line-out throws.
4/10 (Another poor performance, what is that now? 80% poor games vs 20% decent? 3/10)
1 Tendai Mtawarira:
Massive effort in the scrums and always there to clean out at the breakdown.
6/10 (He was good at scrum time, but basically invisible outside that. Acceptable, but nothing more. 6/10)
Replacements:
16 Adriaan Strauss (on for Bismarck du Plessis, 51st min):
Didn't do anything to catch the eye but received a dubious yellow card for tackling a player in the air in the 67th minute.
3/10 (That card was a bit of a joke, but was hardly setting the field alight before that anyway. 4/10)
17 Trevor Nyakane (on for Tendai Mtawarira, 67th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
18 Coenie Oosthuizen (on for Jannie du Plessis, 71st min):
Not enough time to be rated.
19 Bakkies Botha (on for Eben Etsabeth, 65th min):
Came on, ran around but had no impact whatsoever.
4/10 (What do they do with retired rugby players? Send them out to pasture or shoot them? Either way, his time has come to call it a day. 3/10)
20 Schalk Burger (on for Teboho Mohoje, 47th min):
Ran around and attempted to make a difference but, for the most part, looked lost.
5/10 (Went through the motions, not much else. Did add a little something though. 6/10)
21 Cobus Reinach (on for Francois Hougaard, 56th min):
Looked better but Hougaard but did had no impact on the game.
5/10 (He was just there, nothing but average while on the field. 5/10)
22 Pat Lambie (on for Pollard, 67th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
23 JP Pietersen (on for Cornal Hendricks, 50th min):
Scored a consolation try but was in the wilderness before that.
4/10 (It was hard for the backs to do much on the night, but he was adequate. 5/10)
