Springbok Player Ratings

15. Aphelele Fassi — 4.5

1. Looked better on the wing without the pressure of fullback defence.
2. Caught out of position multiple times in defence.
3. Stripped easily in contact and conceded a late yellow card.
4. His defence is not test standard.

14. Canan Moodie — 5

1. Looked a bit sleepy and seems to cruise around with low intensity at times.
2. Took his try well from Pollard’s cross-kick.
3. Decent aerial contest in the first half.
4. Poor defensive positioning ? led directly to Jorgensen’s try.
5. Fumbled a high ball that handed Australia the attacking momentum.
6. Knocked on, and seemed out of focus.

13. Jesse Kriel (c) — 5.5

1. Delande made both of them dummy runners or crashballers
2. Made one solid line break and defended bravely at times.
3. Loose passing choices killed attacking momentum.
4. Misreads in midfield defence exposed space for Wallabies’ runners.

12. Damian de Allende —4

1. 17 tackles — worked hard defensively.
2. Turned high-tempo attack into slow, cumbersome brainlessness
3. Multiple handling errors under no pressure.
4. Knock-on at a crucial stage killed a scoring chance.
5. Limited attacking contribution, lacked creativity. Lacked a brain.

11. Cheslin Kolbe — 8

1. Outstanding chasing kicks and creating attacking opportunities.
2. Constant threat with ball-in-hand, beating multiple defenders.
3. Two early missed tackles but recovered brilliantly.

10. Handré Pollard — 8.5 (MOTM)

1. Controlled territory with precise tactical kicking.
2. Brilliant cross-kick assist for Moodie’s try.
3. Perfect goal-kicking under pressure.
4. A couple of loose bombs but largely dictated play.
5. With a better inside center, could have looked better on attack.
6. Did put the ball down the line, and put in a decent all-around performance

9. Grant Williams — 7

1. Crisp service and accurate box-kicks troubled the Wallabies.
2. Sniped well around rucks to test the defence.
3. Occasionally overplayed, getting ahead of the forwards and conceding turnovers.

8. Kwagga Smith — 7.5

1. Scored a crucial try and carried strongly.
2. High defensive work rate and relentless energy.
3. Conceded soft penalties that released Wallabies’ pressure.
4. Effective at the breakdown

7. Franco Mostert — 4.5

1. Tackled well and hit plenty of rucks.
2. Invisible with ball-in-hand, offered zero attacking punch.
3. Failed to disrupt Wallabies’ quick ball — lacked impact.

6. Marco van Staden — 5.5

1. Was good at the breakdown when he followed the laws of the game.
2. Won a crucial breakdown turnover early.
3. Gave away three unnecessary penalties that handed Australia momentum.
4. Mixed influence — strong contact but poor discipline.

5. Ruan Nortjé — 5

1. Huge work rate defensively; top tackler for the Boks.
2. Made little to no ground with a few hard carries.
3. Struggled in the lineout against Nick Frost, losing attacking opportunities.
4. Did not show up as a ball carrier

4. RG Snyman — 4.5

1. Perhaps his worst Bok game yet.
2. Strong early collision work and one key turnover.
3. Dropped a critical lineout under pressure.
4. Fumbled possession twice and failed to impose aerial dominance.

3. Thomas du Toit — 8

1. Dominant in the scrums, forcing pressure penalties.
2. Brilliant turnover inside the 22 to deny Australia a try.
3. Strong carrying presence, but one defensive lapse nearly cost points.
4. One of his better games. Chosen for his mobility

2. Malcolm Marx — 6

1. Brought aggression in the defence and contact areas.
2. Lineout inconsistency hurt attacking momentum. This seems to be a permanent problem.
3. A couple of unforced handling errors under pressure.
4. Not as mobile as he used to be.

1. Ox Nché — 7

1. Held firm against Tupou in scrums, forcing one key penalty.
2. Strong carries and good go-forward ball.
3. Conceded a sloppy penalty that gave Australia a chance back into the game.

Replacements — Bomb Squad

19. Eben Etzebeth — 8.5

1. Game-changer: fixed lineout, smashed tackles, scored decisive try.
2. Lifted intensity instantly after coming on.
3. One unnecessary penalty, but overall dominated.
4. Did knock on a good attacking move.

18. Wilco Louw — 6

1. Brought power and stability to the scrum.
2. Hard, effective carries off the bench.

17. Boan Venter — 6

1. Not enough time to be rated.

20. Lood de Jager — 5.5

1. Functional in set-pieces but added little dynamism

21. Cobus Reinach — 6.5

1. Consistent, done what was needed
2. No spark in attack

23. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu — 6

1. Out of the regular position at 10, tried hard to get involved in the game at XV..

22. André Esterhuizen — 6

1. Added size but little creativity.
2. Missed a key tackle late that nearly cost points.

Key Problem Areas

1. Backfield organisation poor - Moodie & Fassi exposed multiple times.
2. Lineout issues - Snyman & Marx struggled until Etzebeth fixed it. Marx has forgotten how to throw.
3. Discipline costly - van Staden, Kwagga, Fassi penalties released pressure.
4. Attack lacked cohesion - relied too much on Pollard’s kicks & Kolbe’s brilliance.

SB

You spent a lot of tiiem inventing the above BS. So I wll wait and see the assessment of Rugby 365. Esterhuizen contribution was below that of Mostert - which basically was rubbish supreme and not worth more than 3 points,

I saw your hero Delande having a blinder, and noticed he is also deaf and dumb. He turns the whole backline into dummy runners, and no one knows what he plans to do, including himself

Subject should be: Sharkboks totally non biased ratings.

I tell you what, thank heavens we have ChatGPT because the ratings Shark did above are not amazing, they're better than anything you'll see in the media.

I give Sharks Chat assisted ratings a rating of 7.8.

@Plum, I took a few of the ratings news articles and gave them to ChatGPT, and it did a good job giving a final result.

I then added a few of my own edits.

Much of the problem with media ratings, apart from bias, is that those guys make their judgements on just one viewing. The second time you view a game you see a lot more and you can pay more attention to each individual performance and contribution.

Only problems I see is Dud Allende also missed 3 tackles…..I saw no Thomas scrum dominance…..to me Williams was competent, we aren’t seeing him trying anything ball in hand. As for Nortje he made 8 tackles and missed 3, he looks like a nothing burger.

The big rating is O’ Connor who I would give a 2…..kickoff into touch, the horrible pass he sent to Kellaway that led directly to the Bok try…and missed half his kicks at goal.

Marx doesn't look happy.

I can't shake the feeling that there is something going on there.

RG has been in fine form all year. Suddenly he looks pretty ordinary for the Boks.

They're not the only ones playing beneath their usual standards either.

And now we're out of time. 6 games down this year...and plenty of chopping and changing last year too. It's time for Rassie to answer the question; What is our best side?

Did Mostert play he was fucking anonymous all game - utterly useless

Is there a more stupid player than Marko v Staaden

Man we were shit

So much for Thomas not being able to scrum

Moodie was crap as were Kriel and de Allende

Best Bok was Ox

Pollard, Kolbe and Kwagga were good as was Eben when he came on

Another game to forget but we’ll take the win - some times you have to win ugly

The team is off colour - the fact that we are yet to select our best side speaks volumes

We look flat footed, we make far too many errors and concede too many penalties some through plain stupidity - queue v Staaden

Here is the player ratings of Rugby 365:-

15 Aphelele Fassi – 6

The fullback took his first high ball with ease in the first minute. He looked more confident than last week. Moved to left wing when Feinbergh-Mngomezulu entered the fray. Made a great try-saving tackle in front of the Springbok’s uprights. Received a yellow card for a knock down with two minutes to go. O’Connors’ penalty kick was short.

14 Canan Moodie – 6

He strolled in for the Boks’ first try (his eight Test try, second against the Wallabies). Spilled a high kick that resulted in the Wallabies’ try, allowing them back into the game. Struggled a bit with the greasy ball, lost it once or twice. Replaced in 54th minute

13 Jesse Kriel – 5.5

He gained valuable metres with hard straight running. He led by example, putting his body on the line. Slipped a few tackles, not up to his standard.

12 Damian de Allende – 5

The midfielder put in some big hits, also kept Joseph Su’aali’i honest with no room to attack. Made 14 tackles, the second most in the game.

11 Cheslin Kolbe – 7.5

The diminutive winger was dominant in the air, chasing and retaining the hoists sent up in the air by his backs. He chased every up and under and made it impossible for the Wallabies to move in his line of defence. Excellent steal four minutes to death, showing absolute bravery to win a penalty. His nine carries was the second most in the game.

10 Handre Pollard – 8

He smashed his opening penalty kick for Boks to take an early lead, also landed his second. Stretched the Boks to a six-point lead with five out of five successful kicks. The flawless Pollard landed the conversion from Etzebeth’s try to stretch the Bok’s lead to 30-22. Kicked six-out-of six. Was the Man of the Match and solidified his position as the number one flyhalf for South Africa.

9 Grant Williams – 8

As always, the nuggety scrumhalf gave quick service from behind the scrum, his box kicks were on point. Couldn’t really exploit the space around the ruck, often opted to kick instead. Replaced in the 60th minute.

8 Kwagga Smith – 8

Having been brought into the starting line-up at late notice at No.8, he immediately got into the thick of things, making his presence felt in the loose. Brilliant under the high ball in the early exchanges. Conceded the Boks’ first penalty for infringement at the ruck. Got over for the second Bok try, worked hard in the build-up to the try (his 10th Test try) five minutes before half time. Sometimes overeager at the breakdown, conceding penalties off the ground. Made 14 tackles the second most in the game.

7 Franco Mostert – 4.5

The flanker had a relative quiet first half but put in some big tackles. Doesn’t look entirely comfortable at flank. Replaced in 66th minute

6 Marco van Staden – 6

He conceded a soft penalty for coming in from the side. Together with Smith needed to be more cognisant of their movements around the ruck, sometimes ended up in the way of the backs

5 Ruan Nortje – 7

The lanky lock put in a lot of hard work on defense in the first half, he was relentless and all over the show. Replaced in the 45th minute

4 RG Snyman – 6

He stole the ball that started the movement which ended in Moodie’s try, tower of strength and confidence in the lineouts. Is he better off the bench? Replaced in the 45th minute.

3 Thomas du Toit – 8

Thomas the tank took up the ball that led to the Boks’ first try. Won a valuable turnover for the Springboks and was actually a handfull at the breakdowns. Nine tackles made in a stand-out performance. Replaced in 63rd minute.

2 Malcolm Marx – 6

The seasoned hooker was good at the breakdown early on, still not a perfect performance come lineout time. Replaced in the 70th minute. Put in eight tackles.

1 Ox Nche – 7

The cake lover had a great little run early in the first half, started the second half tearing through the middle of a maul to steal the ball. Was a consistent source of go-forward. Replaced in 70th minute.

16 Marnus van der Merwe – entered 78th minute – not enough time to rate.

17 Boan Venter – entered 70th minute – not enough time to rate.

18 Wilco Louw – 6 – entered 63rd minute, first scrum stood strong and steady

19 Eben Etzebeth – 8.5 – entered 45th minute, immediately brought the go-forward for the Boks, but on attack lost the ball forward. Executed a great charge down. Really got stuck in, taking up the ball. Contested most of the Wallabies’ throw-ins. Unfortunately conceded a penalty for off-side with the Boks 23-17 ahead. The touchfinder by the Aussies resulted in a try. Luckily for South Africa the conversion was missed. Scored his eighth Test try with six minutes to go, managed to burrow over.

20 Lood de Jager – 5.5 – entered 45th minute, hunted on defense in tandem with Etzebeth but a bit on the quiet side.

21 Andre Esterhuizen – entered 66th minute, replacing Franco Mostert at flank. Did not do enough to rate.

22 Cobus Reinach – 6 – entered in 60th minute, excellent steal after Fassi’s try saving tackle. Great kick-through and chase, together with Feinberg-Mngomezulu, forcing a mistake in the Aussies 22.

23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – 6 – entered 54th minute. Great first touch out of the air but then threw a wild pass to no-one. Unfortunately conceded a penalty with a high tackle with four minutes left on the clock. The Wallabies’ penalty kick went awry.

The above is a far more realistic and proven assesment of what happened during the match than the orginal posting by SB. For example Esterhuizen played for 16 minutes and was not rated by the Rugby evaluations by the Rugby 365 contributors, SB gave hm a 6 for doing NOTHING bar BS in the 16 minutes.

In reality the backline sage was atrocious and part of which was the fact that both the scrummies and Pollard kicked the ball too much and that nullified backline attacks.