Springbok Ratings vs France- ex Rugby365

South Africa was humiliated by Ireland last week and then lost the rights to host the 2023 World Cup to France a few days later. However, the players managed to put all that behind them to grind out the narrow victory.

Jeremy Papier rates the Springboks!

15 Andries Coetzee
Solid performance at the back. Positioning was good and kicked well. Not a spotless performance but good enough.
5/10

14 Dillyn Leyds
Had very strong first half and managed to score the first try of the game. Looked for work and got involved both on attack and defence.
5/10

13 Jesse Kriel
Showed a few glimpses on attack. Solid on defence, however, missed a crucial tackle that led to the first try for France.
5/10

12 Francois Venter
Very direct and physical on attack and defence. Showed good intent and perhaps one of the best performers in the backline for South Africa.
7/10

11 Courtnal Skosan
Good carries early on and continued to look for work throughout the game
5/10

10 Handre Pollard
Missed a few kicks but was very physical on defence and attack. Struggled early on and made a few errors but got back into it and despite an awful day with the boot, there were some positives.
4/10

9 Ross Cronje
Strong performance, controlling play nicely and made a few good kicks and when called upon to defend or attack he was there
5/10

8 Duane Vermeulen
Strong physical presence felt. Had a number of carries and defensively strong. Good to see him back in the green and gold. Did some good work on the ground too.
6/10

7 Siya Kolisi
Solid performance and definitely enjoyed the familiar role of roaming at the back. Had a few good carries and touches on the wing and defensively solid.
7/10

6 Francois Louw
Very good show in his natural position as he would have been delighted to be. Strong carries and worked tirelessly on defence.
6/10

5 Lodewyk de Jager
Really got stuck into it from the start. Line-out steals and a few strong carries. Lead the defensive charges with his lock partner.
6/10

4 Eben Etzebeth
Lead from the front as Captain. Carried relentlessly and lead the defensive charges. Very strong performance on attack as he carried relentlessly.
6/10

3 Wilco Louw
Solid performance by the big man. Carrying a couple of times and made a few tackles. Kept up with the pace of the game and stuck around till close to the end. Solid scrummaging.
7/10

2 Malcolm Marx
The best performer on the day for his team. Worked really hard on defence and managed to create turnover ball with his work rate. Carried very strongly giving the Boks front-foot ball. Solid line-out throws.
8/10

1 Tendai Mtawarira
Strong performance by the Beast. Carried a number of times and had solid scrums except for the one penalty against him.
5/10

Replacements:

16 Bongi Mbonambi
Not used.

17 Steven Kitshoff (on for Mtawarira, 53rd min)
Added to the Boks winning performance.
5/10

18 Trevor Nyakane (on for Louw, 74th min)
Not enough time to be rated.

19 Franco Mostert (on for Etzebeth, 62nd minute)
Picked up where his captain left off.
5/10

20 Daniel du Preez (on for Kolisi, 73rd minute)
Not enough time to be rated.

21 Rudi Paige
Not used.

22 Elton Jantjies
Not used.

23 Damian de Allende
Not used.

By Jeremy Papier

From this report, Francious Venter was the best Springbok backline player.  He is not much- but at least he is a specialist. He can also at least tackle. 
Pollard had a poor kicking game, worse than any performance of Jantjies this season

Francois Venter at least made 12 of his 13 tackle attempts......unlike the woeful Kriel who missed 6 tackles in 17 attempts. Kriel did, however, beat 3 tackles.....Venter never beat a tackle in 13 runs. That said he did at least take the ball at pace, something we never saw from Allende. .. Neither of these two players are international centres.

 I agree with most ratings bar the following:-
Kriel     -    4/10.   His defense was pathetic.Pollard  -    3/10    Defense poor, goal-kicking poor, decision,aking and out of had kicking and passing game sub-standardVermeulen -  4/10  Lost two line-outs on own throw - defense sub-standard and was totally over-shadowed by Louis Picamoles.
I think that Pollard is a shadow of his former self  as a junior and that some aspects of his game has deteriorated badly.  He will not get any better  on this tour and we will have to see what Mitchell can do with him next year.   At this stage he is not a test level  player.
Another problem is Vermeulen - he was clearly not match fit yersterday and he was the weakest loosie of the three,   He could be of some use in line-outs - but lost two on own throw.   He is not the no 8 he used to be three years ago,   Not up to standard at test level at present.