Player ratings: Snatching defeat
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The Springboks managed to snatch a 24-23 defeat from the jaws of victory against Australia in Perth on Saturday.
A late Rob Horne try saw the Wallabies come from behind to break Springbok hearts as the visitors suffered their first defeat in nine Tests.
The Boks had looked set to claim a tough victory in slippery conditions, but were punished by their hosts who scored the decisive try after Morné Steyn had crucially missed touch in the final stages of the match.
There were a number of minor moments that will be looked at very closely, but the bottom line is that the Springboks should have won this game quite easily and will need a big improvement next week if they are to compete with the All Blacks in Wellington.
We rate the South African players:
15 Willie le Roux
Showed glimpses of brilliance on attack with some well-timed passes, but his tactical kicking let him down at times.
6/10
14 Cornal Hendricks
Showed his devastating finishing ability to step over for his try but did not get many other opportunities in space.
7/10
13 Jan Serfontein
Worked hard on defence and showed some good breakdown skills, but did not see a lot of the ball on attack.
6/10
12 Jean de Villiers
Got over the gainline regularly and made his tackles but battled to impose himself on the opposition throughout.
6/10
11 Bryan Habana
Made a few trademark runs to get his side on the front foot and did not deserve to sit in the sin bin in his 100th Test.
7/10
10 Morné Steyn
Crucially missed touch in the final stages to cap a poor game which saw him slip off tackles and battle to ignite his backline. Clearly under orders to kick high and often, with his only saving grace his goalkicking.
4/10
9 Ruan Pienaar
A very sloppy game all-round, his kicking was not accurate enough, his handling let him down and he got caught in possession too often.
3/10
8 Duane Vermeulen
A big peformance at the back of the scrum, he was everywhere on both attack and defence, making (perfectly legal) tackles, turnovers and carrying the ball up powerfully.
8/10
7 Marcell Coetzee
A hard-working display, he got in the Wallabies' faces and also showed his value in the tackle area with some good turnovers.
7/10
6 Francois Louw
Was not able to make as much as an impact as he would like. Disrupted the Wallabies at the breakdown but was shut down quickly with ball in hand.
6/10
5 Victor Matfield
Reigned as usual in the line-outs and made a few telling tackles but made a few basic errors like getting caught ahead of the restart and going off his feet at the breakdown.
6/10
4 Eben Etzebeth
Made a few line-out steals and provided good support in the loose on top of his typical physicality in the tight exchanges.
7/10
3 Jannie du Plessis
A much-improved performance in the scrums with a couple of solid right shoulders and got around the park well as well.
7/10
2 Adriaan Strauss
Got over the gainline regularly and was accurate in the line-outs in a solid if not spectacular performance.
6/10
1 Tendai Mtawarira
Did not have things all his own way in the scrums and also made a crucial handling error with the tryline in sight but tackled hard.
5/10
Replacements:
16 Bismarck du Plessis (On for Strauss, 60 mins)
Made a crucial turnover at the death and put his body on the line in his time on the pitch.
7/10
17 Trevor Nyakane (On for Mtawarira, 69 mins)
Injected a bit of energy and got stuck in but did not have much time to make an impact.
6/10
18 Marcel van der Merwe (On for J. Du Plessis, 66 mins)
Made a few good tackles and stood his ground in the scrums.
6/10
19 Lodewyk de Jager (On for Etzebeth, 72 mins)
Worked hard but did not have many opportunities to impose himself.
6/10
20 Warren Whiteley (On for Lambie, 79 mins)
Not enough time to be rated.
21 Francois Hougaard
Not used.
22 Pat Lambie (On for Louw, 69 mins)
Did not get many opportunities with the team down to 14 men in his time on the field.
6/10
23 Damian de Allende
Not used.
By Michael de Vries
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