Player ratings: Proud performance
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The Springboks came agonisingly close to toppling the No.1 team in the world, losing by a mere four points. but it is a performance the Boks can be proud of.
The two teams went toe-to-toe through the full 80 minutes, scoring a try a piece on either side of half-time, but in the end it was probably the All Blacks decision making that won them the tussle.
The Springboks will be happy to have gained plenty of positives out of the losing cause, especially in discovering the true class of some of their younger stars.
The Springboks, on captain Jean de Villiers 100th cap, will be disappointed to lose, but will never the less be proud of their best performance of the Championship so far.
We rate the Springboks
15 Willie le Roux
Bit of a sloppy performance in handling the ball but still devastating with his run – the definition of an up and down game, but it is his experimental style that leads to that.
5/10
14 Cornal Hendricks
Excellent finishing and general running in open play, beating defenders at will like a true Sevens specialists.
7/10
13 Jan Serfontein
Put in plenty of tackles to sure up that dangerous outside centre berth, also a great stop on McCaw who was inches from the line.
8/10
12 Jean de Villiers (captain)
Nothing to flashy from the centurion captain but was brilliant on defence and hard-nosed and direct in attack.
7/10
11 Bryan Habana
Looked busy and tried to get involved in everything which lead to a number of typical Habana runs circa 2007.
7/10
10 Handré Pollard
Great kicking out of the hand and excellent vision for the Hendricks try, definitely did not disgrace himself under the enormous pressure presented to him – also saved a Savea try by hanging on with one hand.
9/10
9 Ruan Pienaar
An accomplished performance but nothing special, looked lazy from time to time before getting injured quite unluckily.
6/10
8 Duane Vermeulen
Another huge defensive effort from the abrasive forward added to this his ball fetching skills made it a solid all round performance and then add in his brilliant ball carrying skill and he could easily be called the man of the match.
9/10
7 Marcell Coetzee
Made some crucial steals, and seemed indispensable at times especially seeing as he topped the tackle count alongside Matfield with 16.
8/10
6 Francois Louw
A very quite game cut short by an injury, made very few tackles for his standard and missed too many to boot.
4/10
5 Victor Matfield
Involved in plenty of the donkey work early on, pressured the line-out as expected and made more tackles than most of his comrades
8/10
4 Eben Etzebeth
Put in some massive hits early on, and smashed the ruck and maul area, but his slipped a few tackles that he shouldn't have.
6/10
3 Jannie du Plessis
Looked very tired and out of form – didn't let down his side in the scrums but was a passenger in the loose play bar a few group tackles
4/10
2 Adriaan Strauss
Cannot underestimate his contribution to the successful line-out display, especially in comparison to Bismarck du Plessis
7/10
1 Tendai Mtawarira
Very little to do other than to make his tackles and scrum – which he did without fault, but had a terrible moment when he tried to flick the ball back for Aaron Smith to run onto.
5/10
Replacments:
16 Bismarck du Plessis (on for Strauss, 54 mins)
Had a horrendous day throwing in the line-out and the scrum seem to suffer when he came on.
1/10
17 Trevor Nyakane (on for Mtawarira, 66 mins)
Continued the good scrumming performance from Mtawarira and got even more involved in the loose play.
6/10
18 Marcel van der Merwe (on for J. Du Plessis, 77 mins)
Crucial scrum win in the dying minutes when he came on to the park, that gave the Boks one last shot at victory.
6/10
19 Lodewyk de Jager (on for Etzebeth, 70 mins)
Did very little with his 10 minutes
4/10
20 Warren Whiteley (on for Louw, 47 mins)
Played his absolute heart out, getting involved where ever he could – and often where others would not.
8/10
21 Francois Hougaard (on for Pienaar, 35 mins)
Provided some good service for his backs but did not set the field on fire.
6/10
22 Pat Lambie (on for Le Roux 70 mins)
No enough chance to be rated.
23 Damian de Allende
Not used.
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