Player ratings: Chalk and cheese

It was a massive turn around from their previous defeat which saw them dominate the scrums, breakdowns and were given an excellent attacking platform, while Patrick Lambie ran the show from the flyhalf position.

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Players who may have had question marks hanging over their heads, put any and all doubts to bed with a well-oiled performance.

We rate the South African players!

15 Zane Kirchner

A nice comeback to the international scene with a solid performance, characterised by some good metres made.

7/10

14 Lwazi Mvovo

Capped a great game with a brilliant try where he displayed excellent strength, speed and footwork to snipe through the Argentine defence.

8/10

13 Jesse Kriel

He may not have set the field alight but still proved he belongs in the No.13 jersey.

6/10

12 Damien de Allende

A good day on defence and received excellent service to allow him to link up brilliantly with Jesse Kriel.

7/10

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11 Bryan Habana

Grabbed the opening try and seems to be slowly returning to his best form with some elusive runs. He worked extremely hard and was always looking to get involved.

7/10

10 Pat Lambie

An absolute masterclass and proved why he should be the starting flyhalf. He varied his attacking play nicely, controlled the game brilliantly and was  flawless with the boot.

9/10

9 Ruan Pienaar

Linked up excellently with Lambie and his service was swift and of highest quality.

8/10

8 Schalk Burger

Maybe not his usual bruising performance but he still caught the eye at the breakdowns and on defence.

7/10

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7 Willem Alberts

A demon on defence as he let no players get through him and when combined with bulldozing runs, you get a stellar performance.

8/10

6 Heinrich Brussow

Continues to prove why he should go to the World Cup as he was a nuisance at the breakdown and more than solid in defence.

8/10

5 Victor Matfield (captain)

It was the usual stuff at the line-outs from the veteran and his straight running proved to be the catalyst for Lwazi Mvovo's try.

7/10

4 Eben Etzebeth

A brutal defensive performance which started with a try-saving tackle in the opening points and combined with a flawless performance at the line-outs.

8/10

3 Marcel van der Merwe

Not his best performance as he slipped a few tackles and went pretty much unnoticed during general play.

5/10

2 Adriaan Strauss

Provided excellent stability in the scrums and had a high work rate on defence.  

7/10

1 Trevor Nyakane

Another solid scrumming performance combined with strong ball carries in a polished performance.

7/10

Replacements:

16 Schalk Brits (on for Strauss, 40)

Grabbed his time on the park with both hands and showed he still has some speed in him to beat defenders.

7/10

17 Tendai Mtawarira (on for Nyakane, 47)

Showed there is nothing wrong with his scrumming ability and stood up to make his tackles.

7/10

18 Frans Malherbe (on for M van der Merwe, 48)

Continued with the scrum dominance and had a nice little run about after the platform had been laid for him to build on.

6/10

19 Flip van der Merwe (on for Matfield, 55)

Had massive shoes to fill and did not see enough of the ball to do so.

6/10

20 Pieter-Steph du Toit (on for Alberts, 63)

Made some good runs in his brief time on the field and looked very comfortable on the openside.

7/10

21 Cobus Reinach (on for Pienaar, 75)

Not enough time to be rated.

22 Handré Pollard (on for Kirchner, 74)

Not enough time to be rated.

23 Jan Serfontein (on for de Allende, 63)

Gained valuable time on the park and will be pleased with the run about.

5/10

By Tauriq Ebrahim

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