Player Ratings: Boks show true grit

OPINION: The Springboks will be kicking themselves that they did not make their first-half dominance count against the All Blacks.

Rassie Erasmus’ side dominated possession and territory in the opening 40 minutes and they rattled the All Blacks with some clever play,  but they only had six points to show for that.

However, it was still a fairly strong performance from the Springboks and they will be happy with the fight they showed to rescue a draw.

That makes it one win and one draw from their last two outings in New Zealand

Warren Fortune rates the South African players.

15 Willie le Roux
He looked very rusty and failed to make any real impact on attack. His play with ball in hand was below average.
5/10

14 Cheslin Kolbe
The best player on the field for the Springboks. He threatened the All Blacks’ defence a few times with ball in hand and he was a man possessed on defence. His chip kick also led to Herschel Jantjies’ crucial try.
8/10

13 Lukhanyo Am
Slow and predictable in that midfield. His defensive game needs a lot of work as well.
5/10

12 Damian de Allende
He is selected to get the Boks over the gainline with his big fame and he did that on a few occasions. However, he is another predictable cog in the Bok backline.
6/10

11 Makazole Mapimpi
Missed quite a few tackles out wide and his place in the team is certainly at risk.
4/10

10 Handré Pollard
It was a mixed bag from the flyhalf. His distribution and decision making was questionable, but his overall performance was good enough. He also showed nerves of steel land that last conversion.
6/10

9 Francois de Klerk
While the rest of his backline is predictable, he is certainly not. He caused a lot of problems for the All Blacks in the first half and he was missed later in the game.
7/10

8 Duane Vermeulen (captain)
Not the best performance from the No.8. He had a few good carries but was not the colossus we expect him to be.
6/10

7 Pieter-Steph du Toit
Did a lot of hard work on defence but the Springboks could have used him more with ball in hand.
7/10

6 Albertus Smith
We know what he is capable of, but he was a bit too quiet in open play. He did have a few good carries and some good breakdown work.
6/10

5 Franco Mostert
He had a high work rate in open play. He was a prominent figure in the physical stuff.
7/10

4 Eben Etzebeth
A powerful presence with ball in hand. Some of the All Blacks players will have headaches after he ran into them.
7/10

3 Frans Malherbe
Another lazy performance by the prop. Someone needs to tell him to do more on the field than just scrum.
3/10

2 Malcolm Marx
Not the Malcolm Marx we know. He went missing in open play and struggled to find his jumpers at the beginning of the game.
5/10

1 Steven Kitshoff
Solid enough in the scrums and made his presence felt at the breakdowns.
6/10

Replacements:

16 Bongi Mbonambi (On for Malcolm Marx, 70th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.

17 Tendai Mtawarira (On for Steven Kitshoff, 58th minute)
Put in a good amount of work on defence and had a couple of carries.
6/10

18 Trevor Nyakane (On for Frans Malherbe, 56th minute)
Did some good work on defence and he put some pressure on his opposite number at scrum time.
6/10

19 Rudolph Snyman (On for Eben Etzebeth, 50th minute)
Failed to make a real impact when he came on and gave away a stupid penalty late in the game.
4/10

20 Francois Louw (On for Albertus Smith, 67th minute)
Not enough time to be rated.

21 Herschel Jantjies (On for Francois de Klerk, 44th minute)
He probably wasn’t expecting to come on so early, but he handled the pressure well and scored the crucial try at the end.
7/10

22 Frans Steyn (On for Damian de Allende, 56th minute)
He offered nothing on attack and just made up the numbers in the last 20 minutes.
3/10

23 Jesse Kriel (On for Lukhanyo Am, 50th minute)
Missed too many tackles which put his team under pressure.
2/10

@rugby365com

🇿🇦 HERSCHEL JANTJIES DOES IT AGAIN!

A try at the death followed by a calm conversion from Handre Pollard has meant that the #RugbyChampionship test between the @AllBlacks and the @Springboks has finished in a 16-all draw. pic.twitter.com/j0dEdqU3W3

— SuperSport (@SuperSportTV) July 27, 2019