All Blacks Player Ratings vs Springboks: Fourth Test, Baltimore

15. Damian McKenzie

Kicked four from four, including the touchline conversion of Codie Taylor’s try on 8, so eight of New Zealand’s 28 came off his boot. Fielded and cross-kicked on 12 with the wing open, and the ball was dropped. Took the Springboks on alone on 17, met Pieter-Steph du Toit and Eben Etzebeth together and spilled. Kicked to touch inside the Springboks 22 on 65 after the officials swapped an obstruction call against him for a Manie Libbok high shot on Jordie Barrett. The best All Black on the night, which is the point about the night.

14. Will Jordan

Thirty-two phases on 38, then out the back, a line from deep at full pace, through two tacklers and under the posts. Tackled Ethan Hooker on 61, got over the ball and won the penalty. Against that: a forward spill on 45, and on 78 he mopped up a loose ball in his own half, was swamped by Jasper Wiese and company, and Cameron Hanekom scored off him.

13. Anton Lienert-Brown

Hit Damian de Allende on 10 hard enough to force the first scrum and nailed Damian Willemse on 20. Dropped McKenzie’s cross-kick above his head on 12 with the tramline empty. Went off injured, with Rieko Ioane replacing him.

12. Jordie Barrett

Nineteen tackles, the most of any back, and the hit on Willemse on 39 that forced the spill. Hoisted the kick Taylor chased on 32 and unloaded a monster over halfway on 59. Hit high by Libbok on 66 and won the penalty. He said the Springboks had the wood on New Zealand for 55 minutes at Ellis Park. Here it was 80.

11. Josh Moorby

Won a penalty on 5 for not being released down the short side. Hit by Kurt-Lee Arendse on 20 as he gathered. Offloaded to Jordan on 69 for the break that had New Zealand away, and on 72 was the man the TMO looked at, tackled by Hanekom as the ball went loose, before Arendse ran from inside his own half the other way. The try stood. Two touches of note in 80 minutes.

10. Richie Mo’unga

Ran the move that put Taylor over on 8, floated a brave pass to Jordan inside his own 22 on 10, and was put on the floor by Etzebeth on 25 with the pass already gone. Then the kicking. The clearance after Tupou Vaa’i’s steal on 27 did not find touch and South Africa came straight back; the kick to the corner on 62 that set up Ethan Blackadder’s try was the one that did. Used as a shield by McKenzie on 65. The long passages, 32 phases and 17 phases, ran through the forwards and Cam Roigard, and the shape never went through him. The call to bring him back was made before Soweto. The lowest mark in black, for a fly-half the match happened around.

9. Cam Roigard

Tap-and-go on 5, the pass for Taylor’s try on 8, and two exits on 12 and 29 that flipped the field. Box kick charged down by Etzebeth on 39. Picked du Toit’s pocket on 55 and was then penalised for going in from the side. Carried to within metres on 64 for Blackadder’s try. Off on 67 for Kyle Preston, still the All Black most likely to make something happen, which is the rule Aaron Smith says nobody writes down.

1. Ethan de Groot

Hit the line hard off a short pass on 5. Lost his footing at the scrum on 48 and the penalty became a corner lineout and Malcolm Marx’s maul try. Off with the rest of the front row on 48. The panel’s scrum fix went home and this was the alternative.

2. Codie Taylor

Captain with Ardie Savea at home with a dislocated shoulder, and scored on 8 off the angle Mo’unga’s move opened. Nine carries. Bleeding from the head after de Allende’s knee on 25 and played on, ran a one-two at the lineout on 35 and carried down the tram himself. Bounced by Wiese on 20. Off on 48 with the wound still open.

3. Fletcher Newell

Won a penalty against Ox Nché before half-time, the one scrum call New Zealand’s starting front row got. Held through the resets on 46 and 48 until de Groot slipped. Off on 48 for Tyrel Lomax.

4. Patrick Tuipulotu

First start against the Springboks, ten tackles, and off on 54 for Wallace Sititi. Fifty-four minutes without a moment either way, which against this pack counts as holding on.

5. Sam Darry

Fifteen tackles and clean lineout ball. Was the man Morné van den Berg dummied off the back of the maul on 22. Off on 57 for Josh Lord.

6. Tupou Vaa’i

The steal on 27 inside his own 22, with South Africa building through the phases, was the best turnover by anyone in black. Moved to lock on 54 when Sititi came on, and gave away the penalty on 67 for holding Hanekom off the ball with New Zealand attacking inside the Springboks 22, the score 29-21 and the momentum theirs. The coaches will replay that one.

7. Ethan Blackadder

Twenty-six tackles, the most on the field, and the try on 64: New Zealand went short at the lineout, round the back, Roigard carried to a few metres, Blackadder picked and went through Libbok. Made ground for Beauden Barrett’s try on 80. Spilled between his 22 and halfway on 74 with the score 36-21, which handed South Africa the scrum that started the sequence for the last try. The Guardian’s live blog had him “brilliant all day”. The best forward in black.

8. Peter Lakai

Moved from six to eight for Savea. Off for a head check early and back on. His side entry at the maul on 22 was the penalty South Africa scored the van den Berg try from. Tackled by Nché on 7 and turned over by Ruan Nortjé. Combined with Sititi on 61 for the break to the Springboks 22 that Jesse Kriel’s intercept ended, and ripped the ball off Wiese late.

16. Asafo Aumua

On for Taylor on 48. His throw on 62 went short and round the back for Blackadder’s try, and the lineout won turnovers on 59 and 67 while he was on.

17. Xavier Numia

On for de Groot on 48. His first scrum on 57 brought a free-kick against Gerhard Steenekamp, the first scrum call New Zealand got after the break, and the one on 69 creaked in New Zealand’s favour before the knock-on.

18. Tyrel Lomax

On for Newell on 48, packing against Steenekamp for the free-kick on 57. Held what the starting front row had not.

19. Josh Lord

On for Darry on 57 with New Zealand 15 behind. No penalty, no error, and no involvement the cameras found.

20. Wallace Sititi

On for Tuipulotu on 54, at six, with Vaa’i moving to lock. The break with Lakai on 61 took New Zealand to the Springboks 22 and looked like a try before Kriel’s intercept. Made ground with Blackadder for Barrett’s try on 80.

21. Kyle Preston

On for Roigard on 67. Thirteen minutes, and nothing the broadcast caught. For a replacement nine chasing 15 points, that is the review.

22. Rieko Ioane

On for the injured Lienert-Brown in the centres, and the game went past him.

23. Beauden Barrett

His first minutes of the series, on with the game gone. Returned a kick on 76 and sniped through the split defence under the posts on 80 after Sititi and Blackadder had made the ground. The mark is for the try.