South Africa lost 33-16 to New Zealand in the first Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at Ellis Park, and the ratings below will look wrong next to that scoreline. The best player on the field wore green and gold. So did three of the next four.
That is not consolation. The Springboks won the scrum, the collisions and most of the aerial contest, then lost by 17 points because two players in the No 9 and No 10 shirts could not turn any of it into points. Eleven entries into the New Zealand 22 produced one try.
Every Springbok who took the field on Saturday 22 August is rated out of 10 below.
READ ALSO: How the All Blacks lost the first hour at Ellis Park and won the Test anyway
Springboks player ratings
Forwards
1. Ox Nche — 8. Put Tyrel Lomax through the floor on 32 minutes and set the tone for the hour that followed. Off on 46 with the scrum still owning the contest, and South Africa never converted that dominance into the yellow card it deserved.
2. Malcolm Marx — 6.5. A steal inside the first minute, carries that shifted the gainline all evening, and then the moment that summed up the night: the ball spilled over the New Zealand line from a maul on 35 with Jordie Barrett’s hand in. Also missed his jumper on four minutes.
3. Wilco Louw — 7. The quiet half of a scrum that was winning penalties at will. Conceded one at the breakdown on 19 for not rolling away. Replaced on 62.
4. Eben Etzebeth — 7. Charged down Cam Roigard inside the first minute, stole New Zealand lineout ball against the throw on 36, and made real ground in the left tram. The high tackle on eight minutes handed New Zealand the platform for Will Jordan’s opening try.
5. Ruan Nortje — 6.5. Secure on his own throw and part of a pack that was never in trouble. Not a match where a lock could change much beyond the set piece.
6. Paul de Villiers — 7.5. Twelve completed tackles by half-time, more than any player on the field on either side, in his first outing against New Zealand. The best of the newer Springboks by a distance.
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain) — 6.5. Worked as hard as ever in Siya Kolisi’s absence. The captaincy calls are the question: three second-half scrum penalties in a row, three decisions to scrum again, and nothing on the board for any of them.
8. Jasper Wiese — 9. The best player at Ellis Park and it was not close. Fourteen dominant carries, more than 75 metres, a turnover, and a defensive shift that never dipped. He rampaged over Ruben Love on 28 minutes and only stopped because he ran out of touchline. On the losing side, which tells you everything about the evening.
Backs
9. Grant Williams — 4.5. The box kick Fabian Holland charged down on 48 was the moment the Test turned, and it came from being slow at the base — a problem all evening, not a one-off. Moved to the wing on 58 when Cobus Reinach arrived.
10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu — 5. One lovely piece of skill on 42 minutes, hoisting and reclaiming his own kick. Beyond that: three overrun passes, a dropped ball under no pressure on 67 with the backline finally in space, and no answer at all when the scrum stopped producing points. He did not even take the goal kicks.
11. Kurt-Lee Arendse — n/a. Off inside 14 minutes after failing a head injury assessment.
12. Damian de Allende — 6.5. A 100th cap, the 10th Springbok to reach the mark, and a performance that did the usual unglamorous things well. Took a difficult cross-kick cleanly on 50 minutes. Not the night the occasion deserved.
13. Jesse Kriel — 6. Diligent in the chase and the cover, including a scramble back to his own line on 70. Knocked on chasing a box kick on 41.
14. Cheslin Kolbe — 8. Four shots at goal, four successes, and he took them because nobody else was going to. Contested everything in the air and pinned Ruben Love into touch inside the New Zealand 22 on 39. Withdrawn on 58, which South Africa may want back.
15. Damian Willemse — 6.5. Saved a certain try by getting a hand to Damian McKenzie’s offload on 58, took a wonderful catch under the high ball on 22 and made 20 metres on a jinking counter on 50. Also spilled it in contact on 78 and never found the right kick.
Replacements
20. Andre Esterhuizen — 7.5. On for Arendse’s HIA on 14 and scored South Africa’s only try minutes later, running straight through two tacklers inside the 22. The one Springbok who took a chance when it came.
17. Gerhard Steenekamp — 7. Took over from Nche on 46 and the scrum kept winning penalties. Not remotely his fault that they stopped translating into points.
18. Zachary Porthen — 6. On at 62 into a match that was already turning. Held his own.
19. Cobus Wiese — 6. Introduced in the closing quarter and took the lineout ball on 77 when South Africa were chasing consolation.
16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels — 5. Stripped by Ardie Savea on 70 in the sequence that put New Zealand back on the front foot.
21. Marco van Staden — 4. Sin-binned on 70 for taking out the scrum-half on his own line.
22. Cobus Reinach — 4. Sin-binned on 71, a minute after van Staden, for a deliberate knock-on. South Africa were down to 13 and the final try followed almost immediately.
What Erasmus has to decide before Cape Town
Nothing in the pack. Nche, Wiese, Etzebeth, du Toit and de Villiers all delivered, and the scrum was the most dominant unit on the field for an hour.
The half-backs are the whole question. Williams at 4.5 and Feinberg-Mngomezulu at 5 are the two lowest marks any Springbok has taken in this fixture for some time, and they are the two positions that decide whether forward dominance becomes points. Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach both sit on the bench as alternatives, and Reinach’s yellow card has not helped his case.
The second Test is at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 29 August. South Africa need a backline, not a bigger pack.
READ ALSO: All Blacks player ratings: front row 4s, a bench 8 and the substitution that won it
Disagree? Wiese at 9 in a 17-point defeat and Feinberg-Mngomezulu at 5 are the two that will start arguments. Have your say in the comments.
