All Blacks player ratings vs Springboks | The Rugby Championship
The All Blacks arrived at Ellis Park in Johannesburg looking to avenge last week’s 26-10 loss without any semblance of form to call on.
Having fallen to three successive losses, they unsurprisingly entered the match as massive outsiders – but it was the All Blacks who had the better run of the opening half hour, outscoring the Springboks 15 points to zip.
The home side raced back into the contest as the game wore on, however, and the All Blacks found themselves just a single point ahead going into the final quarter.
The Springboks took the lead with 12 minutes left to play but it was the unfancied New Zealanders who had the better of the final 10, with David Havili and Scott Barrett both touching down to hand the All Blacks a 35-23 win.
1. Ethan de Groot – 5.5/10
Incurred one scrum penalty late in the first half, which Handre Pollard converted into three points, but otherwise held his own in what was easily the biggest match of his career to date. Didn’t offer much around the park but in a game against the Springboks, set-piece security is far and away the priority. Off in 52nd minute.
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho – 7
Threw two lineout deliveries clean over the top but otherwise hit his targets. Forced his way over the line from close range for a well-taken try and was generally the All Blacks’ busiest carrier during his time on the park, notching up 11 in the first half alone. Off in 56th minute.
3. Tyrel Lomax – 6
Won the first scrum penalty of the game and made some great hits on defence. Did get pinged once at the set-piece but generally looked stable up against some formidable foes. Off in 55th minute.
4. Sam Whitelock – 8.5
Ripped the ball clean when the Springboks were on the attack in the 22 and then forced a turnover when the Springboks were back on attack towards the end of the half. He even chased up the ensuing kick from Richie Mo’unga to help set up the attacking platform that soon led to the All Blacks’ second try. Stole two Springboks lineouts. Pinged once for bad entry at the breakdown but a monumental effort all the same.
5. Scott Barrett – 7
Was a big player in the maul defence and crashed into the breakdown with regularity. Secure in the lineout and grabbed one steal. Scored the final try of the game to add some gloss to the score. One of his best performances in the black jersey.
6. Shannon Frizell – 6
Had a few hiccups in the first half – was pinged for incorrect entry at the maul and then mistimed a run off Aaron Smith which resulted in a knock on, but threw himself into every contact and delivered the most physical game of his Test career. Off in 60th minute.
7. Sam Cane – 6.5
Tackled his heart out, recording the biggest total of the match, and had more luck helping to retain his team’s ball at the breakdown than the week prior. Found himself on the end of a nice attacking move from the All Blacks to touch down on the right-hand side for his team’s first try. Off in 69th minute.
8. Ardie Savea – 8
Made a brilliant run down the left wing in the opening five minutes, stepping around and through multiple tacklers to set up a great attacking position for the All Blacks. Grabbed a crucial breakdown turnover when the Springboks were throwing wave after attacking wave at the tryline. Moved to the openside flank for the final 10.
9. Aaron Smith – 6
Didn’t have to deal with quite as scrappy ball as last week and was able to throw some sharp passes as a result. ‘Earned’ his side a penalty – and three points – when he was smashed by Jasper Wiese after the whistle had already been blown. Off in 69th minute.
10. Richie Mo’unga – 8
Found great distance with his clearing kicks and wasn’t afraid to pop some chip kicks over the Springboks’ defensive line either. Contributed 15 points off the tee and his accurate goal-kicking (seven from eight attempts) was crucial to maintaining pressure.
11. Caleb Clarke – 6.5
Scrambled well to get back and shut down a Springboks attacking kick. Lined up Lukhanyo Am when the Springboks midfielder was flying down the right wing but couldn’t bring him to ground, with Am eventually bounding over the line for South Africa’s first points. Just managed to get Am into touch when it looked like the South African dazzler was set to create another try. Made one great midfield bust – although almost ran away from his support. Off in 60th minute.
12. David Havili – 7
A nice cross-field kick set Ardie Savea away on his early run. Fended off Lukhanyo Am and drew in the South African winger but couldn’t find Rieko Ioane with his offload. Fluffed one clearing kick which gifted the Springboks some prime attacking ball, although they weren’t able to capitalise. Crashed over for what was really the match-deciding try.
13. Rieko Ioane – 8
Dropped one ball when the All Blacks were looking to launch a counter-attack and generally seemed to be out of sync with his midfield partner in the early stages of the match. Found his form late in the first half, however. Combined brilliantly with Will Jordan down the right flank to launch a counter at the beginning of the second quarter which ultimately resulted in the first three points of the match, and then unleashed Jordan again en route to the All Blacks’ first try. Made some nice chase-down tackles in the wider channels. Shifted to the left wing for the final part of the match and sparked the counter-attack that led to the All Blacks’ final try.
14. Will Jordan – 7.5
Showed off his exceptional pace and great linking ability down the left-hand touch on a run with Rieko Ioane and was then on the move again almost from the next play. Couldn’t quite escape the grasp of Eben Etzebeth but was able to draw and pass from the next set of phases to create a try for captain Cane. Off in 69th minute.
15. Jordie Barrett – 7.5
Wasn’t able to get his attacking game going but stood up on defence. Couldn’t take hold of the first high ball of the game but was safe as houses for the remainder of the match. The game would have been lost without his security at the back. Chased down Pieter-Steph du Toit to prevent a long-range try. Initially shifted to the left wing when his brother entered the game in the final quarter but largely resorted to fullback when the All Blacks went down to 14 men.
Reserves:
16. Codie Taylor – 5
On in 56th minute. Only made one error at the lineout and threw himself in the breakdown and mauls.
17. George Bower – 4
On in 52nd minute. Penalised once but was otherwise reliable off the pine.
18. Fletcher Newell – 4
On for his debut in 55th minute. Knocked the ball on inside the All Blacks 22 and was also pinged once at scrum time but didn’t look out of place.
19. Tupou Vaa’i – N/A
On in 78th minute.
20. Akira Ioane – 5.5
On in 60th minute. Sturdy off the bench but not game-changing.
21. Finlay Christie – N/A
On in 69th minute.
22. Beauden Barrett – 2
On in 60th minute. Was handed a yellow card for a pretty egregious tackle off the ball.
23. Quinn Tupaea – N/A
On in 69th minute. A relatively safe pair of hands.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
41 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
41 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
41 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
41 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to comments