All Blacks player ratings vs Springboks | The Rugby Championship
The All Blacks travelled to South Africa with one task on the agenda – righting the ship that had veered so seriously off-course in their two most recent matches with Ireland.
From the outset in Mbombela, however, the Springboks’ had the upper hand. Their first try came in just the eighth minute and they remained at least seven points clear of their opposition throughout the remainder of the game.
A late try to Shannon Frizell helped restore some respect to the scoreline for the All Blacks, which had ballooned out to 19-3 in the Springboks’ favour, but the home side managed to score with time effectively up on the clock, ultimately securing them a comfortable 26-10 victory.
How did the All Blacks rate in defeat?
1. George Bower – 4/10
Industrious on defence, topping the tackle chart for the All Blacks. Didn’t feature with ball in hand. Copped one penalty at scrumtime but otherwise appeared to have parity with his opposites. Off in 63rd minute.
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho – 7
The pick of the All Blacks. The All Blacks’ strongest carrier in the first half, typically taking two or three defenders to bring him to ground. Free-kicked at the first scrum but nailed all his lineouts in a high-pressure environment and generally justified his selection in the No 2 jersey. Off in 56th minute.
3. Angus Ta’avao – 3.5
Pinged at the first Springboks scrum and again late in the first half but got one back of his own right before the halftime break. Tried to get himself involved on attack with some short passes. Wasn’t quite the disaster some had predicted but didn’t exactly hold his own either. Off in 48th minute.
4. Sam Whitelock – 5.5
Tackled fiercely and was mighty at lineout time against some very good operators. No longer offers much with the ball in hand but the fact that New Zealand were able to retain their own ball at the lineout gave them some semblance of hope of putting up a fight when not a lot went their way.
5. Scott Barrett – 5
Won a good turnover when the Boks were attacking early in the second half. Otherwise carried strongly but like his teammates, struggled to assert himself against the more powerful Springboks forwards. Carried Off in 73rd minute.
6. Akira Ioane – 4.5
Made some good carries and hit rucks but his night will be remembered for that awful in-field pass that drifted well forward when the All Blacks were on the counter-attack. Off in 56th minute.
7. Sam Cane – 5
Made a great tackle on Malolm Marx to force a knock-on at halfway. Pinged once for going off his feet while attempting a steal. Generally struggled to offer much at breakdown time.
8. Ardie Savea – 6.5
Secured a defensive breakdown penalty when the Springboks were hot on attack inside the 22 and always looked to get the ball in his hands but couldn’t quite replicate his destructive feats from prior games. Threw a great short ball to Will Jordan to create a linebreak.
9. Aaron Smith – 5
Struggled to ignite his backline but had to deal with some turgid, sloppy ball. Off in 70th minute.
10. Beauden Barrett – 5.5
Regularly took on the line. Couldn’t take a high bomb early doors, with the Springboks pouncing on the error to score their first try of the match. Sparked a brilliant counter-attack from inside his own goal after managing to prevent a 50-22, with the All Blacks bringing the ball back to halfway. Taken off for an HIA in the final minutes after a terrible aerial challenge from Kurt-Lee Arendse.
11. Caleb Clarke – 5
Quiet in the first half but the ball came his way more in the second. Threw himself into half-gaps but was never quite able to break through the defence.
12. David Havili – 4
Couldn’t make any impact as a ball-carrier and struggled to create opportunities for the men outside him. Dropped one ball late when the All Blacks were starting to put some phases together, and South Africa almost managed to capitalise. Tackled stoutly but simply not the answer in the No 12 jersey.
13. Rieko Ioane – 4
Didn’t offer any incisiveness in the midfield but the ball rarely came his way. Off in 64th minute. Returned with time almost up in place of Beauden Barrett.
14. Will Jordan – 4
Kicked the ball out on the full with his first touch of the game – in the 42nd minute. Ran a great line off Savea – which seems to be becoming a specialty of the combo – to get the All Blacks out of trouble from deep inside their own half.
15. Jordie Barrett – 5.5
Made a great covering tackle on Makazole Mapimpi to prevent what looked a likely try in the first five minutes. Was taken out Sam Cane when he was going for a high ball and didn’t look right for the rest of his time on the field. Off in 53rd minute.
Reserves:
16. Dane Coles – 2
On in 56th minute. A horror run off the bench for the experienced head. Couldn’t find his target with his first lineout delivery and then knocked the ball on with his first carry. His third lineout throw also wasn’t straight. Stymied any attempts from the All Blacks at building momentum.
17. Ethan de Groot
On in 63rd minute.
18. Tyrel Lomax
On in 48th minute. Pinged immediately for illegal scrummaging but came right afterwards.
19. Tupou Vaa’i – N/A
On in 73rd minute.
20. Shannon Frizell – 4.5
On in 56th minute. Made one big tackle with his first act of the game and had a strong 10-second burst where he threw off a would-be tackle and then got up in support of Clarke’s run to grab a well-taken try. Moments later, dropped a ball and the Springboks kicked through to score the final blow of the game.
21. Finlay Christie – N/A
On in 70th minute.
22. Richie Mo’unga – 6.5
On in 53rd minute. Sniped a few gaps and looked full of vigour. One brilliant chasing tackle prevented a sure try. Nailed a sideline conversion to ensure the All Blacks didn’t fall to their worst-ever defeat at the hands of the Springboks.
23. Quinn Tupaea – 5
On in 64th minute. Entered the game in the centre role – the first time he’s played in the position for the All Blacks.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments