England player ratings vs South Africa: 3rd Test
England’s tour of South Africa came to its conclusion earlier today, as the visitors salvaged pride with an impressive and disciplined 25-10 win at Newlands in Cape Town.
The conditions were different to the ones England experienced in Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, with rain sheeting down ahead of the kick-off and a slippery surface, but they handled them well and sent their fans into the offseason with a much-needed performance and result.
We have run the rule over the players involved.
It's full time in Cape Town and England have beaten the @springboks ?#RSAvENG #CarryThemHome pic.twitter.com/gZvBdVY5mV
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 23, 2018
- Elliot Daly – 6
Not the best series Daly will have, with his struggles kicking from hand continuing to plague him in the third Test. He did, however, continue to impress as a link man in attack, popping up as the option to draw defenders in the wider channels and unleash the wings, putting them into one-on-one situations with Warrick Gelant.
- Jonny May – 8
Another class showing from England’s man of the series, in a game with conditions which wings had no right to shine in. His positioning, tackling, work under the high ball and footwork were all excellent on a wet day at Newlands, whilst he also proved the most effective of England’s chasers, constantly harassing the Springboks. Richly deserved his late try.
- Henry Slade – 5
Not the kind of game to get the best out of Slade, with England picking and choosing their moments to go wide, rather than risk handling errors. He was brushed off in a couple of tackles by the Boks, one of which led to Jesse Kriel’s try a phase later, when there was no sweeper present and South Africa were able to kick in behind.
- Owen Farrell – 7
Not a vintage Farrell performance but he kicked well at goal, making all seven of his kicks, and it was as a captain where he looked most impressive. Where Farrell had joined in the handbags between the two teams in the previous two matches, this week he was calming down his players and assuming the role of captain, rather than just star player. Some early signs of chemistry between he and Danny Cipriani, too.
- Mike Brown – 7
Rotated well with Daly, often moving into full-back for defensive situations, and proceeded to shut down multiple Springbok attacks with good one-on-one defence. Showed his power as a carrier, too, when receiving the ball in a limited amount of space on the left wing.
- Danny Cipriani – 7
Went well, albeit quietly, for the first 60 minutes and played the conditions smartly. Linked well with Farrell and the two interchanged effectively, as well as offering playmaking options at different depths in the back line. Pulled off a moment of magic with his kick – whilst under significant pressure – to send May in for a try.
- Ben Youngs – 6
Youngs’ kicking game was valuable to England, particularly given the conditions, but there were a couple of times he delayed too long to get the ball out of the breakdown and an outnumbered England were counter-rucked and subsequently conceded possession. Ultimately managed the game well, though, and successfully marshalled his pack around the Newlands turf.
- Joe Marler – 8
The loosehead dealt well with some of the questionable angles that were being thrown at him by South African tighthead Frans Malherbe. In addition to strong scrummaging, he also popped up with impact at the breakdown, forcing a couple of turnovers out of the Springboks and helping deliver relatively quick ball for England.
? #CarryThemHome pic.twitter.com/dOt6eVf8PT
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 23, 2018
- Jamie George – 6
Having put in a cleaner performance in the second Test with his throwing and his discipline in the breakdown when compared to the series opener, the testing conditions in Cape Town pegged him back. He missed four of his 13 lineouts, albeit two of those four were scrambled back by England in the ensuing melee.
- Kyle Sinckler – 7
Surprisingly, we had to wait until the wettest and worst conditions of the series to see Sinckler’s ability in the loose. Showcased his soft hands as a playmaker on the gain-line and proved effective as a carrier close to the rucks. Scrummaged well and though he conceded one breakdown penalty for going off his feet, even that was a 50/50 call and certainly impacted by the conditions.
- Joe Launchbury – 6
Showed his value on the wet surface at Newlands, cleaning up some scrappy ball and proving a reliable target for George at the lineout. He was busy in the loose, too, with his performance ranging from the low of isolating himself as a carrier and conceding the ball to the Boks, to the highs of getting his hands in the South African maul and forcing a turnover.
- Maro Itoje – 6
Another solid, if unspectacular performance from Itoje, who claimed five lineouts, as well as managing to steal a Springbok lineout. A cleaner performance in terms of discipline, too, with an early drive at a defensive lineout his sole infringement. Fronted up with some big tackles on the gain-line against South Africa’s power carriers.
- Chris Robshaw – 7
The week off seemed to do the world of good for Robshaw, who looked much fresher at Newlands. Not only was he busier around the field, but the tackles on the gain-line, where he was losing the collisions during his recent starts for England, he was winning in Cape Town. Popped up with a couple of steals at the breakdown, too, dovetailing well with Tom Curry.
- Tom Curry – 8
Another strong outing from the openside, who was a pest to South African ball-security throughout, stealing ball at the breakdown and by holding up Springbok carriers and forcing mauls. He was also quickly away from the scrums, scything down carriers like Duane Vermeulen and Faf de Klerk for little to no gain.
- Nathan Hughes – 5
Struggled to impact the game in the way in which he usually does for Wasps, with the N8 driven backwards in the tackle multiple times, most notably so by de Klerk when Hughes picked and went from the base of the scrum. In Hughes’ defence, he is coming off the back of a lengthy injury layoff and is clearly short of fitness and form, but it was certainly a day to forget in Cape Town.
Replacements
- Luke Cowan-Dickie – n/a
Unused sub.
- Alec Hepburn – n/a
Unused sub.
- Harry Williams – 6
Came on early in the second half in an attempt to counter the scrummaging of Steven Kitshoff. Kitshoff looked to have the upper hand in the few engagements they had, but Williams did win a penalty out of the South African for his angle at their third and final scrummaging confrontation.
- Jonny Hill – n/a
Unused sub.
- Mark Wilson – 6
Impact off the bench, including charging down an Elton Jantjies kick and winning England possession back deep in South African territory.
- Sam Simmonds – n/a
Unused sub.
- Ben Spencer – n/a
Unused sub.
- Denny Solomona – n/a
Did come on, but in the 77th minute, with no opportunity to affect the game.
Comments on RugbyPass
Will be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
35 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
35 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
1 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
35 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
35 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
35 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
35 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
35 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
35 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
35 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
2 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to commentshit on Lynagh was defo late and card-worthy. The other 2 are bang on OK. Hurts you at Test level if youre timing is off and the nostrils are flared. Jerry C knew when to lean in on one, Finau just needs to keep his discipline and head straight.
7 Go to commentsSlade was exceptional against Gloucester. Not only was he doing the classic Slade stuff of running amazing lines and timing passes to perfection to put his wingers into space, he was kicking goals, flying off the line smashing people and crashing into rucks like a flanker… his hair even looked on point. 😍
1 Go to comments