South Africa player ratings vs Wales | 1st Test July 2022
Damian Willemse slotted a penalty to secure a fortuitous 32-29 win for South Africa over Wales at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
However, it was the famous BOMB SQUAD that saved the Springboks their blushes and prevented the Welsh from getting the first-ever win on South African soil.
Trailing 3-18 at the half-time break, the Boks made good use of their replacement bench – scoring four second-half tries to salvage a win in the opening match of the three-Test series.
Jan de Koning rates the South African players!
15 Damian Willemse – 6
Chased out of line and got it wrong in the opening try for Wales. Made plenty of carries, for 128 metres, but was at times too selfish and too often ran up a blind ally. His options were better than Jantjies when coming in at first-receiver and took over goal-kicking in the second half, with mixed results. Kept his nerve to slot the match-winning kick.
14 Cheslin Kolbe – 7
Some great kick-chasing and tackles. Then showed his attacking skill in the second half and scored a crucial try in a match of limited opportunities. The pocket rocket is back!
13 Lukhanyo Am – 6
Great penalty turnover early in second half and more effective on attack after the break – with some great metres gained. Conceded a couple of turnovers, but settled for a decent all round game.
12 Damian de Allende – 8
Powerful carries and an immense work rate . Showed some great vision in Kolbe try.
11 Makazole Mapimpi – 6
Not a day when the game flowed his way. Very few opportunities on attack, but did his job.
10 Elton Jantjies – 2
Didn’t get into his rhythm in the opening half. His first kick hit the uprights from a relatively easy position and then missed another sitter. He then kicked a penalty out behind the corner flag and displayed some very poor options. Was replaced at half-time.
9 Francois de Klerk – 3
His service was not accurate as it should have been, not crisp enough. Took over touch-kicks in the second half and was even more erratic and had far too many shockers.
This is peak rugby 🚨
Dan Biggar having a confrontation with a South African player, whilst Faf de Klerk laughs and spins the ball effortlessly on his index finger 👆
I'm all for this kind of rugby #SAvWAL pic.twitter.com/Mktap78AN9
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 2, 2022
8 Jasper Wiese – 8
Started with a knock-on from an up-and-under and then penalised for a no-arms tackle. Made plenty of strong carries – his 19 runs earning him 54 metres. His work rate was up there and he made amends for some of those early blunders.
7 Franco Mostert – 6
Worked hard off the ball, attended plenty of rucks and made all of his tackles. Not flash, but efficient.
6 Siya Kolisi – 5
Showed some great spirit and defended his teammates against Welsh niggle – getting more involved in off-the-ball chatter. However, generally a quiet day by his standards.
5 Lood de Jager – 6
Penalised for an off-the-ball tackle and his first-half carries were not very effective. Also conceded some penalties, but made an impressive 13 tackles.
4 Eben Etzebeth – 7
Great early line-out steal and kick-charge down inside Wales 22. His tackles count was also into double digits, but like De Jager ge struggled to get over the advantage line with his carries.
3 Frans Malherbe – 5
Was a quiet day at the office and struggled to impose himself in the scrums. Also quiet in general; play.
2 Mbongeni Mbonambi – 6
After a slow start, his work rate increased, making some good ground with strong carries. Scored the Boks’ first try to start the comeback.
1 Ox Nché – 5
No real impact from his four carries, made a handful of tackles and was solid in the scrums.
Replacements:
16 Malcolm Marx – 7
Brought some much-needed power and energy to the forward pack and was part of the massive effort in the last half-hour that got the Boks back in the game.
South African fans were expecting a massive win, what's happening? #SAvWAL pic.twitter.com/TOqiY1qF8t
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 2, 2022
17 Steven Kitshoff – 5
His scrumming power helped the Boks get the edge in the set pieces, but missed as many tackles as he made and not very effective with ball in hand.
18 Vincent Koch – 6
Solid in the scrums, busy at the breakdowns and missed just one tackle. Good value off the bench.
19 Salmaan Moerat – NA
Not enough time to be rated.
20 Elrigh Louw – 6
Had one very good carry, won a turnover and made his tackles.
21 Kwagga Smith – 8
Brought some much-needed energy to a pedantic pack. Got plenty of metres with his evasive running and made his tackles.
22 Herschel Jantjies – NA
Not enough time to be rated.
23 Willie le Roux – 8
Showed his creative value to the Boks – setting up Kolbe’s try with a crucial play and making plenty of metres when the Bok game screamed for an attacking spark.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
28 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
28 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
28 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen 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.
28 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.
9 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.
28 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?
11 Go to comments