Springbok player ratings vs Argentina | The Rugby Championship

Argentina beat the world champions South Africa 29-28 in an incredible test match at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades on Saturday evening.

Hearts would have been in the mouths of each and every Springbok supporter this evening as Manie Libbok stepped up to kick what should have been the match-winner. Each heartbeat thumped louder than the last as the talented number ten stepped up to the tee.

The result of the next two seconds would come as a surrounding deflation amongst a nation as the kick went wide.

Here’s how we rated the Springbok players:

1 Ox Nche – 9.5

Stick him in the backs and he’d put a shift in there. Solid in the scrum, and deadly with ball in hand. Deserved to be on the winning side. A colossal performance.

2 Malcolm Marx – 5

Pretty ineffectual throughout and missed a couple of important tackles.

3 Thomas du Toit – 7.5

Like his front-row teammate, Du Toit was dominant in the scrum before he was taken off and sorely missed.

4 Salmaan Moerat – 5

Ferocious in defence, but offered little else. The experiment may well be done.

5 Ruan Nortje – 7

Another player who ran truly under the radar. His running game was solid and he was vital in the lineout.

6 Marco van Staden – 5.5

He conducted a tremendous turnover at the breakdown early on to stop an almost certain Argentinian try. Defensively, however, he was poor, missing three tackles in vital areas.

7 Ben-Jason Dixon – 6

He settled into the game well by making a fantastic break early on which was finished by the impressive Jesse Kriel under the sticks. Besides that, it was a relatively quiet game from Dixon.

8 Jasper Wiese – 6

You can’t knock his performance. It was solid, efficient, and everything you would expect from an international number 8. Sadly it was too average to make a major difference against an inspired Argentinian side.

9 Cobus Reinach – 6.5

Started the game like his teammates, world class. His fluid passes from the base of the ruck were next level. He excelled when being used as a playmaker, and put in a huge defensive effort before being suitably rewarded with a wonderfully taken try. Sadly his performance dwindled from there. Once Argentina turned up the pace, he was no longer in control, and his team suffered as a result.

10 Handre Pollard – 6

It was as well be a copy and paste of the above. A wonderful early touch-finder led to a brilliant bullet pass to set up the opener. His display quickly hit the off button, however, and his early brilliance quickly became a thing of distant memory.

11 Makazole Mapimpi – 5

He put his body on the line when needed, but in reality his defence was poor and offered little in attack. Will be disappointed with this rare start.

12 Lukhanyo Am – 7.5

Appeared panicky in the early stages, but settled in well at inside centre. The future of the Springbok midfield partnership remains up in the air.

13 Jesse Kriel – 8

Joining up with Lukhanyo Am, Kriel showed wonderful cohesion with the backline throughout and scored a well-worked try early on. His incredible talents were on full display through, particularly during an early play when he collected a crossfield kick from Handre Pollard before flicking the ball over his shoulder.

14 Kurt-Lee Arendse – 6.5

The speedy didn’t start well, He was pushed into touch early on and things didn’t look up when he was sent to the bin for a high tackle. He did look dangerous on the kick return, however, and will come away from the game with plenty to work on.

15 Aphelele Fassi – 8

The talented fullback the early try well, sliding straight through the gap to set the world champions up for what many expected to be a comprehensive victory. He continued the match with incredible confidence, getting himself involved in each facet of the game, as he proved to be a valuable member of the national side.

Replacements – 5

Known for their incredible impact on most games, the Springbok replacements will be disappointed not to have made the pressure pay when they entered the field. It was a game in the balance, and few managed to tip it in the correct way – see Manie Libbok.