Springboks player ratings vs Australia | Flight Centre Series 2026

Springboks player ratings: One of the most experimental Springbok matchday 23s Rassie Erasmus has thrown together in recent times arrived in Perth with enough star power to suggest they would still have too much for Australia.

Instead, a side containing the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Handre Pollard and Andre Esterhuizen looked a touch leggy and short of answers when the Wallabies poured it on. South Africa lost the aerial battle, coughed up too many inaccuracies and never established the sort of scrum dominance they usually rely upon.

A frantic finish, helped by Australia tumbling to 11 players, threatened an unlikely comeback, but the Wallabies held firm for a dramatic 42-38 victory.

1. Jan-Hendrik Wessels – 6
Found himself in an impossible position trying to stop Len Ikitau’s first try on 24 minutes and was always fighting a losing battle there. Scrummaged solidly enough without gaining the sort of upper hand South African fans have come to expect and got through his work before being emptied with the rest of the starting front row.

2. Johan Grobbelaar – 7.5
The Bulls hooker got over from a catch-and-drive maul after nine minutes and, for a while, everything looked very straightforward for the Boks. Reliable at set-piece time and busy around the park before making way early in the second half.

3. Zachary Porthen – 6
A curious outing. Produced some no-nonsense carrying, while several dominant tackles caught the eye. But was popped up prominently at the second scrum and there were a couple of moments where things unravelled around him too, but the good outweighed the bad.

4. Eben Etzebeth – 7
A familiar 120kg nuisance. Made life difficult for Australia at the lineout, dived on a loose ball after causing chaos and got through a mountain of unseen graft. One of the few Springboks who consistently looked capable of dragging the fight back in their favour.

5. Franco Mostert – 6
Worked himself into the ground in the trenches alongside Etzebeth. Was heavily involved defensively and industrious as ever, although he did lose a lineout to a fine steal from Jeremy Williams shortly before the hour.

6. Paul de Villiers – 7
Could not have wished for a brighter start. Won a turnover on Max Jorgensen inside three minutes to earn Pollard’s opening penalty and was heavily involved around the breakdown in the first half. Drifted out of proceedings somewhat as Australia’s confidence grew.

7. Elrigh Louw – 5.5
Put in plenty of defensive work but looked a little lightweight once the Wallabies began to muscle up through the middle of the park. Never really imposed himself physically in the way South Africa needed.

8. Marco van Staden – 5
Tackled his guts out and never stopped working, but offered very little as a ball-carrying threat. The Wallabies were able to control the collisions too often and that reduced his influence considerably.

9. Herschel Jantjies – 6
Perfectly serviceable without ever threatening to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Made a nice break early in the second half but generally lacked some of the sniping spark that made him such an exciting player at the start of his Test career.

10. Handre Pollard – 6
A standard, perfectly acceptable Pollard innings. Kicked his goals, opened the scoring after de Villiers’ turnover and probed with a clever grubber. Controlled things reasonably well before making way shortly after the break, but never really managed to dictate terms.

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Avg. Points Scored

3.9

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Avg. Points Scored

3.8

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11. Ethan Hooker – 5.5
Spent the afternoon hunting for work and there was no shortage of endeavour. Made good metres with ball in hand and burst through a couple of times, but his distribution lacked polish and three penalties conceded by the 50-minute mark hurt his side.

12. Andre Esterhuizen (c) – 6
Some typically thunderous carrying from the ‘Andre the Giant’ figure of the midfield and battled gamely throughout. However, South African supporters are used to seeing him leave much bigger dents in opposition defences and Australia largely won the midfield battle. His intercepted pass with the Wallabies down to 12 looked to have ended the contest before a high-tackle review gave the Boks fresh hope.

13. Canan Moodie – 6.5
One of South Africa’s better backs. Produced a huge tackle on Ben Donaldson after only two minutes and later sparked the visitors’ best try with a 20-metre break before linking brilliantly with Fassi. Unfortunately, a sloppy dropped pass on 65 minutes handed Max Jorgensen a straightforward run-in from distance.

14. Edwill van der Merwe – 7
Finished his first try superbly after slick work from Moodie and Fassi and was one of the few Bok backs who looked genuinely dangerous when given a sniff. The problem was that opportunities were few and far between. Thought he had a second on 72 minutes only for it to be ruled out.

15. Aphelele Fassi – 4.5
One of those days. His failure under the high ball against Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii paved the way for Ikitau’s second try and he later dropped a very catchable pass in midfield. There was some good mixed in, including a lovely delayed assist for Van der Merwe and a sharp break early in the second half, but the errors were simply too costly.

Replacements – 5
The much-vaunted Bomb Squad never got close to detonating. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu immediately added some attacking spark and produced an excellent touchfinder after entering the fray, while Morne van den Berg grabbed a late try and Ox Nche and Wilco Louw eventually forced a penalty try from the scrum. Lood de Jager oafishly spilled a pressured lineout almost immediately after coming on and Quan Horn endured a torrid time, losing a contestable ball to Jorgensen before struggling defensively on two Wallabies scores. Malcolm Marx carried hard late on, but by then Australia had their blood up. Even with the Wallabies reduced to 11 men and South Africa throwing everything at them, the bench could not generate the sort of sustained momentum that has become its trademark.