Springboks player ratings vs Ireland | Autumn Nation Series
Springboks player ratings: If South Africa are going to defend their World Cup title next year, they’ll have to find an extra gear against teams that can match them upfront. Ireland were immense tonight and fully deserved their victory. Jaques Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus have work to do.
Analysing the individual performances from the Boks was no easy task. Few, if any, were horrendous. But few, if any, were particularly good. They were simply a cluster of players who were outplayed and rightly ended on the losing end.
15. Cheslin Kolbe – 5.5/10
Starved of the ball in space, the hot-stepper who normally occupies the wing was solid enough in an unfamiliar role at fullback. He missed a few kicks from the tee, but then we knew he want a goal kicker. His pace compensated for the occasional misstep that put him out of position, but overall a handy night, despite receiving a yellow card that might have been red. His tip-tackle on Mack Hansen didn’t look right in real time.
Kolbe receives a yellow card on his return to the Springboks, luckily Hansen walked away unharmed ? #IREvRSA pic.twitter.com/rtbESghDb3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 5, 2022
14. Kurt-Lee Arendse – 6
The diminutive winger gets an extra score for registering a try, and was tidy in the tackle, standing up well whenever Ireland had an overlap in his channel. But, like the rest of his mates in the outside backs position, he didn’t get much opportunity from structured play.
13. Jesse Kriel – 7.5
South Africa’s best player on the night. Not so much with ball in hand as there were few forays on attack. But he was outstanding on defence, leading their umbrella strategy, charing the line like a zealot, tackling with the surety of a Swiss banker. Not everyone’s favourite player, but he put his hand up in a big way.
So close! Dan Sheehan just misses out on Ireland taking the lead against South Africa ? #IREvRSA pic.twitter.com/BQu72ifkrN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 5, 2022
12. Damian de Allende – 6
An impressive first half where he did what was asked of him on attack and defence, but disappeared from the action in the second period. Not his fault entirely, but as the game broke apart and spaces opened up, a ruthless streak might have placed him in positions of influence.
11. Makazole Mapimpi – 6
Copy, paste. Just like his fellow backs, just not involved enough. Handy under the high ball and shook the foundations of Dublin with a mighty tackle when there was an overlap brewing on Ireland’s right wing. Would have been good to see him get his hands on the ball more.
10. Damian Willemse – 4
Fantastic in broken play but his game management and kicking out of hand was dreadful at times. One poor hoof perhaps cost his team the game. Just after the Springboks’ second try, Willemse punted the ball out on the full despite there being better options out wide. He’s one heck of a rugby player, but he’s not a Test 10. This performance should put that debate to bed.
9. Jaden Hendrikse – 6
Zippy off the back of the ruck when his forwards got go forward ball, but he must take some responsibility for not fizzing it out wide to the backs when presented with the chance to do so. Some poor box kicks will also be a concern as the Springboks go in search of a complete scrum-half.
Steven Kitshoff – 6
Tidy, competed his job, strong carries up the guts. A perfectly acceptable performance from the big ginger who didn’t do too much wring without setting the house on fire. Off after 57 minutes.
2. Malcom Marx – 6
Aggressive and belligerent as you’d expect, he provided some busting carries but didn’t have the same impact at the breakdown that he normally does. Off after 57 minutes.
3 Frans Malherbe – 6
Better minds for what goes on in the scrum will tell you what he did wrong to give away a penalty. I’m sure I don’t know. From what I could tell he remained a force in the scrum and wheeled the Irish pack on more than one occasion. One of the best in the business. Off after 46 minutes.
4. Eben Etzebeth – 7
A dream offload to set up Arendse’s try he worked hard for 80 minutes and remained a thorn throughout. He did cough the ball up from a line-out with the Boks 5m. He wasn’t under pressure, but those are the moments that turn Tests.
5 Lood de Jager – 6
Won two line-outs and made most of his tackles. Had his night ended just after the half-hour mark with an injury.
6 Siya Kolisi – 6
Nounced Josh van der Flier with a meaty run but was otherwise anonymous for large periods. Perhaps could have been in the referee’s ear a bit more, especially as there was a forward pass in the build up to Ireland’s second try. Nevertheless, a solid enough display from the Bok skipper without doing too much.
7 Pieter-Steph du Tout – 6.5
Approaching full fitness and what a player he is when he gets the bit between his teeth. Impressive in the loose and a formidable ball carrier. He constantly harried the Irish line with his rush defence and was a pest over the ball. He’s getting back to the player we saw in 2019. Off after 64 minutes.
8 Jasper Wiese – 6
A tad one-dimensional, but we knew that already. Hefty charges into contact are pretty much all Wiese offers. His defence needs work as he seems to hurl himself in with more enthusiasm and intent than logic and analysis.
REPLACEMENTS:
Bongi Mbonambi – 6
On for Marx on 57 minutes. Handy without doing too much. He’s a solid operator and provides depth for the Boks.
Ox Nche – 6
On for Kitshoff on 57 minutes. One hopeful pass over the top would have been his crowning achievement in the game had it come off. Instead Damian Willemse turfed it and the chance was gone.
Koch – 6
On for Malherbe on 46 minutes – One penalty against him in the scrum that could have gone either way. Made six meaty runs.
Franco Mostert – 7
On for de Jager on 35 minutes – Scored a lovely try with a long reach and solid dot down, but did so much more than that. A talented player who can operate in both the tight and loose facets of the game. His all round contributions were on show tonight.
Deon Fourie – 6
On for du Tout on 64 minutes. Might have passed in the build up for Mostert’s try but his decision didn’t prove costly. At 36 is still busting a gut and cantering into contact. He offered grunt bit not much guile.
Kwagga Smith – 6
On for Wiese on 52 minutes – Injected pace into the Springbok pack but failed to bust over the gainline with enough frequency. One breezy break through the middle opened the game up for a try later on.
Faf De Klerk – 6
On for Hendrikse on 52 minutes. Added more accuracy from the boot but lacked that explosion that is a hallmark of Hendrikse. Showed that he is the 9 for the tight occasions.
Willie Le Roux – 7
On for Arendse on 53 minutes – Unquestionably the most intelligent rugby player in the Springboks ranks. His ability to read the situation and spot a gap is unrivalled. A noticeable difference to the attack when he joined the party.
Comments on RugbyPass
late 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
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 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.
28 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 🤐
24 Go to comments