Habana: Sole try-scorer for SA
New Zealand made it six wins from six in the Rugby Championship as they beat South Africa 32-16. Now it's time to rate the Springboks.
15 Zane Kirchner: Who? Hardly featured. Went from hero to zero in the space of a week after making such a big impact against the Wallabies. Hauled off in the 64th minute... why it took that long we'll never know. 4/10
14 Bryan Habana: Made some powerful runs coupled with numerous line breaks, and was rewarded with a try for his efforts. But became less influential as the game wore on. 5/10
13 Jaco Taute: Very busy in the tackle department when he made contact. Found very little space to stretch the legs. 4/10
12 Jean de Villiers (c): Steady if not spectacular but, De Villiers did very well to latch on the ball to put Habana away. Struggled to lift the side during the second-half malaise. 5/10
11 Francois Hougaard: Looked lively in the first half but needed to offer a bit more attacking thrust when the game started falling away from SA in the second half.4/10
10 Johan Goosen: Only lasted a little over 30 minutes before limping off and during that time he missed two early shots at goal and raised the flags with a conversion and penalty. Besides that, nothing much to write home about. 5/10
9 Ruan Pienaar: Oh Ruan, Ruan, Ruan. His rollercoaster ride of performances in the green and gold jersey continued in Soweto. Last week, he was riding high... this week he hit rock-bottom. 3.5/10
8 Duane Vermeulen: South Africa's busiest defender, Vermeulen will feel unfortunate to be on the losing side. 6.5/10
7 Willem Alberts: Made the break that led to Habana's try, and gleefully accepted the challenge of soaking up numerous New Zealand tackles but went missing after the break a wee bit. 6.5/10
6 Francois Louw: Will earn plaudits for work rate but questions will be asked of how NZ came to dominate matters at the breakdown seemingly at will. 5/10
5 Andries Bekker: A mediocre effort by his standards. Made a few mistakes and rarely made a difference at line-out time. 4.5/10
4 Eben Etzebeth: Poached an All Blacks' throw-in at the line-out and took three of his own. But we've seen better from the Bok hardman. Subbed after 59 minutes. 4.5/10
3 Jannie du Plessis: Had his work cut out in a Bok pack which eventually was well beaten by NZ. Got subbed in the 53rd minute by Coenie Oosthuizen, which proved to be pretty costly for the Boks. 4/10
2 Adriaan Strauss: Arguably the most disappointing game in the Bok jersey from Strauss. Effective for the first half hour but then the energy seemed to go from his legs. 4/10
1 Tendai Mtawarira: Crowd barely started the Beaaaast chant before he was shackled by All Blacks defenders. 4/10
Replacements:
16 Tiaan Liebenberg: Came on ridiculously late and didn't change things.
17 Coenie Oosthuizen: Ok, he didn't pull a Dean Greyling but gave away nearly as many penalties. 2/10
18 Flip van der Merwe: Not on long enough to warrant a rating.
19 Marcell Coetzee: Tried to bully tired Kiwi bodies. But needs more time to get into his groove. Not South Africa's answer as a super sub. 4/10
20 Elton Jantjies: Started off superbly when he came on for Goosen, but his confidence only diminished as the game progressed. 5/10
21 Juan de Jongh: Not on long enough to warrant a rating.
22 Pat Lambie: Fairly anonymous, but showed some trademark touches. 4/10
Comments
sandal says...
@philipjfry
I have no argument with you there. I might add, why would you kick the ball out in the dying minutes when you are losing?
I have seen only the NZ Herald, and it is deeply satisfied. It is also counting its chickens against Australia in a fortnight, and no sensible person ever does that.
Posted 02:45 09th October 2012
Carpelone says...
Hopefully, this young Bok side will improve massively if they learn from what the All Blacks taught them.
Composure, accuracy in the execution (Zane, why that kick two meters wide on 10-0), leadership, compactness, defense!!!!!
There is a bright future ahead and Goosen needs to learn how to tackle.
Posted 14:08 08th October 2012
philipjfry says...
@sandal: Agreed, he doesn't know what his best team is and neither do I, no one does at this stage. But we are 18 years on from rugby turning professional so is it too much to expect from him that he does?
In the last few years when the Boks have been up against it they rely on the pick and drive and damn anything else. Same thing happened in Soweto that happened against Australia in Wellington. Why would you pick and drive when there is no opposition full-back? They seem to lose all common sense and revert to some form of animalistic me Tarzan-you-Jane defiance. Possible meltdown?
What are the New Zealand papers saying about the win? Best of the season? I hope so.
Posted 12:30 08th October 2012
APV1 says...
Ouch.
A little harsh, don't you think?
When you're playing against the best in their world, and they're riding the crest of the wave, you're bound to fall short. That Bok side would give any other side in the world a run for their money, but no other side would come close to NZ.
Posted 11:10 08th October 2012
sandal says...
@philipjfry
I agree with you about Du Plessis' replacement. Sometimes coaches do these things by the numbers, not for any good reason. But I don't agree that there was a spectacular meltdown.
The Boks were dealt a couple of body blows by two quick tries in the second half, the first of which must have been deeply unsettling to them.
Then they had expended a lot of energy, both physical and mental, in the opening quarter so that their inferior fitness revealed itself as the match wore on.
Finally, by the final 10 minutes they were starting to offend fairly brazenly, after the manner of the French in the 07 quarterfinal. It is not surprising that they should have done so, given the focus of the officiating in this match. Unfortunately for them, the man with the whistle took action and that undermined the platform they had enjoyed earlier.
It seems to me that South Africa's biggest problem is that Meyer doesn't know what his best team is. Even if he did, it is doubtful that the country right now would agree with him, or form any consensus of its own. There is a lot of recrimination evident.
Hansen, by contrast, is fairly sure what his best team is and New Zealand largely agrees. Where there have been injuries, these have actually assisted in developing promising replacements. And within the strong framework of the team, he has been able to give raw, immature players such as Savea valuable experience.
Posted 05:13 08th October 2012
Shano303 says...
Good call there philipjfry
I didn't understand why you would gift back possession when the kicking has been an area of concern. Better off maintaining pressure and controlling the game.
Posted 16:44 07th October 2012
darthbok says...
to be honest, the ratings for the SA forewards are way too low, they had the upper hand on the kiwi forewards-- look at the penalty count- NZ much higher-- the problem lies out wide-- not much of a clue what to do with the ball in the line--far too reliant on the forewards making the line breaks, teritorial advantage, and turnovers.most mistakes were made out wide, and the finishing was terrible.--SA forewards 7/10 mostly -- SA line 3/10- except for habana who tried way harder than most --SA needs to get much tougher back line with far more creativity - not feeding off scraps given to them by the forewards
Posted 14:12 07th October 2012
philipjfry says...
@sandal: 'Maybe the All Blacks played some good footie.'
They did but that was a spectacular Bok meltdown in the second half which completely overshadowed the ABs performance. I'm sure the ABs will get the praise they deserve from other sources.
Harsh call du Plessis, the scrum was solid in the first 40. Biggest disappointment by a country mile was Oosthuizen; apart from du Plessis he is the only genuine option at tight-head we have at the moment and at this level you have to hit the ground running. Taute clearly isn't the answer at 13, three of the tries conceded came through his channel. Poor captaincy from JDV in allowing the goal kickers to attempt the long-range penalties when the kicking has been so substandard all season. Not exactly a morale booster to see the ball go wide.
Posted 12:33 07th October 2012
georgesmith says...
I'm surprised the move... F. Louw at no.6 did not quite work out. H. Meyer should have got P.Lambie at no.15 for this game. P. Lambie is world-class and being wasted on the bench. The guy did not start any game in the Rugby Championship and is the kind of player who can run and break some lines. H. Meyer is sadly not the right man to coach Springboks.He has the players but is using them really poorly.
Posted 10:16 07th October 2012
olepete says...
These ratings are a bit low. SA didn't play all that badly, it just happens that the ABs played better.
Posted 09:49 07th October 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Harsh scores. Looks like all the ABs had to do was turn up but we know it was a ruthless AB performance that made these 6/7 out of 10 players look like they are 3rd best in the world.
Posted 09:39 07th October 2012
nefari says...
@melkdave you can't blame only kirchner for looking bad when boks aren't going forward. Over my last 15 years no springbok side looks good when forwards are not dominating and we almost always lose.
Posted 08:33 07th October 2012
bloemboy says...
I think these ratings are fair, though generous to de Villiers who I thought had an appaling game as player and as captain. Turned down kickable penalties which would have kept SA in touch. He also failed to lead when total panic set in. It was very sad to see such a total capitulation in the second half. fitness seems to be a massive problem and I would suggest that the springbok squad get in some rest time as everyone looks jaded.
The tactic of having such a big backrow is showing glaring deficiencies. All the Kiwi tries happened out wide, and many from first phase. The SA loosies went missing on cover defence (as did the bok backline). The best solution is to draft Alberts at lock and bring in someone like Kolisi who is far more mobile.
Plaudits though to the Kiwis who were utterly professional. Great side.
Posted 06:10 07th October 2012
rugbyforever says...
As I suggested last week, neither Pienaar nor Kirchner can show form for more than one game. Hope we never see Kirchner in a Bok jersey again and once more I ask 'How did Ricardo Loubscher get into the Bok coaching setup?'. Get rid of him now! Disagree with the rating of Jannie du Plessis, he totally exposed Tony Woodcock at scrum time.
Posted 01:00 07th October 2012
passtheball says...
The key to the NZ loose forwards is the seamless way they can link with the backs. This skill level can only be gained in conditions that encourage running with the ball. That's where SA have a major problem - too much kicking and reliance on muscle.
Posted 00:43 07th October 2012
sandal says...
Harsh.
The Boks' game was given plenty of impetus by the reffing, obviously, but this loss wasn't all about Bok failings. Maybe the All Blacks played some good footie.
Posted 00:18 07th October 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
Eben Etzebeth: " Bok hardman" errr ?
Otherwise think the marks are a little low, Boks tried their best, just wasn't to be.
Posted 23:39 06th October 2012
bigb6969 says...
I didn't even notice Lambie on the field, until I saw them shaking hands after the final whistle and I remember thinking, why didn't he get on ?
Posted 20:30 06th October 2012
melkdave says...
Ratings about rigbt overall imo,shame for Costhuizen ,promised so much,but was found wanting bigtime in this match.Kirchiner alsoshowed he cant create anything,his only ok when the bokke are going forward and dominating,and how F.Louw needs support at the breakdown,in the end just outgunned by McCaw ,Read and Meesam,who all can fetch and scavenge at the breakdown.
Posted 19:46 06th October 2012