All Blacks player ratings: ‘Deadly’ Caleb Clarke shines but bench ‘fail’ for the SECOND time in Springboks defeat
Caleb Clarke and Ethan Blackadder were standouts for the All Blacks in the defeat to the Springboks.
Following their 31-27 defeat to the Springboks, here is how we rated the All Blacks players after a classic in Johannesburg.
All Blacks player ratings v Springboks
15 Beauden Barrett: Contributed to the All Blacks electric start with some classy touches, notably giving a delicious offload to Ethan Blackadder to create an early chance, but dropped off after that. Produced a couple of crucial errors which should have been punished. 5
14 Will Jordan: Made decent in-roads when given the ball in the first-half, and looked a threat in the wide channels. 6
13 Rieko Ioane: Improved showing from the centre, and seemed more comfortable in the attack this week. Was deployed slightly wider than normal, which allowed him to attack gaps. Drifted away in the latter stages though. 6
Springboks leave it late to down All Blacks in epic Ellis Park showdown
12 Jordie Barrett: Linked up well with Ioane in midfield, and importantly looked to send him through wider gaps in the Boks defence. Grabbed himself a nice try for his efforts too with a clever interception. Will be pleased with his performance after a couple of uncharacteristic performances in recent weeks. 7
11 Caleb Clarke: Deadly showing from Clarke, who took both of his tries well and could easily have had a hat-trick if not for an Ethan Blackadder brain-fart. His aerial prowess was certainly a key reason the All Blacks kicking game worked well. Appears to have answered his critics. 9
Half-backs
10 Damian McKenzie: Looked much more settled in attack, and was able to inject plenty of pace into the All Blacks attack, which he hasn’t quite been able to do so far this year. When the pressure came on though seemed to lose the control he had for the first 60 minutes. 6
9 TJ Perenara: Just did his job well. Combined well with McKenzie, and gave consistent clean ball from a messy ruck. Is seemingly still getting some minutes into his legs though. 5
Back-row
8 Ardie Savea: Brilliant yet again from Savea. He brought an almighty punch to proceedings for his side, and was able to consistently get his team over the gain-line against an aggressive defence. 8
7 Sam Cane: A decent return to the Test stage, as he ran his blood to water. Made plenty of important tackles and made a mess in the breakdown too. Will give Robertson plenty of food for thought, as he complimented the work of Savea and Blackadder well to create a balanced back-row. 7
6 Ethan Blackadder: Super physical display in the tight against a meaty pack, and made plenty of work for himself on both sides of the ball. Might need to buy Caleb Clarke a pint though after opting to carry into contact rather than give him a walk in the corner. 9
Tight five
5 Tupou Vaa’i: Did the ugly stuff when his side needed him. Tried to make a mess in the ruck and helped give a platform at the lineout which allowed them to get go-forward ball. 5
4 Scott Barrett: Typically industrious showing from the returning skipper. Got stuck into most facets to good effect, and seemed to stablise the set-piece. 6
3 Tyrel Lomax: Pretty even contest against Ox Nche, and had the better of Steenekamp in their limited meetings. Also got involved around the park. 6
2 Codie Taylor: Built from his display last time out and looked more like the Codie Taylor we know. Came up with some decent tackles and was more accurate at the lineout. 6
1 Tamati Williams: Couldn’t replicate his heroics against Los Pumas, but still scrummaged well against a much more experienced opponent in Malherbe. 7
Replacements: For the second time in three games, the bench lost the game for the All Blacks. They failed to match the intensity and pace of Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams and Eben Etzebeth, and they allowed the Springboks to overturn a 10-point lead in the final quarter. Ill-discipline crept in from the replacements, with Ofa Tu’ungafasi copping a terminal yellow card. This wasn’t the end of their problems though. The scrum was fairly even with Williams and Lomax, but the Boks turned the tide in the latter stages and this helped them get a foothold back into the game. Elsewhere, the pack began to lose the battle at the breakdown, which in turn had a huge impact on the capabilities of their back-line. The backs themselves also struggled to make much of an impact on their arrival too. They cannot afford to have them fail again next weekend. 2
