How the Springboks rated in their 24-17 loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park.
15. Willie le Roux – 5
On a tricky night for fullbacks, Willie Le Roux handled the wet ball well, but couldn’t prise any running opportunities in his 47 minutes. Made a hash of his positioning on the early cross-kick that led to Emoni Narawa’s try.
14. Cheslin Kolbe – 4
Bought Narawa’s big dummy for opening try and got beaten sweetly in the air by Damian McKenzie. Nearly got a try, but had struggles with wet ball, and led the count for turnovers lost (3).
13. Jesse Kriel (c) – 7
After two unconvincing tests against Australia, Jesse Kriel wore the armband at Eden Park so Siya Kolisi could focus on injury recovery. Heavily muscled midfielder was a key and effective distributor when the Boks went wide.
12. Damian de Allende – 7
Another hardworking midfield beast, the No 12 delivered a typically bustling and brutal performance. Topped the Boks numbers for tackles (12) and ball carries (11). Had a spell in the forwards when Kwagga Smith was sent to the naughty chair.
11. Canan Moodie – 6
Defended heartily and was key in the handful of Boks breaks into wide space. Big hit on Beauden Barrett in 32nd minute bought some breathing space for harried defenders.
10. Handre Pollard – 4
One of three top-drawer No 10s on Rassie Erasmus’ selection list and seems to be preferred as a starter against the All Blacks. Handy under high ball, comfortable in the crunch and bagged a nice 50/22. But there were too many errors in the wet and his game got wobblier as his pack struggled in the third quarter.
9. Grant Williams – 4
Befuddled by slippery ball and soggy turf for most of his 47 minutes; his spill on a 36th-minute lineout move when the Boks were getting momentum was an outright howler. Quick-witted to snaffle and clear from an early Scott Barrett lineout error when All Blacks seemed hot to score.
8. Siya Kolisi – 6
Knee injury didn’t seem to slow him down in early breaks. Seemed a good fit in the unusual No 8 jersey.
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit – 7
A very hard man to stop. His physicality is so impressive, it’s easy to forget how error-free and accurate he is in all he does. But in the Eden Park brawl, PSTD was relatively subdued.
6. Marco van Staden – 4
Dead-set miss on Will Jordan for All Blacks’ second try, and was Awol when Ardie Savea blasted from the base of the scrum to set up a three-point chance in the 48th minute. A couple of beautifully brutal and direct carries had the whiff of State of Origin about them.
5. Ruan Nortje – 6
Ran hard for 50 minutes and bagged handy lineout and ruck steals. But was part of a misfiring Boks scrum on their own throw in first half.
4. Eben Etzebeth – 4
Scratchy night for Bokke great Eben Etzebeth. Tasked with putting heat on Finlay Christie’s box kicks, the big lock couldn’t get his timing right, so the little All Blacks halfback had space in which to work. His midfield lineout was smartly defused by the hosts and he turned the ball over twice. Etzebeth has an convenient knack for avoiding yellow cards – which proved handy when he flipped McKenzie 360 degrees and slammed him down. Kiwis were left to wonder how such behaviour from an All Blacks lock would be greeted anywhere else in the world – endless big-screen replays and match-official conferences would roll out. Ran hard, but influence waned as the 80-minute mark approached.
3. Thomas du Toit – 5
There were scrums. There were big men falling over on to the wet turf. Sometimes there were penalties. Sometimes there weren’t.
2. Malcolm Marx – 3
When Malcolm Marx fires, the Boks are hard to beat — luckily for the All Blacks, he was off the mark for most of the night in Sandringham. Badly beaten by Will Jordan on the Mako’s dash to the tryline, he also put a couple of early lineouts straight into the hosts’ hands. Nonetheless, he was the perfect man to bag that try.
1. Ox Nche – 5
Vowel-deficient big unit showed plenty of grunt in scrum stoushes, but was wrapped up by Rieko Ioane over the tryline.
Reserves:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels – 7
The Springboks’ lineout massively improved when he took over from Marx.
17. Boan Venter – 6
The vistors’ bench front-rowers were impressive in the late exchanges and almost the decisive factor in the result. Wessels brought power to the scrum and moved bodies in the pile-ups.
18. Wilco Louw – 8
Had the better of Tamaiti Williams – and made a point of informing Williams about it with solid sledging. Can be immensely proud of his part in what must surely be one of the most humiliating scrums in All Blacks history: a tighthead turnover that marched 5m before unleashing a try-scoring dash.
19. Lood de Jager – 7
Instrumental in the improved lineout and busy around the park in a 30-minute run.
20. Kwagga Smith – 6
The multi-tool in Rassie Erasmus’ kit. Carried heaps in a 29-minute spell and his break from that monster tighthead scrum set up the try for Marx. But the yellow card that followed was dumb and took the heat off the All Blacks right when a Bomb Squad narrative was building.
21. Cobus Reinach – 8
Superb show from the replacement halfback, who linked nicely with close-in runners and scored a try after an incisive break that shamed a couple of All Blacks tacklers. Terrific organisation, though he benefited from the renewed vigour of the Boks replacements.
22. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – 6
On for Willie le Roux early and played well enough, nudging over two penalties and linking up nicely in the late fast breaks. Had a stint at first receiver.
23. Ethan Hooker – 6
Busy and productive in the late scrambles that nearly brought the Boks level. But as the last 15 minutes descended into a full-frontal punch-up and Etzebeth’s workload mounted, Rassie Erasmus might have wondered if this spot on the bench could have been better assigned to another brick out-house lock.