Day: October 18, 2015

The Front Row [6.5]

3. Frans Malherbe [6]

Rugby365: 6/10
Gave the Boks the solidity they needed in the scrums and did some valuable work away from the set pieces.

Sport24: 6/10
Perhaps not quite enough evidence yet to suggest he should be automatic starter now in tighthead spot? Boks had some good scrums, and disappointing ones. Pinged for a side entry, but couple of sure-handed carries.

Daily Mail UK: 6/10
Scrummaged well but quiet in the loose. Not a dominant ball carrier.

Telegraph UK: 7/10
Ensured the South Africa scrum was going forwards for most of the match and great little offload to release Le Roux.

OuGrote: 6/10

2. Bismarck Du Plessis [6.5]

Rugby365: 6/10
His basics were solid, made a crucial tackle on the cross-cover early in the game and worked hard away from the set pieces.

Sport24: 6/10
Made important early tackle on meaty wing George North when danger signs flashed. Dropped a ball in contact once, but showed courage in returning to park after treatment to what first seemed fairly serious forearm/hand injury.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
Not as effective in loose as usual but still influential while set piece was good.

Telegraph UK: 8/10
Briefly withdrawn in the first half with a bleeding hand but the South African lineout was an impeccable operation when he was on the pitch.

OuGrote: 6.5/10

1. Beast Mtawarira [6]

Rugby365: 5/10
Had some good carries and was steady in the scrums, but his workrate is not up to standard yet.

Sport24: 5.5/10
Not one of “Beast’s” better Test matches, in truth. Failed to really impose himself at scrum-time and few of his trademark, forceful drives on display.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
Prominent in the loose and also anchored a very solid Springboks scrum.

Telegraph UK: 6/10
Difficult to tell if the Beast chant is ironic as he only ever seems to go backwards when carrying. Scrum work was very effective.

OuGrote: 6/10

SOURCES:

Daily Mail UK
Telegraph UK
Sport24
Rugby365

The Locks [6.5]

5. Eben Etzebeth [6.5]

Rugby365: 6/10
Some big carries and good workrate, but missed a couple of tackles and conceded silly penalties.

Sport24: 6.5/10
Seldom shirks coalface duties, and that applied again here. Some unusual concentration lapses, and penalised once or twice at rucks.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
One of the world’s leading second rows enjoyed a fine game disrupting and carrying well

Telegraph UK: 6/10
His intent, whether carrying or in the tackle, is never less than ferocious, but sometimes aggression got the better of him conceding a couple of penalties.

OuGrote: 6.5/10

4. Lood de Jager [7]

Rugby365: 7/10
His ball-carrying remains a huge boon to the Boks, but he also made a few errors – missed tackles and penalties.

Sport24: 6.5/10
Wales had clearly done their homework on the tall-timber ball-carrier; tribute to his lively pool-phase play at this tournament. So they closed his channels down pretty often … but that didn’t mean he was “quiet”. Also confident on own lineout ball, though possibly needed to help “clean” more in Boks’ scratchy first half.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
An edgy, aggressive, physical player who has years ahead of him at the top.

Telegraph UK: 7/10
Coughed up some costly turnovers in the Welsh 22, but was otherwise impressive as a ball-carrying option and in the lineout.

OuGrote: 6.5/10

SOURCES:

Daily Mail UK
Telegraph UK
Sport24
Rugby365

The Loose Forwards [7.5]

8. Duane Vermeulen [8.5]

Rugby365: 8/10
Worked very hared and was very good value at the breakdown, making some crucial turnovers. However, his tendency to go high in the tackle cost his team at times. That pass for Du Preez’s try made up for all his blunders.

Sport24: 8/10
Made some storming metres on occasion, and always one of the more precise Bok players on a day when imprecision was too often a team feature. Always in market for a poach, one natty ‘SBW’ offload … and then crisp, key involvement off back of scrum in Du Preez’s try.

Daily Mail UK: 9/10
Hugely physical player but also an outstanding footballer with extraordinarily high skill level.

Telegraph UK: 9/10
Offload of the tournament to create Du Preez’s try. Approaching the form he was in when he was crowned IRB Player of the Year. Monstrous carrying.

OuGrote: 8.5/10

7. Schalk Burger [7.5]

Rugby365: 7/10
Lots of carries, mostly effective, and a few neat offloads. However, he also made some poor decisions and conceded some penalties.

Sport24: 7.5/10
Twenty-six carries! That is quite some statistic, and underlined yet again that Burger just doesn’t “do” anonymity in a Bok jersey. Always big on scrambling defence when required, too. The veteran was official man of the match, even if I rated him a fraction below one or two others, for the little it matters. Maybe Boks overdo using him in No 10 channel a tad?

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
Carried well and tackled superbly. Good to see him back close to his best.

Telegraph UK: 9/10
What a warrior. Lining up as the Springboks’ second receiver, Burger made an incredible 26 carries and was also his team’s top tackler.

OuGrote: 7.5/10

6. Francois Louw [6.5]

Rugby365: 7/10
His workrate, on defence and at the breakdown, was immense. His hands did let him down at times, but his carries made up for that.

Sport24: 6.5/10
Visiting pundit Lewis Moody called beforehand for more carrying and linking by the open-sider, who does this well for Bath. He responded to good degree, especially in first half; one terrific charge. Customary good industry at close quarters.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
Wonderful carrying in the first half and some excellent link play too. Strong at the breakdown.

Telegraph UK: 6/10
Made a couple of impressive bursts with ball in hand but far less prominent at the breakdown where Warburton ruled the roost.

OuGrote: 7/10

SOURCES:

Daily Mail UK
Telegraph UK
Sport24
Rugby365

The Halfbacks [7.5]

10. Handre Pollard [6.5]

Rugby365: 6/10
His distribution skills were fine and made plenty of metres, but his goal-kicking let him down in the second half – luckily it didn’t cost his team too much.

Sport24: 6.5/10
Made place-kicking look thoroughly effortless initially, then had a brief spell of yips as well. But also banged over well-judged dropped goal, amidst 18-point haul, and made his tackles. Some gremlins in tactical kicking, however.

Daily Mail UK: 8/10
Very good goal-kicking display until second half wobble while tactical kicking was also sound.

Telegraph UK: 6/10
Ranks in the upper echelon of fly halves when attacking the gainline, but kicking from the hand was ropey and some poor misses from the tee in the second half.

OuGrote: 6.5/10

9. Fourie du Preez [8]

Rugby365: 9/10
Still a player for the BIG moments. While he was not flawless, he kept his match-winning play in the bank till he really needed it.

Sport24: 7.5/10
Thoroughly efficient rather than awe-inspiring for large parts of game, as Wales did everything they could to disrupt or blunt the little general. But earns a full extra point on my card for sublime anticipation and cool-headedness in the working of his match-winning try …

Daily Mail UK: 8/10
Took his late try superbly and also marshalled and organised the team despite age catching up.

Telegraph UK: 8/10
The little general struck the killer blow for the Springboks latching on to Vermeulen’s offload. Expertly marshalled his team around the field.

OuGrote: 8/10

SOURCES:

Daily Mail UK
Telegraph UK
Sport24
Rugby365

The Centres [6.5]

13. Jesse Kriel [6]

Rugby365: 6/10
Reduced mostly to a defensive role for most of the match and made all his tackles, while he had a couple of decent runs late in the second half.

Sport24: 5.5/10
Tough day at the outside centre office for this promising youngster, still on Test training wheels in so many respects. Found going hard as Welsh attacked early and repeatedly with ball in hand. Made way for Jan Serfontein during second period.

Daily Mail UK: 5/10
Not especially influential in attack or defence and lacks a kicking game.

Telegraph UK: 6/10
Took a long time to get into the game after barely touching the ball in the first half but showed up far more after halftime.

OuGrote: 6/10

12. Damian de Allende [7]

Rugby365: 7/10
Real mixed bag that came out in the positive column. Held the ball in one hand that gifted Wales a turnover and also missed a few tackles. However, won back a couple of crucial turnovers and often made ground with ball in hand.

Sport24: 7/10
Strong on his feet, as usual, and got into some half-gaps against dogged Welsh defence. But key feature in this fixture was his penchant for the well-timed turnover – including a beauty two or three minutes before final whistle.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
Carried powerfully and tackled fearlessly. An exciting find with lots of potential.

Telegraph UK: 8/10
Won a key turnover with four minutes to help seal the result for South Africa. Always gave the Springboks some go forward.

OuGrote: 7/10

SOURCES:

Daily Mail UK
Telegraph UK
Sport24
Rugby365

The Back Three [6.5]

15. Willie le Roux [6]

Rugby365: 6/10
Was caught out of position a few times, his kicking also left a lot to be desired and he missed a couple of tackles. However, he made plenty of good metres with ball in hand.

Sport24: 5/10
This was a decided off-day for the mercurial character, although he showed ticker for his perseverance that led to some improvement as the game wore on – including one snaking burst that troubled the Welsh defence. Generally blunder-prone, though, including misjudgement of a high ball that led to try against Boks in first quarter when the No 15 was at his shakiest. Some innocuous kicking.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
Unimpressive first-half display but settled more into match as it progressed with sharp running.

Telegraph UK: 6/10
Left all at sea both positionally and in the aerial battle by Biggar for Davies’s try. One nice break in the second half but no fireworks.

OuGrote: 5/10

14. JP Pietersen [6.5]

Rugby365: 7/10
His workrate was phenomenal, especially on defence. Was not bad with ball in hand either or chasing kicks, also making all his tackles.

Sport24: 6.5/10
One brilliant aerial win in a fierce one-on-one, and looked fairly dangerous on the relatively few opportunities he had to gallop into space. Some rock-like defence.

Daily Mail UK: 7/10
Sharp and dangerous throughout and unfortunate not to get bounce of ball.

Telegraph UK: 6/10
Barely employed in an attacking capacity, yet that was not his fault given South Africa’s restricted gameplan. Just about kept North under wraps.

OuGrote: 6/10

11. Bryan Habana [7]

Rugby365: 6/10
Won a crucial break-down penalty on his own 22 and was rock solid on defence. Not many chances with ball in hand.

Sport24: 8/10
Still waiting to nudge ahead of Jonah Lomu for most RWC tries, but heck, it wasn’t for any lack of effort! At least two turnovers when Boks under cosh, and always competing, harrying, hustling. Heart-and-soul performance.

Daily Mail UK: 6/10
Didn’t see much of the ball in broken field where most dangerous but always a threat.

Telegraph UK: 7/10
Even when he does not stamp his mark in attack, he still has an influence on the game winning a first-half turnover won turnover.

OuGrote: 7/10

SOURCES:

Daily Mail UK
Telegraph UK
Sport24
Rugby365