Category: Rugby Championship

Willie le Roux 6.5

Sport24: 6.5
Rugby365: 6/10
NZ Herald: 7
Ou Grote: 6

Up and over he goes! @wjjleroux #homegroundadvantage #RSAvsNZL @absa @flysaa @bmw_sa @Ascics_ZA pic.twitter.com/y9nsOCpCWl

— South African Rugby (@Springboks) July 25, 2015

Cornal Hendricks 6

Sport24: 6
Rugby365: 6/10
NZ Herald: 5
Ou Grote: 6

All Blacks score after dispossessing Cornal Hendricks. Wide ball sees hole for Sopoaga and Smith scores. Crucial timing. . #SAvNZ #ssrugby

— Brenden Nel (@BrendenNel) July 25, 2015

The Springbok team to face New Zealand for the 90th time shows eight changes from last week.

• Schalk Burger will captain the team from No 8
• Francois Louw moves to 7 for Marcell Coetzee (injured)
• Heinrich Brüssow replaces Louw at 6
• Lood de Jager replaces Victor Matfield (injured)
• Vincent Koch joins the bench

This is what Heyneke Meyer had to say:

“Injuries have forced our hand a bit, but we’ve stuck with our planned rotational policy on the bench and it will be great to see what Heinrich, Vincent and Flip can do.

“The breakdown battle will again be huge and it will be good to see Heinrich and Francois play together. They are versatile players and I am convinced they will combine perfectly.

(more…)

3. Jannie du Plessis 7
A commanding performance at scrum time, delivering some fine attacking ball to the Boks off first phase thanks to his efforts. The knock on the head didn’t seem to phase him. Proved his detractors wrong, however next week will be the big test.

Sport24: 7
Rugby365: 7/10
OuGrote: 7.5

Respect to Jannie Du Plessis destroying his opponent in the scrum

— #RugbyFifteen.com (@RugbyFifteen) July 18, 2015

2. Bismarck du Plessis 7.5
Getting back to his best just in time for the World Cup. Made three turnovers at crucial times in the game and was a constant menace at the breakdown and in general play. His pre-determined substitution for the out-of-form Adriaan Strauss arguable cost the Boks the match.

Sport24: 7.5
Rugby365: 7/10
OuGrote: 7.5

3. Bizarre subs. Bismarck was immense. To bring him off simply does not make sense. #Rugbyriddles

— The Niels Momberg (@nielspm) July 18, 2015

1. Beast Mtawarira 7
Strong at scrum-time, forming a dominant partnership with the Du Plessis brothers. Also put in some work in the loose. His substitution was surprising.

Sport24: 7
Rugby365: 7/10
OuGrote: 6.5

@Pedro7241cw Yip surprised with Beast and Bismarck replacement,but then we need to understand they are building a group for WC,not excuse

— Ruggaworld (@RuggaWorld) July 18, 2015

5. Victor Matfield 6
The Boks missed his captaincy (particularly in the second half) as he left the field injured early on. His dyed hair and beard may fool some of the supporters, but you can’t fool Father Time. His replacement Lood de Jager showed there is definitely life after Big Vic by putting in an immense and commanding performance.

Sport24: 6
Rugby365: 6/10
OuGrote: 6

Victor Matfield coming off to replace his catheter ad get a hip replacement. #AUSvRSA #SSRugby

— Peter de Villiers (@Coachdivvy) July 18, 2015

4. Eben Etzebeth 8
A massive game from the massive man – scoring his debut test try. Did his job in the line-outs, kept the opposition honest on defence and used his power and mongrel to good effect around the park.

Sport24: 7.5
Rugby365: 8/10
OuGrote: 8

skelton is big, but Etzebeth is from parow

— Oom Rugby (@Oom_Rugby) July 18, 2015

7. Marcell Coetzee 7
He is still on track for the World Cup despite leaving the field with a knee injury that looked a lot worse than it is. Plays with a lot of mongrel and is equally at home on either side of the scrum. Combined well with Schalk and Flo to give the Wallabies plenty of grief in the loose.

Sport24: 7.5
Rugby365: 7/10
OuGrote: 7

Hi everybody thanks for the msgs its just a lummy on the knee not to serios thanks for all the msgs!!!!!!!#blessed#thankuGod#

— Marcell Coetzee (@marcell_coetzee) July 18, 2015

6. Francois Louw 7
Did a lot of hard graft behind the scenes and put in a superb defensive performance. Will be twice as good in his new ‘home’ conditions at the World Cup.

Sport24: 7
Rugby365: 7/10
OuGrote: 7

Great play by Wallabies and massive steal by Flo Louw when we were under real pressure!

— Breyton Paulse (@BreytonPaulse) July 18, 2015