Player Ratings: Springboks v Wallabies

Player Ratings: Springboks v Wallabies

The Springboks claimed their first victory of 2019 claiming a 35-17 victory over Australia with debut scrumhalf scoring a brace as they picked up a bonus point.

Here our ratings from the encounter.

Springboks

1. Tendai Mtawarira - 7

Showed some nice hands in the lead up to Jantjies try. Carried well early on. Battled strongly in the scrums and eventually forced Michael Cheika to make the change and take Kepu off.



Made all his tackles and carried strongly before he was given a rest before the 50th minute.


2. Bongi Mbonambi - 5

Struggled to find his jumpers in the first half with Arnold getting the better of the Bok lineout. Mbonambi did get stuck into the rucks and made just 5 tackles.

3. Trevor Nyakane - 6

Solid in the scrum but was somewhat anonymous in open play making just 5 tackles.  

4. Eben Etzebeth - 8

Massive game from the stand in Springbok captain.  Physical from the kickoff, rampaged over a few defenders in the opening minutes and continued to front up against the Wallabies pack in classic Etzebeth fashion.

Did superbly well to offload to Gelant for Nkosi's try.

 

5. Lood de Jager - 8

Combined well with Etzebeth and was massive on defence racking up 14 tackles. He followed up nicely and showed his strength to dot down in the first half. Replaced with just over 10 minutes left to play.

6. Rynhardt Elstadt - 6

Was guilty of giving the Wallabies their three points of the game. Showed some of his form he enjoyed with Toulouse but he was inconsistent missing five tackles.

Abrasive as ever in the rucks and with ball in hand but far from an ideal debut for the former Stormer.

7. Pieter-Steph du Toit - 8

Brought his 2018 form into the new test season with another classy performance solidify his claim as one of the best blindside flankers in the game.

Carried and tackled superbly in a game where he touched just about every blade of grass at Ellis Park.

8. Francois Louw - 7.5

A solid performance from the Bath man, who's selection did come under some scrutiny earlier in the week. He made an excellent steal in the 11th minute that led to Herschel Jantjies' first try. 

Louw got stuck in on defence making 10 tackles and forced three turnovers.

9. Herschel Jantjies 9

A dream debut for the young scrumhalf who scoring a brace and topped the running metres for his side as they claimed their first win over the year. He followed the attack superbly to grab a try on his debut and came close to scoring a second before he was stopped centimetres short. He came up with an excellent ankle tap on Naisarani in the latter stages of the first half.


He continued in that fashion in the second half and spotted a gap to snipe over for his second try. A near-perfect overall performance.



10. Elton Jantjies - 7.5

One of his most consistent performances in the Springboks starting jumper.  Jantjies controlled the Springbok attack superbly, exited nicely and combined well with his namesake on debut. 

Slotted all of his conversions and missed just one penalty.

11. Makazole Mapimpi - 5

Saw little to no ball out wide but was on hand to make his tackles. Haylett-Petty made his life difficult in the air and he was able to power over Mapimpi to score.

 

12. Andre Esterhuizen - 5

Somewhat of a rollercoaster start as he put in some thumping tackles and put Nkosi through who set up Jantjies for his try but he did concede a few silly turnovers and spent ten minutes in the bin for a high tackle.

It did not get any better for Esterhuizen as he was replaced after the break after a frustrating game for the centre.

13. Jesse Kriel - 8

Outstanding on defence making 14 tackles, missing just two, and was able to keep the dangerous pairing of Kerevi and Kuridrani quiet. He also managed to rack up 30 running metres.

14. Sbu Nkosi - 8

Got through a ton of work with the ball rarely coming his way. He was outstanding in the build up to Jantjies' first try and followed that up with a number of swift interventions on defence.

His efforts were rewarded later as he added his name to the scoresheet.

15. Warrick Gelant - 7

Shakey start with an overcooked kick early on but was lucky that his side had an advantage and had another kick that went just too far in the opening ten minutes.

He recovered well from his slow start, entering the line at key times to unlock the Wallabies defence and ran a great support line off Etzebeth that gave Nkosi a try.

He also made a crucial tackle on Hooper with the Wallabies chasing the game.

Wallabies

1. James Slipper - 5

Busy around the park making 7 carries and 7 tackles but did struggle somewhat against Trevor Nyakane. 

 

2. Folau Faingaa - 6.5

Did everything asked of him and did it well. He made 10 tackles, forced two turnovers and hit all of his jumpers in a performance that could see him retain the jersey.

3. Sekope Kepu - 3

Kepu had an up and down game in the scrums before he was taken off shortly after the break. Had some nice touches with ball in hand but didn't make any carries to the line.

4. Izack Rodda - 4

A quiet game where he was outmuscled by the Springboks. He hit the rucks regularly but made little impact on defence or attack.

5. Rory Arnold - 6.5

Came up with an early steal at the lineout in the first 10 minutes. He continued to terrorise the Springbok lineout throughout the game.

He was one of the few Wallaby forwards who were able to match the Boks physically. 

6. Lukhan Salakai-Loto - 5.5

Tackled strongly making all 11 of his attempted tackles and was a safe option in the lineouts but made little impact on attack making just three carries.

 

7. Michael Hooper - 7

Busy as ever from the Wallabies captain making all 11 of his tackles, forcing three turnovers and racked up 38 running metres from 7 carries.

8. Isi Naisarani - 6

A solid test debut at the back of the scrum. He made his tackles, carried hard to the line before he was replaced for the more dynamic Jack Dempsey.

9. Nic White - 6

Clean service and a good kicking performance on his return to the test arena. His service was crisp and speedy and hardly put a foot wrong without setting the world alight. 

10. Bernard Foley - 6

Solid on attack but his pack was dominated making his job somewhat harder. He ran some great support lines, one of which leading to a try thanks to some Kurtley Beale brilliance. He was caught out regularly on defence.

11. Reece Hodge - 5

Saw precious little ball but was good in the air. 

12. Samu Kerevi - 7

Carried strongly making more running metres (78) than any other player in the game. However, he wasn't able to make a telling impact with the Springbok defence limiting him to just one key break that lead to a disallowed try for a forward pass. 

13. Tevita Kuridrani - 5

Made a small impact on his return to test rugby and didn't combine well with Kerevi despite doing so in the past. He was replaced before the hour mark.

14. Dane Haylett-Petty - 7.5

Arguably the Wallabies best player at Ellis Park. He made numerous breaks and was a thorn in the Springbok defence. He came close to scoring a brace as he was just unable to regather the ball metres short of the line.

He was stellar under the high ball and snuffed out a few threatening Springbok attacks.

15. Tom Banks - 6

A solid enough performance to get him another shot in the starting jersey if it weren't for Beale's brilliance off the bench. He entered the attack well and cleared even better from the back with his canon of a boot. 

He also came up with a try assist before he was hooked before the hour mark.

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