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Springboks player ratings vs Wales | 3rd Test July 2022
By Jan De Koning
It was not perfect and it was perhaps more of a slog than most pundits would have expected. However, South Africa wrapped up their three-Test series against Wales with a 30-14 win in Cape Town on Saturday.
There were some promising signs that the Springboks are improving, but it was the famous Bomb Squad that secured this win.
Jan de Koning rates the South African players:
15 Damian Willemse - 8
Great chasing and beating player in the air. Was moved to inside centre after Kolbe left the field. Produced a big hit on defence under pressure deep inside Bok territory. Made great calls on defence and some impressive carries.
14 Cheslin Kolbe - 5
Was exposed on defence a few times and left the field with a suspected jaw fracture after just 20 minutes.
13 Lukhanyo Am - 5
Sublime chip for Mapimpi, who just put a foot into touch. He struggled when he moved to the wing and made some errors in judgement.
12 Damian de Allende - 5
Had a couple of powerful carries. However, conceded a few penalties and mistimed as many tackles as he made.
11 Makazole Mapimpi - 5
Chased hard and tackled well. Was penalised for head contact late in first half and lost his contest with George North.
10 Handre Pollard - 6
His kicking was far more clinical and ran into the gap between two forwards for the opening try. However, made some poor decisions and while better, still not up to his World Cup standard.
9 Jaden Hendrikse - 6
Showed a great turn of pace down the right wing, but unfortunately, the pass to Am was forward. Did the basics well, but conceded a few turnovers.
8 Jasper Wiese - 6
Impressive with the ball in hand, with 11 carries in the first half. Made his tackles and worked hard at the breakdown, but conceded two turnovers. Subbed just before half-time.
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit - 6
His work on defence and wi ball in hand is improving. He clearly enjoys the additional game time at this level. However, he conceded a soft penalty after a warning as well as a couple of turnovers.
6 Siyamthanda Kolisi - 7
His best game of the season. Some really powerful carries and crucial try. It was not flawless, but his work rate was impressive.
5 Lodewyk de Jager - 6
Was powerful with ball in hand, making some decent metres with a couple of his runs. Did his work in the set pieces and slipped just one tackle.
4 Eben Etzebeth - 8
Showed great endeavour and had plenty of carries. Showed good turn of pace and made all his tackles. Some great pressure at the breakdown and a crucial charge down early in the second half when Wales looked to be having the momentum.
3 Frans Malherbe - 6
Unfortunately his work rate outside of the set pieces – where he was impressive – remains a concern.
2 Mbongeni Mbonambi - 6
Great in the set pieces and good value for his try. Didn’t get many metres for his five carries, but made all his tackles.
1 Trevor Nyakane - 6
Powerful scrumming – again showed he is comfortable on both the tighthead and (in this case) loosehead side. However, he also penalised at a couple of scrums. His work rate outside the set pieces also still a concerns.
Replacements:
16 Malcolm Marx - 7
Brought the power game, with some very impressive carries – especially in the final 10 minutes. Also won a crucial turnover penalty.
17 Steven Kitshoff - 5
Not his usual self, making no impact with ball in hand. Another player who needs to improve his work rate.
18 Vincent Koch - 6
Some impressive carrying and a high work rate, with his only downside the two missed tackles.
19 Franco Mostert - 5
Brought some energy, but a penalty at a maul late in the second half and a missed the let-downs.
20 Kwagga Smith - 9
His first action was winning a turnover inside his own 22 and then another crucial turnover close to his line n the final 10 minutes. Plenty of energy and made good ground with ball in hand. Add in his seven tackles and he was the most productive player for the Boks.
21 Elrigh Louw - NA
Not enough time to be rated.
22 Francois de Klerk - 6
Did the basics well and was a menace on defence.
23 Willie le Roux - 7
Solid at the back and brought some much-needed energy on attack. His vision added a real threat to the Bok attack.
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Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
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