******Aphelele Fassi 2.5/10 ** ****
A weak link in a nightmare performance: three turnovers, two missed tackles and beaten in the air for Australia’s second try. He did help create South Africa’s try by drawing defenders, but that was rather like finding one working lightbulb in a burning house. He cant be trusted as the last line of defence, other than being the invisible man.
Edwill van der Merwe 6/10
Scored a try and produced an excellent tackle. However, he lost the ball trying to ground another late chance from Sasha’s grubber. It was a difficult kick to gather, but with Australia down to 11 players, kicking the ball away was arguably the exact opposite of what South Africa needed.
**Canan Moodie 4/10 **
Made 52 metres and completed 10 tackles, but missed two and gifted Australia a try with a costly knock-on. It is increasingly unclear whether he has the pace for Test rugby; he looked completely gassed on cover defence.
**André Esterhuizen 3.5/10 **
Made 10 tackles, missed two and threw the hopeless late pass that was intercepted. Also seemed determined to crash-ball into traffic whenever a more imaginative option presented itself.
**Ethan Hooker 4.5/10 **
South Africa’s leading carrier with 60 metres, but the rest of the statistics resemble a police report: three penalties, two turnovers and two missed tackles. Plenty of effort, rather less evidence of control.
Handré Pollard 4/10
Reliable enough from the tee, but offered little control or authority before being replaced. He increasingly looks like a fly-half designed for a slower, more territorial version of rugby — not Australian pitches. He is certainly the third choice fly-half, at least until another placeholder is found.
Herschel Jantjies 3/10
Failed to generate tempo and mixed questionable kicking with a general lack of urgency. I doubt he is in the top 6 scrumhalf’s. If anything, he has proven he should not be considered again. Faf de Klerk is a much better player and a more serious alternative to the other scrum-half incumbents.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels 4/10
Struggled to make an impact and spearheaded a scrum that was the weakest option the Boks have provided in years. South Africa improved once the replacements arrived, and there are questions if he is test standard.
Johan Grobbelaar 6/10
Scored the opening try, made 12 tackles and was one of the few starters who can leave the pitch without needing their performance explained away. The best showing from the starting front row by some distance.
**Zachary Porthen 3/10 **
Penalised in the build-up to Australia’s opening try and never looked especially comfortable. At this stage, there does not appear to be enough scrummaging power for Test rugby.
Eben Etzebeth 4/10
Completed 12 tackles but missed two and could not stop Australia’s momentum. He was ok, but starting to look a bit long in the tooth. Rassie Erasmus tried to remove him late on, but with no blood available, the substitution rules rather cruelly required South Africa to continue fielding a senior forward who looked like he had already left the match mentally.
Franco Mostert 5/10
One of the better forwards in a bad bunch. His excellent lineout take helped create Grobbelaar’s try, but overall this was still a fairly substantial nothing-burger of a performance.
Paul de Villiers 7/10
Good with the ball in hand and showed some presence at the breakdown. He did miss three tackles — the most by any Springbok —, but compared with the defensive errors around him, he was comparably better.
**Elrigh Louw 4/10 **
Made a match-high 15 tackles, which is difficult to ignore, but also gave away a needless penalty at a ruck. He offers very little with ball in hand and does not currently look like a Test-standard player — more a reliable way of filling the number on the team sheet.
**Marco van Staden 4/10 **
Hopelessly miscast at No. 8. He completed 10 tackles, but conceded two penalties and offered almost nothing as a ball carrier. Cameron Hanekom should have been their instead. The Boks have 2 number 8’s, this plodder is limited to being a 6. If Hanekom was on the bench, he could have run an exhausted 11-man Australia side off its feet.
Replacements - Player Rating Assessment
**Ox Nche 7/10 **
Made an immediate difference at scrum time and powered over for the late try. South Africa’s comeback began once they started to control the breakdown and create faster tempo phase play.
Malcolm Marx 6.5/10
Added physicality and helped get the maul moving, and brough some more intensity to the breakdown.
**Wilco Louw 6.5/10 **
Contributed to the improved forward pressure and helped the pack grow stronger as the match progressed. Given what came before, merely making the scrum look functional was close to a starring role.
Lood de Jager 4/10
It may be time for Lood to move on. He bungled one of South Africa’s better attacking movements by losing the ball during an overlap at a critical moment. He completed 10 tackles, but also lost possession twice. He cannot currently be trusted off the bench in a key Test.
**Jasper Wiese 5/10 **
Added his usual physicality but conceded two penalties. Useful aggression, but did not dominate the line advantage line.
**Morne van den Berg 7/10 **
Provided the urgency that had been missing at scrum-half and scored a late try. He immediately made South Africa look quicker, more dangerous. Crappies has a bit of a Joost Van Der Westhuizen impact around the base of the ruck.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 7.5/10
South Africa’s best replacement and the clearest attacking influence on the pitch in green and gold. Created Van den Berg’s try, kicked well and transformed the attack. Quite unfortunate that this revelation was kept in reserve until South Africa were 25 points behind.
Quan Horn 5/10**
He looked a bit short of pace to be an outside back. I am not convinced yet he is test standard. He did cause the obstruction that ended the game, by running in front of Esterhuizen.
