Springboks player ratings: ‘Sloppy’ starters and ‘shambolic’ lineout costs Rassie’s men despite Bomb Squad ‘firing’

After an underwhelming showing from the Springboks in their 24-17 defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park, here’s how we rated Rassie Erasmus’ men in the Rugby Championship fixture.

Springboks player ratings v All Blacks

15 Willie Le Roux: A shocking start to the match as he poorly dealt with Beauden Barrett’s cross-kick to Emoni Narawa, and it proved extremely costly as the winger pounced to score. That was followed by a fumble in the air that resulted in a penalty to New Zealand. Le Roux did have some bright moments in the back-up and with his clearances, but overall, it was a very, very underwhelming performance from the veteran Bok. He was replaced early in the second half by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. 3

14 Cheslin Kolbe: Battled away throughout the match, trying his best to create some magic. The All Blacks managed to contain him for the most part while he did put pressure on their catchers and forced a penalty due to the illegal escort line. Uncharacteristically dropped a ball cold, unopposed, but had more good moments than bad. 6

13 Jesse Kriel (c): Had very little to do with the ball in hand, but when he did, he carried strongly and made good decisions. He did make good reads defensively and tried to turn the tide of the officiating calls, asking good questions of Karl Dickson, but it didn’t pan out for him. His first defeat as captain of the Boks, personally, he wasn’t poor. 6

12 Damian de Allende: Carried powerfully into the heart of the All Blacks’ defence. Made his tackles and cleared well at the breakdown. Shifted to fill in at flank following Kwagga Smith’s yellow card. 6

11 Canan Moodie: Chased and competed in the air stunningly, but had little to do with ball in hand. 5

10 Handre Pollard: His sloppy pass put the Springboks under early pressure, and while he recovered to pepper the All Blacks’ backfield and put New Zealand under pressure. However, this was far from a vintage Pollard performance despite flashes of brilliance. His passing accuracy was wayward, and in some way that was due to what he was receiving from the under-pressure Williams. 4

9 Grant Williams: While the scrum-half’s kicks were superb, he looked shaky at the base of the rucks due to the havoc that the All Blacks wreaked in that facet of the game. Still, Williams had bright moments, including a stunning clearance off a New Zealand error at the lineout. The livewire halfback was replaced in the early stage of the second half. An average performance because of a few errors and sloppy service. 5

The forwards

8 Siya Kolisi: A very quiet game from the back-rower, with his influence limited by the Springboks’ errors. Kolisi wasn’t set to feature in this game, and overall, it did look like a game too soon for the double World Cup-winning captain. Like many of the starters, he didn’t have much luck at the defensive breakdowns, and while he did make his tackles, he had very limited involvement in the attack. Replaced before the hour mark for Kwagga Smith. He returned for a brief stint later in the second half, but it was much of the same. 5

7 Pieter-Steph du Toit: Relentless work-rate. A stock-standard Du Toit performance. Accurate for the most part and always gives his all, today was no exception. 7

6 Marco van Staden: A battering ram ball carrier as he again managed good metres with the ball in hand and was equally strong in the tackles. He was unfortunate that he was unable to get reward from his breakdown pressure. 6

5 Ruan Nortje: Along with Marx, Nortje was at fault for a sorry showing at lineout time as he was unable to sync up with his hooker. He did manage a key steal off the All Blacks’ throw and was his usual busy self around the park. 5

4 Eben Etzebeth: Good in the kick chase once again but had long quiet patches in the match. He was busy in defence but perhaps needed to carry more. He was one of the more solid lineout jumpers too. 6

3 Thomas du Toit: Strong in the scrums overall and was busy around the park overall. Held his own for the most part and perhaps wasn’t rewarded enough for his set-piece work. 6

2 Malcolm Marx: Barged over the line soon after a sensational scrummaging effort, which put some shine on what was another off-colour and poor showing. His lineouts were shambolic more often than they were accurate, and it wasted key opportunities, time and time again. He will be livid about his missed tackle on Will Jordan and rightly so. 3

1 Ox Nche: Stupidly reached out for the try when the odds were very much against him, and that resulted in an easy turnover for the All Blacks on their line. Like Du Toit, he wasn’t rewarded for his scrummaging prowess but was a lot busier around the park than his fellow prop. Outside of his costly error, it was a strong performance from the front rower, a rarity today from a Springbok starter. 6

Replacements: The Springboks needed their bench to fire, and for the most part, they did. Wilco Louw and Boan Venter were outrageous in the scrum, inspiring a try with a tighthead turnover. Kwagga Smith was a big improvement at number eight until his yellow card. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu added some fluency on attack, as did Cobus Reinach who took his try well. The lineout also improved with Lood de Jager running it and Jan-Hendrik Wessels won a fantastic turnover that could have drawn up the match if the Boks were more accurate, but they weren’t. The bench got the Springboks back into the game, but they were unable to finish the job. 8