Rating the Boks on their performance against the World XV

    1.      Tendai Mtwarira :    5/10

Very average performance before being substituted for obtaining quite a bad cut to the face.

   

    2.      Bismarck du Plessis    6/10

Did all the basics right but was ultimately outclassed by for former Sharks teammate Craig Burden.

    3.       Jannie du Plessis    4/10

Failed to get the upper hand in the scrums and needed his contact lenses reinserted in order to spot the opposition.

    4.       Eben Etsebeth   8/10

Got stuck into the more physical stuff and slowly starting to show signs of the Etsabeth of old.

    5.       Victor Matfield.  06/10

Glad to see Big Vic going for the full 80. Except for competing for a spot on the wing, had a pretty good game and combined well with Etsabeth.

    6.       Francois Louw    05/10

Not the performance we have become accustomed to. Was far below the radar and gave his team some defensive practice by spending 10 minutes in the sin bin.

    7.       Marcell Coetzee   08/10

Got smashed on a couple occasions in the first 40, but certainly got up tougher and made a few hits good enough to dominate the highlight real. A complete performance and certainly a candidate for man of the match.

    8.       Warren Whiteley   07/10

Played quite a balanced game and seem to pop up everywhere when least expected. 

    9.       Ruan Pienaar    6/10

Did nothing spectacular and was out runned by opposition hooker Craig Burden on two occasions. If not for experience, he would have possibly been warming the bench…

   10.   Handre Pollard. 6/10

Though he made one or two poor tactical kicking errors during a 13 man period, he played a good running and distributing game. Substandard placekicking for a international player with his abilities.

   11.   Bryan Habana 5/10

Playing on reputation and one would expect more from him in a high running game of this nature. Made an exceptional pass that lead to a try though.

   12.   Damian de Allende   9/10

The real stand out player of the day. Ran great angles, scored two tries and were physically and defensively a real menace to the opposition. 

   13.   Jesse Kriel   7/10

Made a great debut, especially considering the fact that he did not play in his preferred position. Seems to run good supporting lines and might just turn out as the find of the season.

   14.   JP Pieterson    06/10

Nothing spectacular but did his job and did it convincingly.

   15.   Willie le Roux    07/10

Recovered quite well after having three blunders in the first 20 minutes. Scored a hatric of tries and glad to see him playing with confidence after suffering from injury. Better opposition will obviously test his positional game and some might still argue that Willie would perform best on wing.

The guys on the bench made a big impact and none bigger than Vincent Koch and Schalk Burger. Between Koch and Trevor Nyakane they brought stability to the scrums. Koch made a couple of big hits and covered the park like a loose forward. Adriaan Strauss seems to have found some of his lost form. Oupa Mahoje did his part while Burger was quite instrumental. The veteran losie doesn’t have the speed anymore but does seem to have a skill set to get the flyers away. Cobus Reinach recovered well from injury, scored a try and might get the starting jumper soon. Patrick Lambie brought some calmness and stability to the back and slotted both conversions with ease.  You could literally hear the whole Newlands crowd holding their breath when Jean de Villiers got his first tackle. This shows what a phenomenal player and leader he has become. Still lacking speed, but good to see Jean stepping off both knees with confidence.