Springbok player ratings: Who fired and who flopped

The Springboks saw a 12-match winning streak come to an end in the most disheartening fashion on Saturday as the All Blacks raced to a 33-16 victory at Ellis Park, defying any predictions that altitude would be a factor in favour of the hosts.

South Africa conceded five tries to one in a performance that coach Erasmus said needed to have “a lot of things put right”, and which was soured by injuries to star wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

It was a Test to forget for the Springbok team, and here we reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly.

SPRINGBOK PLAYER RATINGS

WHO FIRED

Jasper Wiese (8/10): Serving as a relentless human battering ram, the big eighthman was the standout shining light in the pack as he racked up the ball carries, made his impact felt at the breakdown and tackled tirelessly despite the scoreline.

Wilco Louw (7/10): Wilco Louw anchored a dominant scrummaging performance that punished the All Blacks at set-piece time, even if the rest of the game plan unraveled around him.

Cheslin Kolbe (6/10): The veteran wing was a source of South African hope while on the field, offering accurate goal-kicking, strong contesting under the high ball, and trademark defensive grit before an early injury exit drained the Boks’ momentum.

WHO FLOPPED

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4/10): A second match in succession where the youngster failed to fire at flyhalf, where his playmaking flair was overshadowed by costly defensive lapses, handling errors and an inability to assert tactical control as the match slipped away.

Grant Williams (5/10): Although there were signs of some spark, Williams struggled to have his usual impact, failing to dictate the tempo at scrumhalf before a charged-down kick directly led to an All Blacks try at a crucial time.

Jesse Kriel (5/10): Forced out onto the left wing following an injury reshuffle, Kriel was rendered largely invisible on attack and restricted strictly to defensive cover as the Springboks’ 6-2 strategy on the bench ultimately backfired due to injuries.

Opportunity to respond

The tour continues when the All Blacks take on the Lions in Johannesburg on Tuesday in the final match against a franchise team before the second Test in Cape Town on Saturday.

Erasmus picked out some key moments as being turning points: the Boks trailed by three points (19-16) in the 58th minute and were pressuring the All Blacks’ scrum when they conceded a penalty on their own feed.

“Even if we had kicked over that scrum penalty and we won we still made a helluva lot of errors,” he said.

“But it wasn’t a wake-up call. There were just so many things that we did wrong and that New Zealand did right – so I’m not going to say we learnt a lot of things from this match.

“There would have been a lot of things we’d have to put right even if we had scratched through this match with a one point win.

“We didn’t play well. Against a class team like New Zealand, if you don’t convert, they give you a proper hiding.

“With hindsight, there were a lot of things we didn’t convert; I think there were two or three big moments when we let the game go away from us. Not because we wanted to or because we wanted to make those errors but because New Zealand forced those on to us by being really intense and sharp.”