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Cape Town – Submit this with some confidence in a World Cup year: the Springboks of the Rassie Erasmus tenure are consistently getting under the skins of the world-champion All Blacks.
In a result that tees up their humungous early RWC 2019 pool meeting in Yokohama with a pinch of extra spice, his charges came away with a highly praiseworthy 16-16 Rugby Championship outcome against the old enemy in Wellington on Saturday.
That the hosts were marginally the better side, based on the whole 80 minutes, and that the Boks levelled the game only at the eleventh hour through smoking Young Turk Herschel Jantjies’s well-taken try, will matter very little to gradually emboldening SA fans.
As recent former captain Jean de Villiers deftly summed up in the SuperSport studio afterwards: “It was not the best game in the world … but (fought out) between two teams who are very close.”
Here’s how I rated the Boks in Wellington:
Willie le Roux: 6
Mixed bag from the seasoned fullback, but his experience came in handy often. Overcooked a dink, passed once to no-one, but also covered well on defence, had a couple of decent touch-finders … and made key tackle on Beauden Barrett when Bok in-field defence let him slip harrowingly through.
Cheslin Kolbe: 8
Lightweight only on the scales! Terrific, terrier-like Test at right wing, where he policed lethal, much bigger Rieko Ioane splendidly. Dominated a high-ball contest or two, scrambled with ceaseless energy and willingness on defence, absorbed his knocks, and made vital, slippery yards on attack – including pivotal hand in the draw-forcing try.
Lukhanyo Am: 6
Fractionally the better of the two moderate Bok midfielders, I felt -- minor surprise that he was first to be subbed in 50th minute (for Jesse Kriel). Sought to be constructive, made some firm hits on rush-up defence. Leaked a breakdown penalty.
Damian de Allende: 5.5
Did nothing dismally wrong, though vital inside centre channel stays a fluid place for Boks. Effected good early charged-down to cause early NZ collywobbles, tackled well, but otherwise little special punch. Penalised for not releasing at breakdown.
Makazole Mapimpi: 5
Perhaps not as culpable defensively as some suggested when All Blacks got their very fast-strike, counter-attacking try before half-time: initial error wasn’t his. But a little slack in letting scorer Jack Goodhue get closer to posts than he should? Still a sense of fragility in pressure moments at No 11.
Handre Pollard: 7
Earns an extra half-point just for the absolute coolness of that tense, levelling conversion after the siren! Most of his goal-kicking (4/5) was on the button, an area where Barrett stays inconsistent. Strong early carry, banging big Kieran Read backwards, and sparked a great counter from deep when he cleverly eluded two challengers. Misdirected a cross-kick into touch, and also a bit inaccurate with one pass to a promisingly flying Kolbe.
Faf de Klerk: 6
Busy, willing sort of game before he went down tunnel for concussion test in 44th minute and never reappeared. Tactical kicking generally accurate (if a little too plentiful?) though lost possession once at a ruck. In-form replacement Jantjies continues to tick own boxes, of course, including with his manna-from-heaven last-gasp try.
Duane Vermeulen: 6
Noticeably off his own renowned, combative A-game for fairly large periods. His uncharacteristic loss of a ball in contact led to NZ’s try on the break. But Vermeulen led astutely, including trying hard to convince ref Nic Berry of an obvious NZ knock-on at key late stage. His best defence came near the finish, too, confirming that strong diesel engine.
Pieter-Steph du Toit: 7
Inspiring at blindside flank, almost to the level he’d produced against Wallabies last week. Roamed and grafted like the increasingly impressive athlete he is, and when he tackled his NZ victim almost always felt it. Fitting that he was right up with play when Jantjies got his memorable try.
Kwagga Smith: 6.5
More pros than cons, for sure, as the nippy little No 6 made his much-discussed first appearance against the All Blacks and earned second cap overall (streets better than he’d been against Wales in Washington DC last year). Cleaned up messy first Bok lineout, and that set tone for sprightly display. Worked hard at rucks, though penalised at one, and did some great covering, plus closing of All Black space.
Franco Mostert: 7
Probably the pick of the Bok tight forwards in the dominant (even if not reflected on scoreboard) first half, and largely kept up his famous, no-frills graft-rate. Right up with play a lot of the time, and secure in his kick-off receipts.
Eben Etzebeth: 6
Still feeling his way back from a layoff, and maybe starting another Test a week onward after flying long-haul was a bit of a bridge too far for him at this point. Has played many more assertive Tests, especially with ball in hand. Still, effected a lineout steal and made one magical pouching of a difficult kick-off.
Frans Malherbe: 5.5
The tighthead didn’t notably advance his credentials, frankly … at a time when Boks have plenty of hungry candidates there. Scrum was largely secure in his time on park, though he took some heat in one just before his call-off and his general play was mostly limited to one or two sound protective contributions over the ball. “He was puffing,” opined Nick Mallett of the period just before he made way.
Malcolm Marx: 6
Workmanlike enough, and made some zesty hits, but another Bok front-liner by reputation who fell short of his best standards in the Cake Tin. We didn’t see many of his brawny carries or muscular presence in the quest for turnovers, while Bok lineout was iffy at times. Penalised at a breakdown.
Steven Kitshoff: 6
Always happy to smash it up, though NZ didn’t allow him much leeway. Solid at scrum-time, and won a valuable penalty over the ball while Boks were under the cosh.
Standout substitute:
Trevor Nyakane: 7.5
Barely any question about this one, eh? Bok scrum took its first notable retreat (and resultant penalty concession) just before his 56th-minute entry to fray. It was all change from there: Nyakane’s first scrum turned the tables … and there was another as SA set-piece grabbed initiative very, very crucially in closing stages. Other subs RG Snyman, Tendai Mtawarira, Francois Louw and talisman Jantjies also oozed pleasing urgency.
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
