Springboks Player Ratings v B&I Lions - 2nd test

July 31, 2021
5876
Ultimate Rugby

World champions South Africa showed their class in the second half on Saturday as they beat the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town.

The world champions had come up just short in a controversial opening loss but controlled proceedings on Saturday after another scrappy start.

Here is how we rated the Springboks.

Willie le Roux - 7

Challenged under the high ball and was hit and miss in this department favouring more on the former than the latter. Kicked well out of hand and sparked the attack when it was needed.

Cheslin Kolbe - 6

Can argue that he was lucky not to be red carded. A few nice touches out wide in the early knockings but not quite as effective as he can be.

Lukhanyo Am - 8

If there was a question over his world-class pedigree before this series, he has silenced it in the last two tests. Covered the entire pitch on either side of the ball, lead the defence effort of the Springboks and took his chance well to score.

Damian de Allende - 8

Damian de Allende is very much an extra loose forward on the pitch. He is willing to truck it up into contact and tackle whatever comes his way. His worked on either side of the ball allowed Am and co. to shine.

Makazole Mapimpi - 8

Penalised early on in the game as he miss-timed his tackle but managed to nick one out of the air off Stuart Hogg. Capped off a great move to score and was excellent in the air and defensive for the rest of the game. Named man of the match in his 68-minute effort.

Handre Pollard - 8

Off the mark somewhat from the tee but his composure with the ball in hand and effectiveness on defence more than made up for that. Brilliantly set up Makazole Mapimpi for his try with two major involvements in the build-up to it. Kicked superbly out of hand and grew as the game progressed.

Faf de Klerk - 8

Some close calls on defence and may well have been lucky to escape a card but his kicking and passing out of hand was excellent. It was a clever kick and a well-executed one from Faf that resulted in Am's try.

Steven Kitshoff - 7

A more trademark performance from the red-headed prop in his 50th test. A good battle up front with Tadhg Furlong that he came out on top of. Good work rate around the ground too.

Bongi Mbonambi - 6.5

One or two of his lineouts got picked off but that was also down to the excellent defence from the Lions. Pinged again for a dangerous tackle too. Busy and physical.

Frans Malherbe - 7

Had Vunipola's number in the scrums and busy around the park. Effective.

Eben Etzebeth - 8.5

A mammoth performance from the second-rower. Got stuck into absolutely everything and is on top of his game.

Franco Mostert -7.5

A few errors in conceding penalties hurt his rating but that comes with the territory of the workload he gets through. Good at lineout time too.

Siya Kolisi - 8.5

One of his best performances in a Springbok jersey. Produced a try saving and potentially game-saving moment to prevent Robbie Henshaw before half time that retained the momentum for the Springboks.

At the heart of just about everything and topped the tackle count.

Pieter-Steph du Toit - 5

Looked gutted as he left the pitch after 20 minutes. A few touches and hard hits but the hit from Duhan van der Merwe ended his outing.

Jasper Wiese - 6

Didn't quite impose himself as he would have liked. Solid without doing to much right or wrong.

Replacements:

Malcolm Marx - 7

Picked up and improved on the groundwork laid by Mbonambi.

Trevor Nyakane - 8

Demolished Sinckler in the scrum and was excellent around the park too. Massive 20-minute impact.

Vincent Koch - 6

Less impactful around the park as Nyakane but equally brilliant in the set pieces.

Lood de Jager - 8

Simply brilliant in the lineouts. Took control of the lineout and surge the Boks to victory. The ultimate template of what you want from a substitute.

Kwagga Smith - 7

An early replacement for du Toit. Stepped up superbly and put last week's performance and criticism behind him. Strong in all facets of the game.

Marco van Staden - n/a

On in the final 10 minutes. Not long enough for a fair rating.

Herschel Jantjies - 6

Kept the pace that de Klerk set but not quite as accurately.

Damian Willemse - 5

Little impact on the wing replacing Mapimpi.