FORWARDS
Bakkies Botha (7 out of 10)
“As they say, Bakkies Botha decides what to do, and I decided to finish up with international rugby!” Those were the parting words from an icon of Springbok rugby, and in his final drive in the Test arena, he inflicted some serious damage on the English forwards in the last 15 minutes with some smashing tackles and strong carries. Thanks for your loyal service, Bakkies.
Schalk Burger (8)
Tried hard to generate some urgency in the second half of the Irish Test, but showed what he could do from the start against England with a man-of-the-match performance. Was all over the field, and added some agility to the loose trio. Pushing hard for a permanent starting spot.
Nizaam Carr (7)
Broke open the arm-wrestle against Italy with a wonderful line-break that left Sergio Parisse on the floor, and then a magical one-handed offload in the tackle led to Cobus Reinach’s try. Was busy on defence against Italy and Wales, and showed that he belonged in the cauldron of Test rugby.
Marcell Coetzee (6)
He was probably the most energetic loose forward on tour – always ready to carry, to make a tackle and get back on cover defence. But as an openside flank, he was unable to really slow down the opposition ball at the breakdowns, while he often just charged forward with ball-in-hand, seldom looking to pass to a teammate or offload in the tackle.
Lood de Jager (4)
This was the tour where he was supposed to be tested as a No 5 lock as he is usually a No 4, but he never got a proper chance as Victor Matfield started all four Tests. And when De Jager did come on against Italy and Wales, he didn’t make much difference, apart from a few good tackles in Padova.
Bismarck du Plessis (8)
Was excellent in his primary role of throwing into the lineouts, and was a particularly dynamic presence in bursting up the middle and through tackles in the second half against England and Italy.
Also won a few penalties at the breakdowns, and probably should’ve started against England as well.
Jannie du Plessis (9)
One of his best tours in a long time, even though he missed the last two Tests with a hamstring injury. Du Plessis was criticised for missing a few tackles last year, but he more than made up for that by producing a massive work-rate on defence and even ball-carries in the two Tests he played. That’s not to mention his scrummaging, where he was a force at tighthead in a Bok pack that was on top in all four Tests.
Eben Etzebeth (7)
Was a bit slow out of the blocks around the field against Ireland, but was close to being back to his industrious best in the Wales Test. Was safe in the lineouts and even won a few balls against the throw, and upped his work-rate with his ball-carries, especially against Italy and Wales.
Victor Matfield (8)
Was a strong presence in the lineouts as usual, on his own ball and putting pressure on the opposition despite often being interfered with in the air, which the referees failed to deal with. But, at 37, it was his contribution in open play that really caught the eye. Matfield was carrying the ball in his usual “outside centre” position! And he even cleaned out rucks and made those famous tackles on cover defence. Received a yellow card against England for collapsing a maul.
Teboho Mohoje (6)
Under threat from Burger for the No 7 jersey, and looked to be caught off-guard by the intensity of the Irish forwards. Lost his spot for the England game, but came back strongly against Italy with a number of powerful ball-carries and tackles. He continued in the same vein against Wales, and is always a safe bet at the back of the lineouts.
Tendai Mtawarira (7)
He was a big part of the strong scrumming effort by the pack – including a tighthead against Wales – and the other area where he was a visible presence was in defence, where he shut down a number of bursts from the opposition around the fringes.
Carried a bit more ball against Wales, which is where he can still lift his work-rate a bit.
Trevor Nyakane (8)
Faced the biggest challenge of his career in the scrums as a starter against powerhouse Italian tighthead Martin Castrogiovanni, and proved once and for all that he can stand his man under the greatest pressure. Got around the field nicely too and never stopped tackling, while he was a willing ball-carrier. Could be pushing Mtawarira for the No 1 jersey soon.
Coenie Oosthuizen (7)
Got his chance to start against Italy and Wales once Jannie du Plessis was injured, and he can now say that his transformation from a loosehead into a tighthead is complete. Oosthuizen’s main test was in the scrums, and he never went backwards – and was part of winning a tighthead against Wales. Was always busy in the tight-loose as usual, making some monster tackles and scoring a try against Italy with a typically powerful barge through the defence.
Julian Redelinghuys (6)
Made his debut against Italy, but it was in the last 10 minutes against Wales where his renowned scrummaging ability shone through as he withstood an almighty onslaught from the Welsh pack five metres from the Bok line.
But came under pressure in the critical final scrum close to the Wales tryline as the Boks just needed a secure ball to try and snatch victory with a late converted try, but were unable to do so as the ball squirted out at the side.
Gurthrö Steenkamp (3)
Got his only chance with 23 minutes to go against Italy, and struggled initially against his old nemesis Castrogiovanni and later Dario Chistolini, who attended the same school as Steenkamp (Paarl Boys’ High).
May miss out on the World Cup squad as a result.
Adriaan Strauss (5)
starts against England and Italy, and while he was good in general play, he conceded a yellow card at a crucial stage against Ireland when he got a slight touch to Rob Kearney in the air. It was probably not worth more than a penalty, but Strauss was never going to win the ball and should rather not have put his arm out.
Overthrew the ball and couldn’t find his jumpers on three occasions inside the Italy 22.
Duane Vermeulen (5)
By his own admission, not his most effective display against Ireland. Lacked the energy and presence shown during the Rugby Championship, and was clearly tired from all the rugby he’s played in 2014. Should’ve been rested against Italy, but he continued to play and while trying hard to generate go-forward ball, just didn’t have that spark in his game. Needs to rediscover his offloading skills as well, as he mainly ran straight into defenders.
BACKS
Damian de Allende (5)
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer needed to give him more game time on this tour, especially as Jan Serfontein and Jean de Villiers had played a lot of rugby this year. But De Allende only got his chance in the last quarter against Wales following De Villiers’ unfortunate knee injury, and didn’t get much opportunity to showcase his ball-carrying or passing skills.
Jean de Villiers (captain, 6)
One hopes that his Test career hasn’t ended with that horrible knee injury against Wales. In terms of his play and captaincy before that, he tried to run from depth on to the ball, but most of the time just bashed into defenders. Seldom created space or passed to his wings, although solid on defence. Made poor decisions to kick penalties to touch instead of the posts against Ireland, which played a big part in that defeat. But did the same thing against England, and it paid off handsomely as a seven-man Bok pack set a maul with the score at 20-20 and Schalk Burger scored.
Johan Goosen (6)
Got one opportunity against Italy and showed enough to suggest that he could make a successful conversion to fullback from flyhalf. Good speed when joining the line and he kicked one massive touch-finder. Was okay under the high ball, but needs to play there more for his French club .
Bryan Habana (6)
Was reduced to a spectator for most of the tour as his inside backs failed to get the ball into his hands or give him space in which to manoeuvre. Chased box-kicks hard and was always strong on defence. Showed he’s lost none of his pace as he kept up with the play to dot down against Italy for his 57th Test try.
Cornal Hendricks (4)
Suffered the same fate as Habana as he was starved of possession. Was unfairly dropped for the England and Italy games, and then disaster struck against Wales when he went up to contest an up-and-under and was cruelly adjudged by Irish referee John Lacey to have taken out Leigh Halfpenny in the air. Hendricks was also caught out by the Welsh backs’ sharp passing that led to a few overlaps on his side of the field.
Francois Hougaard (3)
Started the tour as the first-choice in the absence of Fourie du Preez and Ruan Pienaar, but a nightmare display against Ireland has now placed his Test future in doubt. After good performances against Australia and New Zealand, that hesitancy at the back of the rucks was back in Hougaard’s game, and his passing was poor. His kicking wasn’t up to scratch either, and the last straw was when he tap-kicked a penalty against Wales and proceeded to boot the ball straight into touch.
Patrick Lambie (6)
Got his chance against England, and a solid goal-kicking display and a well-taken drop goal were mixed with inaccurate tactical kicking and execution on attack. Pulled off a brilliant chip over the defence to set up Cobus Reinach’s try at Twickenham. But the same issues with his overall game cropped up against Italy and Wales.
Willie le Roux (6)
Mixed the sublime with the average on this tour. Tore through the Irish and English defences with blistering pace and vision, and produced a breathtaking offload in the tackle to put Cobus Reinach over the line at Twickenham. Was generally safe under the high ball and in position to cover tactical kicks, but made a number of unforced handling errors and ran across the field on the counter.
Lwazi Mvovo (5)
Another who should’ve been given more game time, and wasn’t put into space on attack to show off his terrific speed against Wales. Did reasonably well under the high ball and anticipated the play well to save the day for the Boks twice on the cover defence.
JP Pietersen (6)
He was man-of-the-match in his only start at outside centre this year against Scotland, and should’ve been given another run to add some bite to the Bok attack. Finished off a Le Roux break well against Ireland at wing, and had some determined runs against England and Italy too. But needs to be brought into play more by the Bok inside backs.
Handré Pollard (7)
Attacked the line with vigour against Ireland in trying to outfox the rush defence in his only start of the tour, but was suddenly dropped for the England Test as the Bok coach felt his tactical kicking wasn’t good enough. But it was a strange decision as the Boks had won over 60% territory in Dublin. Pollard showed what he can offer with a superb line-break off a Le Roux pass against Italy, and then produced the pass of the tour with a long floater as he was about to be smashed in the tackle to Bryan Habana to finish.
Cobus Reinach (8)
After Hougaard’s off-day against Ireland, Reinach took his chance with a lively outing in difficult conditions against England to bag the Boks’ internal Man-of-the-Match award. Cleared the rucks quickly, had a good pass to his flyhalf and had a few trademark snipes around the fringes too. But the most impressive part of his game was undoubtedly his tactical kicking. He took the pressure off Lambie with several stunning touch-finders, and his box-kicks weren’t bad either.
Jan Serfontein (6)
again strong on defence, and handled the threat of Jamie Roberts well against Wales. But still didn’t show the smart footwork and powerful hand-off on attack that was prevalent during his SA Under-20 days. Perhaps that is down to the fact that he was played into the ground this year at both Super Rugby and Test level.
DID NOT PLAY
Ruan Pienaar, Robbie Coetzee, Jaco Kriel, Morné Steyn, Warren Whiteley, Seabelo Senatla, Scarra Ntubeni, Ruan Dreyer, Jano Vermaak, Rudy Paige, Marnitz Boshoff, Ross Cronjé - Cape Argus