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All Blacks player ratings vs Springboks | The Rugby Championship
By Ben Smith
The All Blacks went one step closer to securing the Rugby Championship with a 35-20 win over the Springboks at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
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After a 20 minute blitz the side built a 17-0 lead which became 20-3 as both teams traded penalties. The Springboks were held up on the stroke of half-time as the All Blacks defence held.
The injection of the bench in the second half gave the Springboks a boost and they begun to repel the All Blacks attack and create problems, but the home side withstood the momentum swing to come home strong with two tries.
Here’s how the All Blacks rated:
1. Ethan de Groot – 7
The All Blacks set piece was sound in the first half as the front row laid the platform. The first scrum was extremely stable and the All Blacks pack won a penalty on the next one. The Boks first maul attempt from five out went nowhere.
De Groot played with nice touch in the pods, anchored the scrum, and got through 7 tackles in defence. A solid outing from the loosehead.
2. Codie Taylor – 7
Taylor’s lineouts were good early, but Boks did not compete. The All Blacks had clean ball at every lineout as a result. The hooker relished the contact areas. Got overexcited on a no look pass which hit Savea on the shoulder after some deft hands on Frizell’s try. Off at 54.
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3. Tyrel Lomax – 7
Big defence up front from Lomax to handle the Bok runners as he churned through 12 tackles. A decent shift for Lomax as the set-piece held up well whilst he was in the game. Off at 54.
4. Brodie Retallick – 8
The veteran lock had a Solid lineout operation all night with the caveat that there was no contest. Took a truckload of carries on attack with 10, eight of which came in the first half. Came up with a big lineout steal on Lood de Jager.
5. Scott Barrett – 7.5
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A bad intercept pass ended an early attacking raid but he quickly got into the tough stuff carrying hard in close. Got stuck into the Bok pack and really made some punishing hits in the second half when the side needed to show some impetus. Made three dominant hits, the most in the match.
6. Shannon Frizell – 8
Big break with his first carry to set the tone. Carried the high risk carries coming out of the exit zone. Scored a powerful try running down the right sideline blasting through Willie Le Roux Lomu-style. Had a massive turnover on the Boks’ first attacking possession forcing a holding on penalty. Finished with a mammoth 16 tackles. Probably Frizell’s best showing in the black jersey.
7. Sam Cane (c) – 7
Some shaky moments early for the captain. Stumbled out of a lineout which derailed the first phase play. Got through the dirty work with clean outs and a high work rate. Ate the Bok runners coming around the corner with chop tackles. Bok back row got into the game late in the first half with some ruck turnovers, but Cane hit back with one of his own. Off at 41 for Papalii after a neck scare.
8. Ardie Savea – 7.5
Forced a knock-on early on a Springboks kick return. Was dominant in close and put pressure on the Springboks at the breakdown. Took over the captaincy duties in the second half. Great performance defensively.
9. Aaron Smith – 7
Bagged the first try on a typical halfback line. Interesting box kick in attacking field position which was a planned special. Kicked well at other times and had some great escape moments out of the ruck. Got sacked by De Klerk late in the half to spoil an opportunity. Smart play milked a penalty late in the first half to extend the lead to 20-3. Off at 60.
10. Richie Mo’unga – 9
Couple of easy kicks early to settle the nerves and nailed all of them in the first half. Kicking game out-of-hand helped unsettle the Boks as they struggled in the air. Some great distribution to move the ball to the edges and offered a reliable performance free from errors.
Found it tougher in the second half as line speed intensified. All Blacks attack lost ground on most occasions as South Africa’s impact came through their stellar replacements.
His kicking decision were important to bail on bad situations and he had a glorious touch-finder which led to his try. He skinned the Boks down the blind on a scrum play from the five.
11. Mark Telea – 6.5
Ran hard with his opportunities. Had some nice bat backs in the air which turned into points, one late in the first half. Had a high tackle late in the first half which was almost costly but All Blacks defence was immense to hold out the Boks. Got caught infield too much on Kolbe’s try. Off at 72 for a solid return to Test rugby.
12. Jordie Barrett – 7
Kicking game was brilliant from all the kickers across the backline, but Jordie offered the long range kicks. A booming 60 metre goal line restart was dropped by De Allende at a key time. Carried hard and defended the inside channel well. A nice inside ball to Jordan almost had a try to start the second half.
13. Rieko Ioane – 6.5
Solid defence from Ioane. Had a great inside read on Kolbe in the first half. Didn’t get a lot of ball tonight but showed up with physicality and straightened the carry when needed to. Off in 67th for Ennor.
14. Will Jordan – 8.5
Had the crowd up with his first touch on a kick return. Grabbed a kick regather soon after. He was left un-tackled and got up for another go on his first run on the right flank which saw him cut back upfield before linking with Aaron Smith for the try. Had another half break in the lead up to Frizell’s try, finding the edge with a difficult pass.
Burst into the game early in the second half but was brought down in a try saver by Kolbe. Electric performance from Jordan who finally got his try from a Beauden Barrett cross-field kick. One of the All Blacks’ difference makers.
15. Beauden Barrett – 8
Launched the exit kicks high into the air for the Boks’ bumbling backfield. Had an aerial take to save a try with Kolbe pressing. Brought world class backfield management, relieving pressure when needed and cleaning up kicks.
He produced a brilliant switch play and chip kick for Will Jordan to push the All Blacks out to 30-15 which was key. Another impressive showing from Barrett at the back.
Reserves
16. Samisoni Taukei’aho – 6 – On at 54. The scrum was stable with the reserves on and won a penalty. Lineouts were easy with no pressure. His highlight was taking on Kwagga Smith and turfing him.
17. Tamaiti Williams – 6 – On at 60 for his debut. Got a scrum penalty with seven minutes to go. Worked hard in defence and kept alert to assist on many tackles during a trying time in the game for the All Blacks.
18. Nepo Laulala – 5 – On at 54. Pack was bested in the second half physically but the All Blacks worked hard.
19. Tupou Vaa’i – On at 72. Not enough time to rate.
20. Dalton Papali’i – 6.5 – On early for Cane a minute into the second half. Had great steal with 10 minutes to go to end a key attack.
21. Finlay Christie – 5.5 On at 60. Had a bad box kick on his first clearance. Made a great play on Grant Williams to force a maul turnover. Got the rhythm going in the lead up to Jordan’s try and combined with Barrett to make the switch.
22. Braydon Ennor – N/A – Had a nice first touch and was pretty much through the line but chose to pass.
23. Caleb Clarke – N/A – Came on late had one strong carry.
Frizzell and Jordan 9 or say what they did wrong to not get 9.
8 for BB?? Lol no chance. He made 12 metres the whole match and beat 1 defender.
8 is harsh on Frizzell. 9.
No way that RM had more impact on this game than Frizell or Jordan
I can’t see how you could not award ‘9’s to both Frizell and Will Jordan on their outings. The only jury decision was over who was man of the match.
Mounga 9? Invert that
Mostly fair assessment there, Ben. Would have mention Christie being done by Kwagga Smith just before the end and scored him down accordingly. I believe it is time to give Cam Roigard a role in the 23 and bring Brad Weber in from the cold.