Daily Voice’s Francois de Wet takes a look at some of the players’ performance, and rates just how they did in Saturday’s game against Portugal.
15 Aphelele Fassi 8/10
COUNTER-ATTACKED well by recognising space in a Portugese defence full of gaps, with one of his solo runs from a kick return setting up a try for Kurt-Lee Arendse.
14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 8/10
SCORED two brilliant tries and probably deserved a higher mark, but his yellow card for a crocodile roll at a breakdown on a Portuguese player spoiled his day.
13 Lukhanyo Am 8.5/10
THE pressure of losing centre partner Andre Esterhuizen early did not faze him on his return to Test rugby. Am organised the defence well, while making 139 metres on attack and scoring a try.
12 Andre Esterhuizen 0/10
HIS red card for a dangerous tackle after two minutes put South Africa under unnecessary pressure.
Springboks are down to 14 men as Andre Esterhuizen's yellow card is upgraded to a red card, after this tackle 👇
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 20, 2024
📺 Stream #RSAvPOR live: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/oqX9ZO6c2k
11 Makazole Mapimpi 8/10
SCORED a hattrick of tries that takes him to 30 Test dot-downs and fourth on Boks’ all-time list of top try scorers.
A big win for the #Springboks, thanks @PortugalRugby for a memorable night in Bloem 🤝 #ForeverGreenForeverGold #Springboks #RSAvPOR pic.twitter.com/wplBdtYVM7
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 20, 2024
10 Manie Libbok 7.5/10
ARMED with attack coach Tony Brown’s tactics he put his teammates in space well, while beating two defenders with slick skills. He missed three of his five goal kicks, which will have fans doubting if he can be played in bigger Tests.
9 Cobus Reinach 8/10
PROVIDED quick service for his backs and ball carriers while also sniping and beating one defender in a busy 44 minutes.
8 Evan Roos 8/10
MADE 83 metres with his ball-carries, beat two defenders and made four tackles.
7 Ben-Jason Dixon 8/10
SHOWED he could fill Pieter-Steph du Toit’s boots by making 10 tackles (the most) and was a busy ball carrier with 14 runs and also made two turnovers while scoring a try on debut.
6 Phepsi Buthelezi 8/10
MADE nine tackles while not shying away from doing the donkey work at the breakdowns, carried the ball five times on attack and scored a try on debut.
5 RG Snyman 8.5/10
HAD to temper his aggro after Portugal forwards targeted him with some off-the-ball shenanigans and got into his work at lineout time while also offloading the ball in contact five times.
4 Salmaan Moerat 8/10
WOULD have loved to see him make more dominant ball carries into the heart of the Portugal defence, but it was a solid performance by the Boks’ 66th captain who made eight tackles.
3 Thomas du Toit 8/10
SCRUMMED well alongside rookies Johan Grobbelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
2 Johan Grobbelaar 8/10
HIT his lineout jumpers, scrummed well and also made six impactful carries.
1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels 8/10
SATISFYING debut for the loosehead as he scored SA’s opening try in front of his Bloemfontein home crowd.
23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9/10
HE needed just 37 minutes to wys coach Rassie Erasmus that he can’t be dropped for the upcoming Rugby Championship by setting up two tries, beating two defenders, kicking a kwaai 50/22 and slotting all his conversion after replacing Manie Libbok at 10.
WHAT WAS THAT!? 🤯
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 20, 2024
Feinberg-Mngomezulu ➡️ Mapimpi 🔥
📺 Stream #RSAvPOR live: https://t.co/0P0NNho4A4 pic.twitter.com/PoCwMPxKFW