Here’s our South Africa player ratings following their 12-11 loss to England at Twickenham.
15 Damian Willemse: Was solid under the high ball. Showed some dazzling stepping skills. Took the pressure off Handre Pollard with some astute tactical kicking, including one brilliant kick in behind. 7/10
14 Sbu Nkosi: Was excellent in the air. Did brilliantly to keep himself in the field of play for a superb finish for his try. Was brave on defence, making some important tackles. 7/10
13 Jesse Kriel: Found himself with limited space and time so wasn’t able to stamp his authority on the encounter. Moved over to the right wing for the last 20 minutes when Nkosi went off. 6/10
12 Damian de Allende: Was his side’s top carrier. Got the better of a formidable presence in opposite number Ben Te’o in the collision. Didn’t shirk his defensive responsibilities either, covering his channel well in his 34th Test cap. Beat five defenders in total from 15 carries. 8/10
11 Aphiwe Dyantyi: Did well under the high ball, like his other outside backs, in the face of an ultimately impotent English aerial bombardment. Showed good hands in build-up to Nkosi’s try. 7/10
10 Handré Pollard: Decent performance from the Bok number 10. Took the ball to the line well. Made a couple of scintillating breaks. Will be disappointed to have missed the crucial penalty in an otherwise flawless kicking performance. 7/10
9 Ivan van Zyl: Got to the breakdown swiftly and recycled possession efficiently. Doesn’t quite possess the explosive pace of someone like a Faf de Klerk, who was sorely missed. 6/10
8 Warren Whiteley: A couple of nice touches and was physical defensively in the first-half but doesn’t provide that thrust in attack at Test level. 6/10
7 Duane Vermeulen: Fairly anonymous surprisingly. Blindside doesn’t seem to suit the gargantuan Springbok so Rassie Erasmus may look to move him back to his preferred position next week. 6/10
6 Siya Kolisi (c): All the talk before the game was over the South African back-row and its power but Kolisi was another who failed to impose himself on the game. 5/10
5 Pieter-Steph du Toit: Excellent from the lock, who tackled and carried brilliantly. Did the work his back-row colleagues should have done by making metres with ball in hand. 8/10
4 Eben Etzebeth: Like Du Toit, Etzebeth stepped up and was brilliant in getting South Africa on the front foot in the first-half. Was a big loss when injury forced him off. 8/10
3 Frans Malherbe: Was part of an effective scrum in the first-half and his efforts forced Alec Hepburn to be replaced at the break, but perhaps didn’t have the dominance he would have wanted. 6/10
2 Malcolm Marx: Really poor performance from the hooker, one good run and one crucial turnover aside. Throwing had previously been an issue but it came back to haunt Marx at Twickenham. 4/10
1 Steven Kitshoff: Can see why he has become South Africa’s first-choice prop after another busy display. Was good in the scrum and contributed more than his front-row colleagues in the loose. 7/10
Replacements:
16 Bongi Mbonambi: Should have come on earlier.
17 Thomas du Toit: Used to be a loosehead before switching sides but struggled after coming on. 5/10
18 Wilco Louw: Issues were more on Du Toit’s side. 6/10
19 RG Snyman: A couple of good runs but not the impact of Etzebeth. 6/10
20 Lood de Jager: Didn’t do much in his 15 minutes on the field. 5/10
21 Embrose Papier: Not on long enough.
22 Elton Jantjies: Not on long enough.
23 André Esterhuizen: Made some typically barnstorming carries. However, conceded a penalty and missed a tackle or two. 6/10