Springboks player ratings vs Georgia | Castle Lager Incoming Series

South Africa player ratings: The Springboks completed the clean sweep in the July internationals, following their victories over Italy with a 55-10 win over Georgia at the Mbombela Stadium.

Things did not get off to an ideal start, with the visitors taking a 7-0 lead just minutes into the match, but the world champions soon found their feet, although this was not a performance without errors.

On to the Rugby Championship next month for Rassie Erasmus’ side, but the Bok boss will be pleased with what he has seen over the past month.

Here’s how the players rated:

15 Aphelele Fassi – 8
Beaten by his opposite man Davit Niniashvili on one occasion after flying out the line, but his team-mates were able to cover and prevent Georgia from taking the lead after 15 minutes. The full-back’s only error in a rock-solid 55 minutes. Imperious under the high ball and seemed to always make the right decision when carrying.

14 Edwill van der Merwe – 8.5
The Lion’s kick chase meant the Georgians never had time and space in the backfield. It wasn’t just about tackles though, as his aerial ability helped the Boks retain possession and gain territory. Going forward he didn’t see a huge amount of the ball, but was able to bag two tries – one in the corner and the other tracking a chip from Faf de Klerk. Came close to a hat-trick at the end.

13 Canan Moodie – 7.5
Always threatening in the No.13 channel with his ability to change angles at pace, but it was all about his strength as he withheld two Georgian tacklers’ attempts to bundle him out to score South Africa’s third try in the corner.

12 Damian de Allende – 8
Put in a match-leading 14 carries, met the Georgian carries head-on in the midfield and got over the ball. There may not have been any huge breaks or long runs, but this showed how fundamental de Allende is to the team.

11 Kurt-Lee Arendse – 7
Looked more and more dangerous as the game developed and the space out wide increased and got his try late on.

10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – 5
Came close to repelling hooker Vano Karkadze as Georgia scored the opening try of the match, which would have been a heroic effort and far more than anyone would have expected from him. In a game that was largely controlled up front by the pack, the fly-half struggled to get the backline functioning smoothly, although things may have been different if passes had gone to hand. A poor conversion from in front of the posts set the tone for what was a dismal kicking display off the tee.

9 Grant Williams – 8
The perfect No.9 to exploit some tired Georgian forwards around the base of the ruck, putting his electric pace to good use in the build-up to the Boks’ third try. Showed his speed of play to sling a pass to van der Merwe to open the Boks’ scoring in the second half. The game was slowing down when he left, but he returned late on and put Arendse in for a try.

1 Boan Venter – 7.5
Forced a Georgian knock-on from the base in the Edinburgh prop’s first scrum in Test rugby. Just minutes later he was leaping over a ruck to open the Springboks’ scoring and to register his first international try after just 10 minutes. Not a perfect display at the scrum though, and was penalised on one occasion. Otherwise, got the better of the Georgian scrum, which became a penalty machine for the Boks.

2 Marnus van der Merwe – 8
Another try-scorer on debut, the Scarlets hooker broke off the back of a maul to score the Springboks’ second try, and scored his second after half an hour from a similar situation. A perfect display in the lineout as well to cap a memorable debut.

3 Neethling Fouche – 7.5
Was part of the same effort as Venter in the opening minutes, which resulted in a Georgian knock-on after his first scrum in Test rugby. Continued with a faultlessly brutal performance in that department. The Stormer’s debut was a long time coming, but he looked more than comfortable in it.

4 Eben Etzebeth – 7
Some nice short passes mixed up his carrying game rather than just brutal carries, which there weren’t many of today. Defensively, he was at his imposing best, topping the Boks’ tackle charts with eight before leaving the field after 45 minutes.

5 Ruan Nortje – 8
Put in some wince-inducing defensive hits in the midfield, topping the Boks’ tackle charts. Forms a nice partnership with Etzebeth with his work-rate, as the pair hassled Georgia scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze throughout.

6 Siya Kolisi – 6.5
Forced from the field just seconds into the match following a head collision, but returned and played until the final whistle. Popped up out wide with some carries he has become synonymous for but ate some huge tackles.

7 Pieter-Steph du Toit – 7
Tireless as ever, but he was penalised at the breakdown once, as the Georgians competed well in that area of the game. Put pressure on the Georgian lineout throughout the match, and was rewarded with a steal late on.

8 Cobus Wiese – 6.5
Filling in for his suspended brother at the back of the scrum, Wiese got through a fair amount of work, topping the carry charts with nine before leaving the field after 45 minutes. Did look like he was beginning to tire, so this was a wise choice by Erasmus.

22m Entries

Avg. Points Scored

3.6

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Avg. Points Scored

1

7

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Replacements
16 Bongi Mbonambi – 6
Fluffed a lineout with one of his first interventions after coming on, but tightened things up thereafter.

17 Thomas du Toit – 7
An assured scrummaging display from the bench against the Georgian pack that love to scrum, marching the opposition back with his first effort.

18 Vincent Koch – 5
Penalised by Matthew Carley at one point for going to his knee, and was pinged again for not driving straight

19 RG Snyman – 8.5
The perfect time for Snyman to enter the field and wreak havoc on a tiring Georgian side, with a launched one-handed offload to Faf de Klerk and the offload to Williams in the build-up to Arendse’s try being standout moments. Looked unstoppable in the final 10 minutes. Only a penalty conceded stopped his rating being a nine.

20 Kwagga Smith – 7
Played with energy and tempo to help the Boks pull away as the side were simply fitter than their opponents. A cameo on the flank in the first half followed by a stint at the back of the scrum just showed his versatility.

21 Faf de Klerk – 7.5
Maybe not the situation the double World Cup winner needed to stake his claim to start for the Boks again with the match already wrapped up, but this was an eye-catching cameo, with a nice chip to set up a try for van der Merwe. Had to leave the field for the final five minutes, unfortunately.

22 Handre Pollard – 8
The 31-year-old’s introduction was needed after 55 minutes, as the match was getting loose and error-strewn. He provided more structure and solidity to allow the Boks to keep piling on more points. Even got his own try as the Boks cross the half-century mark at the death.

23 Damian Willemse – 7
Linked with Pollard moments after coming on to crash over for a try, but did have a few errors in him.