South Africa claimed a 22-17 victory in the first Test against England. Now it is time for Planet Rugby to rate the players at Kings Park on Saturday.
15 Zane Kirchner: In a first-half in which South Africa's de facto gameplan was mirrored by that of England's, Kirchner showed why Heyneke Meyer favoured him over Pat Lambie with an assured performance under the high ball. A booming clearance kick further outlined his main attributes before he was replaced for the second-half. 6/10.
14 JP Pietersen: A solid evening on his home ground, with a sparkle added when he set up Jean de Villiers for South Africa's second try. Although he didn't see a huge amount of the ball, he was strong on defence. 7/10.
13 Jean de Villiers: Out-Tuilagi'd Manu Tuilagi on occasion, such was De Villiers' whole-hearted commitment. He was the only Springbok to echo their coach's intensity in the first-half, and thoroughly deserved to grab their second try after a massive game in which he led from the front. 8/10.
12 Frans Steyn: Provided the physicality that Meyer clearly felt he needed in the backline, performing the duty of full-time battering ram. It was predictable, but he generally got over the advantage line to keep the momentum going and have a bruising effect on the English defence. 6/10.
11 Bryan Habana: At the start of the season there was a feeling that while Habana had added a new solidity to his game, the spark of old had probably gone. But his performances both last week against the Bulls and then in this game proved that he's back to his absolute best, fielding the high ball, slicing through defences and putting in huge hits. 9/10.
10 Morné Steyn: Although his three missed kicks kept England in the game in the third quarter, generally Steyn did what he does best. In the first-half his up-and-unders were superb, continually putting the English back-three under pressure from the advancing Habana. And as the Boks began to find space in the second half, his distribution improved. 6/10.
9 François Hougaard: Fourie who? True, Hougaard's box-kicking was not quite at the level of Du Preez's, and he was a little slow to deliver the ball from the back of the ruck at times (often because he was getting slow ball himself). But otherwise he caught the eye in a performance characterised by sniping runs and some immense defence. His covering tackle on Chris Ashton in the 32nd minute was crucial. 8/10.
8 Pierre Spies: More or less what you would expect from Spies, who provided a trusty option at the back of the line-out, a highly physical brand of defence and also helped out during the aerial bombardment in the first half. 7/10.
7 Willem Alberts: One of the most common images from the game was of an England player driving up the middle, only to be manhandled in a backwards direction by South Africa's number seven. But while Alberts' strong defence and burly charges with the ball were his most obvious contributions in a man-of-the-match display, his offload to Jannie du Plessis was the key that unlocked the English defence for the Springboks' first try. 9/10.
6 Marcell Coetzee: Had a strong game defensively, but was at times conspicuous by his absence at the breakdown, which England dominated in the first half. Coetzee also conceded a blatant penalty which led to England's second score of the match, but he did improve as the game went on. He was picked to be physical, rather than to turn balls over, and for the most part he was effective in doing his job. 6/10.
5 Juandré Kruger: It may be years before he is able to set foot on a field without commentators rating him against Bakkies Botha, so the good thing for Kruger is that he doesn't stack up too unfavourably against the man whose shoes he's trying to fill. Made a complete hash of one lineout, but otherwise he was a dependable target and regularly drove the English back in defence. 7/10.
4 Eben Etzebeth: Conceded the penalty that allowed England to open the scoring and was also turned over a couple of times, but otherwise it was an accomplished debut for such a young lock, who was reliable at the front of the lineout. 7/10.
3 Jannie du Plessis: Not as dominant in the scrum as his replacement in the second-half, but then Du Plessis generally offers more than just strong scrummaging - he's a handy ball carrier, as seen when he swooped on Alberts' offload to storm through the English defence and in the build-up to South Africa's first try. 6/10.
2 Bismarck du Plessis: An assured start to what looks likely to be a long reign in the Bok number two jersey. As well as his usual barnstorming runs and strength at the breakdown, Du Plessis was accurate at line-out time and looked a more composed character than the one we saw last year. 8/10.
1 Tendai Mtawarira: A fairly quiet match in which he struggled to make serious yards, but he didn't put a foot wrong really. 6/10.
Replacements:
16 Adriaan Strauss: Made a noticeable impact both in the scrums and with ball in hand after coming on for the last 15 minutes. 6/10.
17 Coenie Oosthuizen: Absolutely destroyed the English scrum in the last 20 minutes, so the opposing front row won't forget him in a hurry. 8/10.
18 Flip van der Merwe: Solid in the lineout after coming off the bench. 5/10.
19 Keegan Daniel: A very late replacement for Coetzee.
20 Ruan Pienaar: Fluffed one box-kick but otherwise he was a fairly silky replacement for Hougaard. 6/10.
21 Patrick Lambie: A half-time replacement for Kirchner, he got into the game more often than the Bulls man as South Africa looked to be more attacking. 7/10.
22 Wynand Olivier: Came on and off at various stages, but had little involvement.
(been there... twice)
Pienaar was fast from the get go.
Legend in the making...
