Little glimmer of light in Boks’ romp
This was much better from Coetzee’s men and he may just have something to work with.
Key player: Handre Pollard Rating: 8/10
The flyhalf showed he had shaken off his long stay on the sidelines with a controlled display. He set up Francois Louw’s try by taking the ball flat, and a superbly timed cross-kick paved the way for Francois Venter’s try. He also made no mistake off the kicking tee and showed great leadership in directing play while making sound decisions.
1: Beast Mtawarira Rating: 5/10
His game lasted only 27 minutes before he picked up a groin injury which has made him doubtful for the Test against Wales at the Principality stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, but his strong scrumming and worthwhile contribution made him a valuable member of the forward pack.
3: Wilco Louw Rating: 5/10
It was another strong performance from the young tighthead who is growing stronger with each showing. In only his second start, he indicated his defensive awareness outside the tight exchanges could still be improved, but he showed he is here to stay for a while.
7: Pieter-Steph du Toit Rating: 6/10
In the words of his captain Eben Etzebeth, he brings something else to the Boks’ game in comparison to Siya Kolisi. Du Toit did not let his skipper down as he contributed greatly in the defensive department, while his physical presence at the rucks was immense.
12: Francois Venter Rating: 7/10
Another great performance by the powerful inside centre. He has ticked a number of boxes with his ability to straighten the line and run directly at the opposition, while in the one instance he intercepted he was able to show impressive vision to relieve pressure on his team-mates.
2: Bongi Mbonambi Rating: 6/10
He proved his undoubted talent as a replacement for the Boks’ first-choice hooker Malcolm Marx, who was rested for this encounter in Padua. Mbonambi was duly rewarded for his fine all-round contribution with his first Test try. He also did some great work at the breakdown.
4: Eben Etzebeth Rating:5/10
It seemed possible that the captain’s lower leg was still bothering him as he was substituted by Franco Mostert around the hour mark, but Etzebeth continued to lead by example. The manner in which he put his body on the line was again an inspiration for the team.
8: Duane Vermeulen Rating: 7/10
The hard edge the France-based Vermeulen has brought to the Boks’ game has benefited the side greatly, and his sound combination with Francois Louw has been one of the few success stories of the tour. Their presence will be hugely missed against Wales this weekend.
13: Jesse Kriel Rating: 5/10
In a game where the battle was won and lost up front in the wet conditions, there were few opportunities for Kriel to be flashy. He nonetheless showed some good patches in defence, though the inability of the Boks’ back division to create enough linebreaks was again a big handicap.
5: Lood de Jager Rating: 6/10
He was the Boks’ most hard-working defender with 19 tackles, followed by Steven Kitshoff on 17, which was a testimony of the busy afternoon De Jager was having on the field. He also did well in varying his lineout calls and his physical contribution was noteworthy.
9: Ross Cronje Rating: 5/10
The jury is still out on the halfback despite his huge contribution on defence, where he often shoots out of the line to stop a threatening attack, but his service behind the maul remains too slow when the Boks are met with a defence shooting quickly from the line.
14: Dillyn Leyds Rating: 4/10
Like Skosan, it will be a big surprise if he remains part of the Bok set-up next year. Leyds is just not showing enough mettle on defence and attack. The ability of both wings in supporting their fullback has been below average and there’s simply no spark in the backline.
6: Francois Louw Rating: 6/10
The Boks’ tough openside flanker produced another energetic performance with his high work-rate on defence, no doubt retaining his place as one of the few overseas players always rated highly by coach Allister Coetzee and the Bok backroom staff.
11: Courtnall Skosan Rating: 4/10
The pacey leftwing will no doubt be frustrated with the few opportunities he has received on this tour, but his fumble in the air under a high ball without any significant pressure was evident of his most revealing shortcoming, while his abilities on defence remain a big concern.
15: Andries Coetzee Rating: 5/10
The fullback showed great energy on attack without really getting over the advantage line. He does not have the ability to break tackles, and while he did not really make any major mistakes against the Italians, his linekicking requires better vision.