| No. | New Zealand | Rating | South Africa | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Wyatt Crockett – Had a few issues at scrum time against Argentina, but he wasn’t the first. Faces another stern test this week. | 6 | Tendai Mtawarira – Has played somewhat within himself this championship – needs more of the rampaging play that earned him his nickname. | 7 |
| 2. | Dane Coles – A solid championship so far, with many of the lineout issues that used to be a problem seemingly sorted. No Whitelock to aim for this game, however. | 7.5 | Adriaan Strauss – Preferred again to Bismarck, he needs a big performance to justify the decision. Didn’t do so against Australia. | 7.5 |
| 3. | Owen Franks – Held up reasonably well against the Argentines but like Crockett, will need to be at the top of his game again this week. | 7 | Jannie du Plessis – Similar to the Beast, has a fearsome reputation that he perhaps hasn’t quite lived up to so far. Needs to start doing so. | 7 |
| 4. | Brodie Retallick – Probably the player of the tournament so far. Some of his ball skills are simply incredible for a man of his size. | 9 | Eben Etzebeth – Hasn’t been the bullocking pillar of physicality we know he can be yet this championship. Up against Retallick, needs to be at the top of his game. | 8 |
| 5. | Jeremy Thrush – Not quite Sam Whitelock but a hugely honest replacement who, given his age, will absolutely relish his first All Black start. | 7 | Victor Matfield – Still toiling away at 37 and still doing so impressively. Lineout general and one of the better players in the SA ranks last week. | 7.5 |
| 6. | Steve Luatua – Another obscenely good deputy for the All Blacks. Rangier than the stocky Messam who he replaces, the Blues man is a destructive but mobile carrier. | 8 | Francois Louw – Less of a carrier than his opposite man but better at the breakdown. A quietly influential player for the Boks. | 8 |
| 7. | Richie McCaw – Still plugging away. Top tackler against the Pumas and ever the breakdown master. | 8.5 | Marcell Coetzee – Another handy breakdown man, whose partnership with Louw will go a long way to nullifying McCaw’s influence. | 7.5 |
| 8. | Kieran Read – In Whitelock’s absence he’ll be a key source of lineout ball. Add in his carrying potential and he’ll be one of the most influential players on the pitch. | 8.5 | Duane Vermuelen – A giant carrier at the back of the Bok pack, he will, as ever, be a vital source of go forward ball for them. | 8 |
| 9. | Aaron Smith – Has elevated himself in recent years from a weakness in the team to one of their best players. Great vision, great service. | 9 | Ruan Pienaar – A brilliant tactician and kicker, but doesn’t provide the quickest of ball for his fly-half. Under pressure. | 7 |
| 10. | Aaron Cruden – Reinstated despite Barrett’s masterclass last week. Can be equally brilliant at his best, and needs to be to repay Hansen’s faith. | 8 | Handré Pollard – Comfortably the biggest game of his fledgling career to date. Hugely talented but will be targeted by NZ simply because of his inexperience. | 7 |
| 11. | Julian Savea – Now has 26 tries in 25 appearances and seems completely comfortable with the Lomu comparisons. The most dangerous finisher in the world. | 9 | Bryan Habana – Looked dangerous on occasions against Australia and has a great scoring record in recent times against New Zealand. Still a class finisher. | 8.5 |
| 12. | Ma’a Nonu – Wrecking ball with a quality distribution and kicking game at his best, liability at his worst. Usually somewhere in between. | 8 | Jean de Villiers – Potentially seismic collisions await opposite Nonu. Still has a nose for the tryline and can cut some of the best lines in world rugby. | 8 |
| 13. | Conrad Smith – Masterful in defence and deceptively important to the ABs in attack. Makes those around him shine. | 8.5 | Jan Serfontein – Very quiet in attack against Australia, but 18 tackles made and none missed are astonishing stats for a back. Needs to start fulfilling undoubted potential. | 7 |
| 14. | Ben Smith – Move to the wing in horrible conditions nullified his influence last week. Will hope for more ball and better conditions this week, and if he gets them he’ll be lethal. | 8.5 | Cornal Hendricks – Like all the great wingers he is developing a knack of being in the right place at the right time to score tries. Defence will be sorely tested by Savea. | 8 |
| 15. | Israel Dagg – Answered some of his critics last weekend with an assured display at the back. With the SA kicking game strong, more of the same needed this week. | 7.5 | Willie le Roux – The Aussies kept him relatively quiet but on his day he’s the most dangerous counter attacker in the world. New Zealand must take that into account. | 8.5 |
| TOTAL | 120 | 114.5 |
PREDICTION
in last year’s Rugby Championship, it was the games against New Zealand in which South Africa confirmed themselves as the second best side in the world. They battled superbly in this game last season and were cruelly undone by a hugely questionable red card. They haven’t reached those heights again in this tournament, as a collective points difference of plus eight would suggest. New Zealand have looked as strong as ever and even though they’re missing a couple of key figures through injury, at home they should be too good for the Boks. New Zealand by 5.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
4 replies on “Rugby Championship 2014: New Zealand vs South Africa head to head ratings”
Not really seeing anything but an All Blacks victory. SA loss to Aus was, I think, more an indication of the fall in performance from SA than Aus being much better.
Unless Springboks really reind form around the park I expect ABs to cruise this.
Would be happy to be proved wrong.
D checked the date this time… & it’s def pre game!
So Jim Bob, the ABs by 5 only? And with their almost sweeping the board in yr pts tally!
If nothing else, h adv should decide this in NZ’s favour. Can’t take anything for granted, but I’m sure the AB’s won’t. IMO NZ must score (a try i.e.) early. This should settle them into a confident pattern. The Saffas will prob do their usual & try to outmuscle the ABs from the gun. The AB ‘D’ has been pretty good however, so I reckon SA will likely need a bit more than R1. OTOH, they could go for bust & run it themselves. More likely, with the CH’ship prob @ stake, they could launch another conservative areial blitz. If the latter is the case, NZ will def run plenty back @ them, intersperced with some positional kicking. The longer it goes, esp in the last 1/4, the ABs ought to have shown the Boks a clean pair, or 15 sets, of heals. So, NZ by… I dunno? 10,15?
Jamie
BTW, altho you state that the Boks ‘were cruelly undone by a hugely questionable red card’, if you recall @ the time, the commentator said thet Du Plessis was a mile offside. So he saw red, or should have done, for that, not the tackle. Didn’t matter @ Ellis tho I guess.
Don, there was no offside, there was no ruck. He got carded because he put a big tackle in on Carter, and that was it. The ref was so sure that something was wrong that he carded regardless, even though there was nothing wrong at all.