While there was a little debate as to who the MVP was against Scotland, both the panel of experts and Vodacom Rugby community agree that Jannie du Plessis added the least value… AGAIN.
Tank Lanning
Lock Lood de Jager got the official Man of the Match award after the Bok’s 34-16 squeezing out of Scotland in Newcastle on Saturday, and unlike last week when the ratings suggested a very different result to the official nomination of flyhalf Handre Pollard as the MOTM against Samoa, the Vodacom Rugby community definitely agree.
The “Rate the Boks” section on the Vodacom Rugby website allows readers to rate all 23 Bok players and coach after every game they play, which are then collated into a community average. Scoring a solid 8.3 out of 10, De Jager sits at the top of the pile this week, albeit only a decimal point ahead of next best, his skipper Fourie du Preez.
De Jager’s lock partner, Eben Etzebeth (7.9) makes up the podium, with Pollard (7.8) just missing out on bronze this week.
With match stats of 14 tackles, 2 penalties, 30 metres run, 13 carries, 1 defenders beaten and an offload, in a match that saw the big boys being asked to make yards over the gain line up front, it’s easy to see why De Jager was rated so highly by the community.
Does this see Victor Matfield holding tackle bags and gathering splinters going forward? Interesting conundrum for the coach …
However, unlike last week, the experts do not agree! Joining me on the Vodacom rating panel are Bok legends Rob Louw, Corne Krige and Breyton Paulse, and while we see De Jager cominh in at a solid second on 8.4 out of 10, it’s new skipper and talisman, Du Preez, on an impressive 8.6, who cracks the nod as the our MVP this week. Rounding off the podium are Etzebeth and Schalk Burger, who benefits from Louw’s enthusiastic rating.
On the other end of the scale there was again wholesale agreement between the Vodacom Rugby Community and the panel of experts. And yet again, it is front row stalwart Jannie du Plessis who bears the brunt, notching up just 5.6 from the public, and 6.1 from the experts. Against the USA this evening, tighthead prop Frans Malherbe (who got a solid 7.5 out of 10 from the experts this week), gets a start, and it will be interesting to see if Jannie will be able to regain his spot in the run on XV when he returns from injury.
Amongst the substitutes, the experts had Malherbe making the biggest impact, while the community gave Adriaan Stauass (on 6.7) the nod.
Coach Heyneke Meyer got 6.7 from the community, marginally better than last week, while the experts seemed a tad happier, giving him 7.1, but that is a big drop from his 8.3 last week.
Now this you will not see very often, but does speak to the quality of the man in the middle. Referee Nigel Owen had a great game with whistle in hand, as is borne out by the ratings. He was rated 7.7 by the community, while the experts rated him 8.2 out of 10. Impressive!
The highs and lows according to the experts:
Breyton Paulse: High – De Allende and De Jager (9), Low – Jannie du Plessis (7.3)
Corne Krige: High – De Allende and Fourie Du Preez (9), Low – Jannie du Plessis (5.5)
Rob Louw: High – Burger (8.5), Low – Jannie du Plessis (5)
Tank Lanning: High – Etzebeth, De Jaager, Du Preez (8.5), Low – Bismarck du Plessis (6)
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In terms of a scrummaging unit, how do you think the bok front row measures up against the other big boys? Will they have parity or better against NZ, Oz, Arg?
Hi Garry. If we keep Malherbe and Lood in the mix, the Boks should have no issues in that department. Aussies are yet again up to some sneaky tricks, crabbing to the right, thus forcing the loosehead to follow and forcing the penalty for scrumming in. Boks need to be clever …