Although the Springboks may not have been at their best in their Rugby Championship round five defeat to Los Pumas at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades on Saturday, we select five individuals who enjoyed a relatively good day out.
Ox Nche
Again, Nche was a menace at the scrum and utterly suffocated Pumas tighthead Joel Sclavi at times.
He earned 23 meters for the world champs from his trademark destructive ball carrying, while he also made one clean break and two tackles during his 64-minutes on the pitch.
In all honesty, there was a big gulf in performance level between Ox and the rest of the Bok team, and if the Hollywoodbets Sharks man’s teammates had been as dialled in as he, the result may have been different.
Aphelele Fassi
The Weekend Special opened the scoring early on after running a fantastic line off Handre Pollard to dive over unopposed.
He also made some solid defensive plays that included three tackles, as well as some good kicking and aerial work.
Fassi won’t be pleased with his three handling errors, but he should undoubtedly grow from the experience of having played in such a hostile environment.
Handre Pollard
Polly was solid if unspectacular on Saturday, throwing some nice passes and kicking four from five off the tee, and in hindsight many Bok fans would have wanted him to be the man lining up that match-winning kick late on.
In all though, he would have craved more control over the contest during his 47-minutes of action.
Cobus Reinach
Reinach showed some quick thinking to score an important try for the Boks a little before halftime, while he also made three tackles.
His passing was up and down though, with the Montpellier No 9 perhaps guilty of forcing things at times.
Thomas du Toit
Du Toit made a turnover and six tackles during what was a busy day at the office, while his scrummaging was solid enough.
The former Hollywoodbets Sharks skipper will be hoping for more opportunities on the Boks’ end of year tour to push his case for selection in bigger Tests matches.
A tough outing in Argentina, but we have one week to fix it...#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/UkrpIptfXG
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 22, 2024
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