Sevu Reece (All Blacks)

Planet Rugby handed Reece a 3/10: “Much like his fellow winger, Reece had some poor reads on defence and didn’t fare much better with the ball in hand. He wasted an opportunity after the hour mark with an unkind pass to Rieko Ioane and was manhandled into touch soon after. He crucially was able to manufacture a lineout for his team from being tackled out and Samisoni Taukei’aho scored. Managed to undo his great work with a poor intercept pass attempt that resulted in a yellow card.”

Rugby Pass were kinder with a 5/10: “Might not have been Sevu’s best night with ball in hand, but the right winger managed to move some bodies at the breakdown and play halfback when Ratima or Christie were occupied. Great clearing kick when the All Blacks were down to 13 players on the stroke of halftime. Quiet second half until Reece stuck a hand out on defence, where referee Nic Berry deemed it to be an intentional knockdown.”

Stuff rated him 3/10: “Two-try effort last week seemed a distant memory as struggled to make any inroads out wide, as well as being caught out defensively and with hands. Silly yellow card for deliberate knock on with game on the line in 73rd minute.”

From hero last week to liability this week, Reece’s indiscipline and errors compounded New Zealand’s woes.

Franco Mostert (South Africa)

Rugby Pass rated Mostert 5.5/10, noting: “Struggled to make an impression in the first half, often anonymous in both attack and defence. Did plenty of unseen donkey work but little to get the crowd going. Subbed out as Erasmus looked for more dynamism.”

Rugby 365 were harsher with a 4.5/10: “The flanker had a relative quiet first half but put in some big tackles. Doesn’t look entirely comfortable at flank. Replaced in 66th minute.”

Planet Rugby agreed with a 4/10: “Another tireless effort from the work-horse forward but had little success. Did the grunt work of hitting rucks and tackles but not his finest outing.”

FLO Rugby also gave him a 4/10: “Endless graft, but very little impact. Mostert hit ruck after ruck and finished with double-digit tackles, but he rarely disrupted or carried with any effect. In a role where Pieter-Steph du Toit usually sets the tone physically, Mostert simply couldn’t match that influence.”

A workmanlike but uninspired shift from Mostert, whose limitations at flank were again exposed.

Like this:

Like Loading…