Andries Coetzee
Ireland's aerial bombardment made life very difficult especially as most of the ball was contestable and so the fullback wasn't able to claim ball cleanly. Going forward he beat seven defenders, making 77 metres in attack but guilty of some loose passing. Rating: 6.
Dillyn Leyds
He generally received the ball along with several Irish tacklers so he didn't really get much opportunity. Made one excellent covering tackle. Rating: 5
Jesse Kriel
He tried to give South Africa some go forward ball but was superbly marshalled by Robbie Henshaw. He tried to force the pass on a couple of occasions. Rating: 5.
Damian de Allende
Asked to batter his way into multiple Irish tacklers, he used his power to get some gain-lines and generally managed to attract multiple tacklers. Rating: 6.
Courtnall Skosan
He was targeted aerially by both Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton and struggled with that aspect of the game. He had his pocket picked by Andrew Conway for the try and missed one glaring tackle. Rating: 4.
Elton Jantjes
Couldn't put any shape on the game and was largely anonymous from an attacking perspective even when South Africa dominated possession. Ireland chose his corridor to run down when possible. Rating: 4.
Ross Cronje
He opted for shorter box-kicks more often than not to try and find space just in behind the Irish defensive line. His service was adequate but his tackling was brittle. Rating: 4.
Tendai Mtawarira
He conceded two penalties at scrum time under serious pressure, compensating slightly but some bullocking runs in the loose where he was a primary and at time effective ball carrier. Rating: 5.
Malcolm Marx
There is no doubting his work ethic but he was well marshalled for the most part and the recipient of some heavy double tackles. Rating: 6.
Coenie Oosthuizen
He departed the game with a knee injury after a couple of minutes, so there's no rating. Rating: N/A
Eben Etzebeth (capt)
He showed up time and again to carry the ball and got some decent front foot ball for his team but the Springboks were much too one dimensional, slavishly addicted to route one with very little subtlety or nuance. Rating: 5.
Lood de Jager
Plenty of perspiration evidenced from his sizeable tackle count (11) and his willingness to carry ball. One of his team's better performers. Rating: 6.
Siya Kolisi
Largely anonymous in a game that didn't really suit his talents because he didn't get his hands on the ball very much and wasn't really a presence at the breakdown. Rating: 4.
Pieter-Steph du Toit
South Africa's best player on the day. He worked so hard and effectively for the most part on behalf of his team, all the while playing out of position. Forced two excellent turnovers. Rating: 8.
Francois Louw
Made a nuisance of himself at the breakdown and put in some crunching tackles, one huge hit on Sean O'Brien a standout but like several teammates tired as the game went on and lost his effectiveness. Rating: 6.
Replacements
There wasn't much impetus coming from the bench especially when contrasted with the impact that the Ireland replacements enjoyed. Rating: 4.
Coach
Allister Coetzee will have nightmares about this game as his team struggled in so many areas of the game and when they did get possession some of the passing and handling was awful. You could see the gameplan but his players failed to execute and their patterns were predictable for the most part. Rating: 4.
