Blood & Mud

England 0 - 36 South Africa: England player ratings

Here's our view, give us yours in the comments.

Jason Robinson - 8  In a performance so fetid I could smell it across the Channel, the performance of the full-back was the only zephyr of sweet fragrance.  Held pretty much every ball that he was peppered with; broke the first tackler consistently, including one 60 metre dash from a tap in his own 22.  Limped off to a standing ovation from both sets of fans after suffering a hamstring injury and if this is the end, then I would like to thank him for the years of entertainment and class in both codes.

Paul Sackey - 2 Was as bad as Robbo was good.  Looked sluggish with the ball and clueless without it.  Was sucked in to Du Preez for one try when his job was to stay wide on his winger.  Basics.

Andy Farrell - 4 Moves sideways a bit too often, but spent most of the game defending for his life or smashing the ball up only to see it turned over due to the plodding pack.

Jamie Noon - 4 Was he actually on the pitch for the first 70 minutes?  Had to feel sorry for him really, the Boks kicked the ball over his head, and England's creative anorexia starved him of ball as well.

Josh Lewsey - 5 Best compliment you can give him is that Habana was pretty anonymous.  Honest endevour and solid defence.  Had little to do otherwise.

Mike Catt - 4 Put there to "play what was in front of him".  Unfotunately, what was in front of him was either a green wall or the slowest ball in Christendom - so all in all he was buggered.

Shaun Perry - 1 Scrum-half is a very simple position: get the ball away quickly and accurately; box kick well; marshall your forwards.  He didn't do any of these things.

Andrew Sheridan - 5 Scrummaged well, but tarnished by poor forward performance in the loose

Mark Regan - 5  Threw well, but was laboured and a lot like his 35 years in open play.

Matt Stevens - 5  Held his own in game when everyone else seemed to forget they play rugby for a living

Simon Shaw - 4 Lacked dynamism in the loose and lost a couple in the line-out

Ben Kay - 5 More prominent in the loose than any other front-fiver.  Will cry inwardly when he sees that attempted kick again.

Martin Corry - 3 Poor.  Trundles around as usual, without not a sniff of an offload.  All too often took the wrong decisions with ball in hand.  Should be dropped immediately.

Tom Rees - 6 Ran his heart out, and was getting to the breakdown well.  Unfortunately his team-mates were not and then  Ashton thought the solution to that was to take him off.  Idiot

Nick Easter - 5  Came on strong in the last 15 minutes, but it was 65 minutes too late.  Showed enough hands in that 15 to keep his place.

Replacements:
Lewis Moody - 5 Did what Rees was doing.  Maybe they should have both stayed on, eh Brian?

Andy Gomarsall - 6  Looked like Gareth Edwards compared to Perry, but then blew England's best attacking platform by giving Catt a pass on his ankles.  Even so, must start against Samoa.

George Chuter - 5 Some nice touches in open play, but still struggles with consistency with his throwing.

Tait,  Borthwick, Richards, Freshwater - Superfluous   

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Comments

England 0 - 36 South Africa: England player ratings

Here's our view, give us yours in the comments.

Jason Robinson - 8  In a performance so fetid I could smell it across the Channel, the performance of the full-back was the only zephyr of sweet fragrance.  Held pretty much every ball that he was peppered with; broke the first tackler consistently, including one 60 metre dash from a tap in his own 22.  Limped off to a standing ovation from both sets of fans after suffering a hamstring injury and if this is the end, then I would like to thank him for the years of entertainment and class in both codes.

Paul Sackey - 2 Was as bad as Robbo was good.  Looked sluggish with the ball and clueless without it.  Was sucked in to Du Preez for one try when his job was to stay wide on his winger.  Basics.

Andy Farrell - 4 Moves sideways a bit too often, but spent most of the game defending for his life or smashing the ball up only to see it turned over due to the plodding pack.