Springboks player ratings: Record breaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu the perfect 10

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu delivered a defining flyhalf performance as he steered the Springboks to a commanding 67-30 victory over Argentina in Durban on Saturday.

While the Boks only truly sparked to life in the second half, they had already laid the foundation in the opening 40 minutes by grinding down Los Pumas with relentless physicality.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, alongside fullback Damian Willemse, orchestrated play with precision and flair, while replacement playmaker Manie Libbok provided the finishing touches to a dominant display.

Here’s how the players rated:

15 Damian Willemse: (9): Secure under the high ball and sparked one of the tries from a sublime take. He was solid as the Boks’ final line of defence and put in another strong display that shows he is back to his sparkling best.

14 Cheslin Kolbe (7): Saw little of the ball in that first half. That drop kick, which led to a try for Argentina, was a costly mistake by the winger. However, he made amends with a brilliant try and play under the high ball.

13 Canan Moodie (7): Put in one of his trademark attack-stopping tackles in the midfield that forced a knock on and was solid on defence. Popped up under the high balls and looked for work all over the park when the Boks attacked.

12 Damian de Allende (7): His strong runs and solid defending remain a big positive for the Boks. However, he received little opportunity on the attack in the first half, but as the opportunities came in the second half, he put the team on the front foot.

11 Ethan Hooker (7): Dropped a ball with the try line open in front of him. Still put in a good overall display in front of his home crowd and chased the high kicks with vigour, winning some back. Fronted up physically against Argentina.

10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (10): He did brilliantly with all three of his tries and assisted the try of Kolbe with a pin-point kick. His personally tally of 37 points was outstanding with his outrageous dummy-pass try probably the best of the night. Kicked well at poles too.

9 Cobus Reinach (7): Another good performance on the attack behind the Bok rucks. His box kicking put Los Pumas under pressure countless times and was solid in transferring pressure onto his opponents from every where on the field.

8 Jasper Wiese (8): Some really strong carries by the No 8 and he had a no-nonsense approach every time he ran into the big defenders. Solid under the ball from kick-offs and almost always beat the first defender. Defended strongly.

7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (9): His run up the touchline laid the platform for one of the Boks’ first half tries and he capped off his performance by scoring the final five-pointer. Tirelessly worked to halt the Argentine momentum on defence.

6 Siya Kolisi (7): The Bok captain was visible all over the park, securing rucks on the attack and ensuring Argentina was put under pressure when they had the ball. Had a couple of strong carries and put in some massive tackles.

5 Ruan Nortje (7): An early menace in the lineouts and disrupted the Argentina throws time and again. Some good carries and defensive work across the park by the lineout caller.

4 Eben Etzebeth (7): The bruiser was denied a famous score in front of his roaring home crowd. But that did not stop him from putting in another sold performance with the ball in hand and with his tackling.

3 Thomas du Toit (7): Strong in the scrums and put the Boks on the front foot early on in that department. A head-high tackle cost the team valuable momentum – 28 caps, 5 pts (1t)

2 Malcolm Marx (7): Scored a brilliant try off the back of a rolling maul. Worked hard in defence but that yellow card was costly. He made up for it by returning and putting his body on the line until the final whistle.

1 Boan Venter (7): Some strong scrums in his time on the park and was good winning the first penalty there. Carried the ball strongly as well and made some telling tackles on the big Argentines.

Replacements

16 Marco van Staden (6): Made a nuisance of himself at the breakdown when he was brought on late in the second half.

17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (7): Big impact in his first scrum after replacing the sin-binned Marx. Worked tirelessly when he had the ball in hand.

18 Wilco Louw (7): An immediate impact at scrum time when he came on in the 46th minute. Continued the destruction at scrum time for Bok penalties.

19 RG Snyman (7): The viking turned on the slick offloading when he entered the fray. Stole a vital defensive lineout.

20 Kwagga Smith (7): As usual, he injected brilliant energy into the ball-carrying when he took to the field

21 Morne van den Berg (7): Kept the Boks going forward, but a few errors in his time on the field due to his overeagerness.

22 Manie Libbok (8): Added his slick touches to the Bok attack as the game opened up and fired them to more tries, scoring one himself.

23 Andre Esterhuizen (7): Came on and played a workhorse role in the midfield to keep the Boks on the front foot.