Vermuelen: One of the better players

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• South Africa

New Zealand beat South Africa 21-11 in round four of the Rugby Championship. Now it's time for Planet Rugby to rate the players at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday.

15 Zane Kirchner: Some strong runs, but was stopped in his tracks more often than not. Missed a cheeky drop attempt. Reasonably safe at the back, before Aaron Smith left Kirchner red-faced with his run to the line. 6.5/10

14 Bryan Habana: Couldn't take the final pass with the tryline at his mercy early in the first half. But certainly made up for it in the second forty thanks to his scintillating solo five-pointer that will go down as the try of the tourney. One of the few Boks able to inject pace. 8/10

13 Jean de Villiers: Started the Test with a bang, but faded as the match wore on. De Villiers' leadership skills once again put to the test and failing. Not the answer for the Boks long-term... or short-term for that matter. 4/10

12 Frans Steyn: Two missed penalty kicks - one straight-forward, another from 58m out. Was pretty solid in midfield, and kept his opposite number in check. 6.5/10

11 Francois Hougaard: Steady if not spectacular, but then the Boks weren't into a wide game. 5/10

10 Morne Steyn: Another dull performance from the under-fire pivot. His goal-kicking and tactical kicking woes continued. Missed a few regulation shots at the sticks, and a conversion from far out. No pretensions as a play-maker. 3/10

9 Ruan Pienaar: His kicking game was woeful - aimless kicks between him and Steyn handing possession back to the opposition. Had a chance to make the number nine jersey his own, but didn't take it. Bad night at the office. 4/10

8 Duane Vermeulen: Good outing from the big man, who has taken his opportunity to make a name for himself on the Test stage with both hands. Proving to be very reliable at the back of the scrum. 7/10

7 Willem Alberts: At his combative best for the Boks in the first half - especially on defence - but then the energy seemed to go from his legs and was replaced by Marcell Coetzee. 6.5/10

6 Francois Louw: Forced some turnovers and was invariably at the heart of the action for 80 solid minutes. 7/10

5 Juandre Kruger: Didn't put the pressure on at line-out time. Took the restarts well though. Only a matter of time before he was replaced by Andries Bekker.4/10

4 Flip van der Merwe: Bring back Bakkies! 4/10

3 Jannie du Plessis: Had his work cut out in a Bok front row that were guilty of giving away several penalties. Toiled hard, but hardly saw him in open play. 5.5/10

2 Adriaan Strauss: Two big runs but he did have large patches where he was virtually anonymous. 5/10

1 Tendai Mtawarira: Replaced by Dean Greyling after 50 minutes, and during that time the Beast didn't really live up to his name. But how Heyneke Meyer must rue his decision to throw Greying into the mix in place of Mtawarira. 5/10

Replacements:

16 Tiaan Liebenberg: Only played for a few minutes, so no rating.

17 Dean Greyling: Made an impact for all the wrong reasons. Gave away a penalty in his first minute on the field, while his cheap shot on McCaw earned him 10 minutes in the sin-bin. Oh, and then he put down the pigskin with the tryline at his mercy. 1/10

18 Andries Bekker: Came on as a blood-bin replacement for Van der Merwe in the first half, and then replaced Kruger in the second. Tower of strength in the line-outs, but it's fair to say South Africa are struggling without Victor and Bakkies. 4/10

19 Marcell Coetzee: Came on for Alberts in the second half, but kept in check by the likes of McCaw and wasn't his usual influential self. 5/10

20 Johan Goosen:Landed one out of two penalty attempts after replacing Morne Steyn late in the second half but showed once again that he's wasted on the bench. 6/10