Player ratings: South Africa

Coetzee: SA's best player

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• South Africa

Australia bagged their first win in the Rugby Championship after seeing off South Africa 26-19 in Perth. It's time for Planet Rugby to rate the players.

15 Zane Kirchner: If you've only got one trick in your bag it needs to be a good one, and Kirchner at least executed his kicking skills well in this game. His up-and-under started the move that led to the opening try, and his territorial kicking was pretty good as well. 7/10

14 Bryan Habana: Looked sharp, and scored an opportunist try to improve his already impressive record in Perth. His early withdrawal due to injury was a blow for South Africa and was no huge surprise - he's clearly carrying a persistent injury. 7/10

13 Jean de Villiers: Missed tackles was what hurt the Boks most, and De Villiers was one of the worst culprits. Disappointing game for the captain, who didn't contribute much. 4/10

12 Frans Steyn: Slotted both of his long-range penalties, which came at crucial times. He was also a massive presence in defence, standing firm when others were missing their men. 7.5/10

11 Francois Hougaard: Didn't manage to inject the sort of spark that we know he's capable of, but did nothing wrong really. 6.5/10

10 Morné Steyn: Missed a very kickable penalty and a couple of drop goals, but was solid enough elsewhere. It was refreshing to see Meyer acknowledge Steyn's limitations by introducing Goosen when the Boks were chasing the game. 6/10

9 Ruan Pienaar: Had a really solid game in his own unimposing way, so the decision to start with him was obviously a good one. Long may it continue. 7/10

8 Duane Vermeulen: Pretty impressive stuff given that he's hardly played competitive rugby since coming back from injury. Forced a couple of turnovers, offloaded in the tackle and was solid in defence. 7/10

7 Willem Alberts: Missed a couple of tackles because he was too upright, and had a fairly quiet game otherwise. 5/10

6 Marcell Coetzee: Got through a huge amount of work, and in the first half he never seemed to be more than ten yards away from the ball. Made 13 tackles in all, and missed none. 8/10

5 Juandre Kruger: Was the main defender tasked with stopping Ben Alexander, but couldn't bring his man down. Otherwise he was good though - imperious at the line-out. 6/10

4 Eben Etzebeth: His scrap with Nathan Sharpe in the first half will have felt like a moral victory, but he was quiet in the second period before being withdrawn with 20 minutes to go. 6/10

3 Jannie du Plessis: Every week we seem to moan about Du Plessis' knack for giving away penalties - especially kickable ones. Which is a pity, because otherwise he tends to be pretty good. 6/10

2 Adriaan Strauss: Another solid but unspectacular game from the Cheetahs skipper. 6/10

1 Beast Mtawarira: His body check on Kurtley Beale was arguably the turning point of the game - South Africa were on the front foot, but the momentum shifted over the course of the ten minutes that Beast spent in the bin. It was an unnecessary foul as well. 4/10

Replacements:

16 Tiaan Liebenberg: His first line-out throw was poor, highlighting the importance of Strauss to South Africa. Liebenberg only had five minutes though, so no mark.

17 Pat Cilliers: Unfairly penalised after replacing Du Plessis permanently. Decent game, but nothing to write home about. 5/10

18 Flip van der Merwe: Contributed well in the 20 minutes he was granted. 6/10

19 Francois Louw: Pretty quiet after coming on for Coetzee. South Africa struggled at the breakdown in the final period. 4/10

20 Johan Goosen: He's clearly going to be quite a player - we knew he has the skills, but he showed great temperament in the nine minutes that he was given. Couldn't turn the game around though. 6/10

21 Pat Lambie: Also given just nine minutes, by which time the Springboks were behind the eight ball. Also impressed with his skills though. 6/10

22 Lwazi Mvovo: Failed to capitalise on a good opening on the right wing, then inexplicably made a horrible mess of receiving a kick-off. Was also partly responsible for Australia's winning try. 2/10