Following Toulouse’s 20-8 triumph over the Sharks in the Investec Champions Cup, here are the key winners and losers from the game at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
Winners
Emmanuel Meafou
Had an outstanding 2024 and judging from this performance 2025 should follow suit. Meafou was a man mountain again for Toulouse and fully deserved his first-half score.
The giant lock was named Player of the Match and rightly so as his power in the carry and impact at the breakdown makes him such a force, as the Sharks certainly found out.
Thomas Ramos
Ramos’ no-look behind-the-back pass to Blair Kinghorn for his score was a thing of beauty as the France star showed his quality on several occasions in the Durban sunshine.
Playing at full-back today but is equally at home in the number 10 shirt, as he’s shown, Ramos also kicked solidly off the tee and out of hand in another assured performance.
Peato Mauvaka
One of the standout players on the field at Kings Park – and another who is taking his 2024 form into 2025 – the mobile hooker really stood out in a number a facets of play.
So agile and quick around the field with slick handling, offloads and a real tenacity on both sides of the ball, Mauvaka was a nuisance to the Sharks all game this afternoon.
Jordan Hendrikse
The bright light in an otherwise disappointing showing from the Sharks as the fly-half kicked superbly well out of hand, with just a couple of errors in that department.
Hendrikse’s performance is all the more admirable as he was on the back foot for a fair chunk of the contest and can therefore hold his high despite this rather limp loss.
Jurenzo Julies
Grabbed his first Champions Cup try and it was a lovely finish from the youngster as he stepped Scotland star Kinghorn en route to the line. He enjoyed his big moment.
Losers
Bongi Mbonambi
Only played half of this fixture and those 40 minutes were largely forgetful for the Springboks hooker as he was out of sorts in the set-piece and around the field today.
Pre-match it was noted by Siya Kolisi that he had trained well all week but that did not transfer on to the pitch as at times he seemed more interested in the niggle.
Antoine Dupont
While not at his dazzling best it would still have been an impressive outing for any mere mortal as he made some key decisions and offered plenty of fight all match.
However, we judge Dupont by Dupont standards. He had an unusually high error rate, and despite being busy and a handful he just did not live up to GOAT level.
The viewers
The meeting was billed as something of a Springboks v France showdown but it failed to live up that as injury absences, slippery conditions and quality was not there.
Fans in the stadium would no doubt have enjoyed their day – as they do in such a party atmosphere – but one imagines TV viewers felt a tad disappointed by the game.
Siya Kolisi
Very quiet around the field from the Springboks captain as he seemed to miss having the presence of Eben Etzebeth alongside him. Replaced just after the hour mark.
Springboks props
An underwhelming outing for the Springboks front-row and it was certainly a difficult day for the props as Vincent Koch and Ox Nche were bested by their opposites.
Granted veteran Koch came off after he took an accidental knock to the head in the first period but for Nche he struggled at times in the set-piece and around the field.
Hakeem Kunene
Handed a rare start in the absence of Aphelele Fassi but it was a disappointing outing for the full-back as he was replaced at half-time after a costly error in the backfield.
Allowing the ball to bounce from Romain Ntamack’s kick led to a 50:22 which resulted in Meafou’s early score and one wonders if it played a part in his early departure.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/sharks-v-toulouse-winners-and-losers-as-underwhelming-springboks-fail-to-fire-with-man-mountain-emmanuel-meafou-the-pick-of-the-bunch
