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Player Ratings - Lions OPINION: The Lions showed great fight and heart but ultimately went down to the All Blacks in their final provincial tour match of the Greatest Rivalry series by 41-35 at 10Bet Ellis Park on Tuesday evening. There were definitely some standout performers and the Lions would take great heart from this contest heading into the 2026/27 United Rugby Championship season. The All Blacks now won five games on the trot on South African soil ahead of the second Test against the Springboks at DHL Stadium this coming weekend. *Angus Opperman rates the Lions players! 15 Quan Horn – 7/10 Stood up defensively and came, but kicked a ball out on the full, which almost cost his team, but made up for it by denying New Zealand’s second try. Also made a solid linebreak which sparked Kelly Mpeku’s try. Conceded two turnovers in the process, though. 14 Kelly Mpeku – 7.5/10 Was caught out defensively at times but worked immensely hard off the ball, which was evident after winning a penalty following a strong chase that led to Franke Horn’s try and was rewarded with a try in the first half as well. 13 Henco van Wyk – 6.5/10 Tackled hard and made a few solid carries in contact to get his side on the front foot. Would’ve loved to see him with more opportunities on attack. 12 Richard Kriel – 6.5/10 Ran a strong line to set Nico Steyn’s try up but gifted Rieko Ioane’s intercept score. Made a crucial tackle on Sititi and won a penalty after the flanker made a break. Solid on the defence, making the most tackles in the game with 13 and won two turnovers. 11 Erich Cronje – 7/10 Missed his first tackle but made a few solid runs. Also won a crucial breakdown penalty with the All Blacks threatening on attack. Made a solid break after regathering a high ball and keeping his composure to score the try. 10 Chris Smith – 7.5/10 Controlled his backline with an iron fist and solid off the tee, barring one penalty. Put enough pressure on Wallace Sititi to force him to make a forward pass to deny New Zealand a score. Also threatening with ball in hand. 9 Nico Steyn – 7.5/10 One of the best on the park tonight. Did a brilliant show and go to score the first try of the game. Provided crisp service from the base to Chris Smith. Showed great composure to set up Kelly Mpeku’s try. Also got his hands dirty at the breakdown, winning a turnover with the All Blacks threatening on attack. Continues below… 8 Francke Horn – 7/10 Worked effectively as a line-out jumper. Put pressure on the NZ line-out through competing and got stuck in the dirty work. 7 Batho Hlekani – 5.5/10 Was a monster in contact but knocked on a restart ball, followed by an error of concentration at the following breakdown that led to NZ’s first try. Otherwise, didn’t have too many opportunities. 6 Siba Mahashe – 9/10 Deserved official player of the match and gave Rassie Erasmus some food for thought. Read the All Blacks’ line-out play to perfection to score an intercept try. Also a workhorse defensively and was everywhere on the park. Played a crucial role in setting Cronje’s try up in the second half and kept going until the end. 5 Ruan Delport – 6.5/10 Strong in his carries and work off the ball and defensively. He made the joint second-most tackles (12) and did well in the tight loose, but made a few defensive misreads. 4 Etienne Oosthuizen – 4/10 Didn’t see too much of him and was substituted for Hyron Andrews after 19 minutes. 3 Sebastian Lombard – 7.5/10 Solid in the scrums and in tandem with SJ Kotze, and won a crucial scrum penalty before the break in his red zone before dominating the second half with his front row partners in crime. 2 PJ Botha – 7/10 Solid with his line-out darts, but was guilty of not protecting the breakdown with Hlekani, leading to NZ’s opening try. Would’ve been interesting to see how things would’ve panned out if he stayed on the park longer with his fellow front rowers. 1 SJ Kotze – 7.5/10 Dominated the scrums as the contest went on and was crucial in Francke Horn’s second-half try with a dominant shove and held his own for the duration of his time on the pitch. Continues below… Replacements 16 Morne Brandon (on for PJ Botha in the 52nd minute) – 5.5/10 Nailed his line-out darts but squandered a scoring opportunity by knocking the ball on inside the All Blacks’ 22 before Ethan Blackadder scored to take NZ into the lead. 17 Boan Venter (on for SJ Kotze in the 52nd minute) – 4.5/10 Was solid in the scrums initially but was outdone in the second half at set-piece late in the game by Xavier Numia and again inside his own 22, which led to Emoni Nawara’s match-sealing try. Definitely should’ve done better as a Bok squad member. 18 RF Schoeman (On for Sebastian Lombard in the 52nd minute) – 3.5/10 Kept the pressure on his opposite initially, as his starting colleague did, but faded away as the game progressed, being dominated by the NZ replacement front rowers. 19 Hyron Andrews (on for Etienne Oosthuizen in the 19th minute) – 5/10 Contested well at the line-outs and worked hard around the park. Didn’t do anything special but also didn’t do much wrong either. 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe – (on for Francke Horn in the 63rd minute) – N/A Stopped the All Blacks maul legally to prevent a probable try and had a couple of decent carries, but that was about it. Didn’t have enough time to be rated. 21 JC Pretorius (on for Batho Hlekane in the 63rd minute) – N/A Not enough time to be rated 22 Haashim Pead (on for Nico Steyn in the 53rd minute) – 3.5/10 Struggled to find his groove and had a kick charged down, but with no damage done. Kicked a ball out on the full at a crucial stage, but again with no consequences. Is definitely still very raw in his young career. 23 Boeta Chamberlain (on for Henco van Wyk in the 71st minute) – N/A Not enough time to be rated. Watch Rugby's Greatest Rivalry LIVE Two rugby giants collide. Stream live, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV.