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Another cracking weekend of rugby with two Aussie derbies the highlight. That hasn’t always been the case – remember what dour affairs these used to be?
The Waratahs versus Force match was the highlight for me. Only a couple of Roar experts tipped the Force to win and I was with them, thinking surely they can’t win five in a row.
But going for broke, I tipped the Force anyway and they repaid my gamble in spades.
The Rebels came within a whisker of stealing a huge upset against one of the best teams in the comp in the Chiefs. I am sure to earn the ire of Rebels fans by stating that watching the Game I struggled to name someone that really stood out, but a couple of them made it into the team nonetheless.
Australia clearly has a very competitive conference. Three teams – Force, Brumbies and Waratahs – are in the top six. The Reds and Rebels have had their moments and are no easy-beats either.
But which individuals stood out this weekend?
1. Scott Sio
This spot was probably between Scott Sio and James Slipper this week. Sio bombed what looked like a try by making the classic mistake of looking away to where he was going to run before he’d caught the ball.
And Slipper probably had a better second half than Sio. Sio was subbed off at 57 minutes whereas Slipper played on to the 74th. I’m sure others will vote for their favourites but I will give it to Sio by a hair.
2. Stephen Moore
Like most others I commented about the Moore and Ed Quirk incident over the weekend but I was more critical of the referee than of Moore. Unbelievably Moore not only escaped a yellow or red card but in the stats had zero penalties conceded.
He seemed to be everywhere though and has such influence on the game that doesn’t always come through in the stats.
Tatafu Polota-Nau had a pretty good game for the Waratahs again but Stephen Moore is firmly retaining his grip on the Wallaby number two jumper.
3. Kieran Longbottom
Ben Alexander and Greg Holmes enjoyed a great tussle in the first of the Aussie derbies this weekend and I think all the Australian tight-heads had reasonable games, but I’m going to give it to Longbottom.
He scrummed pretty well against Benn Robinson and made 12 tackles to boot.
4. Will Skelton
Rob Simmons played well for the Reds but I thought big Will Skelton had a blinder – particularly in the first half. He is definitely getting better and while I don’t think he is quite ready for Wallaby gold just yet, it’s a matter of when, not if.
Will made 12 carries for 43 metres but was also a nuisance at breakdowns. He had no missed tackles, playing a very good game.
5. Luke Jones
Here I will offside the Reds fans because James Horwill had a pretty decent game, but I’m awarding it to Luke Jones who toiled away against the best New Zealand has to offer. Like Will, Luke made 12 carries and the next closest after those two was Rob Simmons with seven.
6. Ed Quirk
This time me picking a Reds player might earn the ire of the Reds fans because you could draw a long bow and argue that Ed grabbing Moore’s jersey was what cost his team the game. Too long a bow to draw for me though and I like the idea of having the both Moore and Quirk in my team this week.
Ed was pretty poor earlier in the season but I think is coming on strong as the season rolls on.
Angus Cottrell was another I really noticed this weekend. He doesn’t always jump out in the stats but is just brutal around the park. He went off early in the second half on the weekend and otherwise might have featured higher here.
The one who did stand out and dominate the stats on the weekend was Colby Fainga’a, with 11 carries and 11 tackles, but I’m still awarding it to Ed.
7. Matt Hodgson
It’s tough for me to leave Hooper out. As far as I’m concerned he continues to shine for the Waratahs and I think it’s time he’s thrown the captaincy on a more permanent basis. He made 13 runs for 69 metres – numbers a lot of backs would be proud of.
While Hodgson didn’t shine quite so bright in offense (with 8 runs for 11 metres), he made a whopping 17 tackles. The only player to make more was Scott Fuglistaller, who made 18 and also deserves an honourable mention.
8. Ben McCalman
There’s been a fair bit written about Ben of late and I think it’s now fair to say that he is the most in-form Australian 8. He made 16 tackles on the weekend, not missing any.
While Rebels fans may be annoyed I didn’t pick their leader, Scott Higginbotham, he was down on carries and metres this weekend. Interestingly the only stat he dominated on the weekend was passing – he is the only Australian forward with double-digits in that department.
Higgers does get involved in the breakdowns but I think his stats back up the perception that he often plays too much like a back. I think there is still a place for him in the Wallabies but he needs to be complemented with harder nuts like Scott Fardy.
Dave Dennis actually showed up well in the stats with 12 carries for 16 metres, but still seems mostly invisible to me. Sorry.
9. Nic White
As I’ve said before, when he’s off, he’s right off but when he’s on, Nic White really grabs games by the scruff of the neck. He is everywhere and with his goal kicking, kicking in general play, running and fast clearances, he has a huge influence on any game he plays.
Will Genia continues to look plodding. He made seven carries for seven metres – the only Australian halfback in single digits in that department. Also, he made only three tackles, down on eight from Nic. While stats don’t tell anything near the whole story of halfback play this weekend at least Nic was easily ahead of Genia.
10. Matt Toomua
And now for the pick you’ve all been waiting for. Another tough one for me this weekend. I’m starting to know how Robbie Deans felt.
Cooper stands out far more than Toomua when watching, but when I looked at the stats this weekend I found Toomua had racked up some numbers that said he was a lot more present than I gave him credit for.
Cooper ran the ball almost twice as much as Matt (19 versus 10 carries) but made 76 metres as opposed to 61 – not much difference there.
The stats tell me Toomua only made three tackles in the match. And missed one too. That’s still more than Cooper but all the Aussie 10s are pretty paltry in that department.
Bernard Foley shows up a lot better in the stats than he did to the naked eye with more runs and passes than any of the others, but to mostly no avail. I can’t bring myself to pick Foley because he was unable to handle the pressure on the weekend.
I’ve been criticised for picking Cooper too much here and no doubt will this week be criticised for not picking him. However, like Kurt Beale, Cooper was trying too hard and I have instead gone for Toomua who in an understated game did what his team needed to engineer a win.
11. Nick Cummins
Nick only had four carries compared to eight from Chris Feauai-Sautia, Tom English and Rob Horne, but he scored tries from three of them and made in total 183 metres. Only Rob Horne was close to this with 103 metres. In short, it was a blinder from Nick Cummins and I think this may be one position there won’t be too much to argue about.
12. Mitch Inman
There are two outliers in the stats for inside centres this week. One is the number of runs and metres made by Kurtley Beale – 20 carries for 134 metres. The next highest was Mitch with eight carries for 21 metres. While Kurtley bagged a try for his efforts, I felt he often crabbed and stole the space away from players outside him.
The other stat that tells the story about Kurtley Beale is tackling: one made, one missed.
Which brings us to the other tent pole of a stat which was Kyle Godwin’s 15 tackles and two missed. This was almost double the next two in Mitch Inman and Anthony Fainga’a.
Godwin is almost the anti-Beale with only five runs for four metres. I can’t help feeling he is turning into a purely defensive centre which is a shame because I think he does have other good aspects to his game.
So I’ve plugged for Mitch Inman this week. He wasn’t as flashy on offense as Kurtley nor as stonewall in defence as Godwin but he was a happy mix of the two and often did things that don’t show up in the stats, like being an extra forward at the breakdowns.
In fact Mitch is a bit of an unsung hero generally and I think wouldn’t be too out of place in a Wallaby jumper. He is the closest thing to a Stirling Mortlock or Daniel Herbert we’ve got at the moment.
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
Following on from my Mitch Inman comment, the Australian 13s continue to do whatever the opposite of standing out is. Tevita Kuridrani is just not repaying the faith we all had in him and last week’s pick Ben Tapuai had moments but wasn’t as good this week.
Adam Ashley-Cooper with 14 carries for 65 metres was probably pick of the bunch, but I still think if we’re going to move Toomua out from 10 to 12 in the Wallabies we should consider doing the same for someone like Mitch Inman.
14. Joe Tomane
I’ve been very underwhelmed with Joe so far this season but last week we saw some glimpses of his old form and this week we saw a little more. About the same stats as Adam Ashley-Cooper above with 12 runs for 67 metres but I really noticed Joe this weekend – he made an effort to get involved and was everywhere.
15. Jesse Mogg
The Reds tried to pressure Jesse a bit like they did in their first encounter earlier in the season but this time Jesse held firm. 11 runs for 76 metres but it was the quality of his kicking that made the difference.
I still feel like he kicks too often – he kicked 16 times in this game – and we aren’t seeing him back himself enough and running it which we know he can do so well. But he usually wins the kicking duels so I guess whatever works, works for this week’s fullback selection.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.