The Greater Sydney Rams have won their second game in a row and finally look like they could be players in the NRC.
The attack was fantastic, but more importantly their defence was physical and dominant all game.
Here are my player ratings for the match.
Benn Robinson: 7.5/10
A big part of a dominant scrum, Robinson well and truly got one over his opposite number and Waratahs teammate Paddy Ryan.
Add that to a huge work rate over his 60 minutes, especially in the first 15 when he was the everywhere man, it was by far his best performance for the Rams this year.
The one thing he is missing is a running game, surely a bit more penetration in attack is the missing link for ‘Fat Cat’ to return to the Wallabies.
Hugh Roach: 8/10
A number of huge hits in defence, Hugh really set the bar for the physicality of the game. His scrummaging and lineout throwing were also the best they’ve been.
Bagged a try next to the posts for good measure.
Guy Millar 6.5/10
Part of a dominant scum performance from the Rams but his name didn’t pop up much anywhere else.
Jared Barry 7.5/10
Finished a great team try, showed some skills with a cheeky offload late in the first half, and got his team over the advantage line constantly in attack.
I’d love to see him throw his weight around a bit more in defence though.
Steve Mafi: 7/10
Showed a great burst of speed to help set up Chris Alcock’s try in the first half and fell only centimetres short of scoring his own in the second.
Mafi had a few moments of brilliance but wasn’t consistent enough to score any higher.
Hugh Perrett 7/10
A dominant display at the ruck, I haven’t seen the stats but surely he had a few turnovers and forced penalties to his name.
A true workman’s performance from the Eastwood veteran.
Chris Alcock: 8/10
The Rams breakdown seems to be an entirely different beast when Alcock is on the field. They were dominant for the first 30 minutes against the Vikings before he was injured and completely controlled the tempo of the game against the Stars.
He also threw a dummy to finish another long-range Rams try.
Jed Holloway: 7.5/10
Captain fantastic. Jed’s consistency at only 22 years of age is unbelievable.
This man will wear Wallabies gold, you heard it here first.
Mark Swanepoel: 7/10
Good service throughout his 60 minutes, a scything run down the blindside in the first half capped off a solid game for the talented scrum half.
Ben Volavola: 8.5/10
Showed us his Stephen Larkham-esque long balls to control the rampaging Rams back line. His long boot made sure the Rams played the bulk of the game in Stars territory. Also made a decisive line break 15 minutes into the second half to set up Jarome Mackenzie for the five pointer that shut the gate on the stars.
He may have played the bulk of his Tahs caps at fullback but he looks all class in his preferred position of five-eighth. Also kicked four from six conversions.
Taqele Naiyaravaro: 8.5/10
‘T’ seems to be getting better with every game, Bar TV mentioned he was a bolter for the Wallabies spring tour and it is easy to see why.
He bagged the game’s first try by walking over the top of two stars defenders and then constantly broke tackles, threw offloads and made inroads against the stars for the rest of the match.
The more this man gets involved the better the Rams look and he deservedly wins my man of the match.
His only downfall seems to be with his distribution, twice being tackled over the touch line, and passing up an opportunity to draw and pass to Dane Chisholm for a try in the first half.
Michael McDougall: 6/10
Bagged a try late in the game but otherwise lacked the punch of some of the other Rams backs.
A solid performance but I’m not sure he did enough to hold off Henry Seavula when he is back from injury.
Lalakai Foketi: 6/10
Ran a great line to go through and set up McDougall late in the game, otherwise was relatively quiet in a dominant Rams back line.
Jarome McKenzie: 8.5/10
Two tries, remarkable pace and two huge defensive hits in the first 15 minutes were just some of the ‘Red Folau’s’ highlights in what was a fantastic game.
With Pakalani still out injured, the Rams have huge depth in the outside backs that will surely cause some real selection headaches in the coming weeks.
Dane Chisholm: 7.5/10
His best game for the Rams so far, showing a glimpse of what all the fuss is about. He beat a number of defenders with his exceptional footwork under pressure and brought out his quality long kicking game as well.
Reserves
Hard to pick a standout performance from the subs, but equally none of them let the team down. They definitely picked up the energy levels and physicality around the 60 minute mark when Brian Melrose emptied the bench.
Maile Ngauamo – 18 minutes
Jed Gillespie – 18 minutes
Dave Lolohea – 18 minuets
Dylan Sigg – 18 minutes
Pat Sio – 30minutes
Vasa Falaeli’i – 18minutes
Jai Ayoub – 20minutes
Bar TV: 10/10
Fantastic live coverage for a game that otherwise would have gone unseen by over 1500 people. I highly recommend everyone check out their coverage of the match.
Did I get it right? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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