The All Blacks opened their Rugby Championship campaign with a dominant 47-29 win over the Wallabies at ANZ Stadium. Here are my player ratings:
Wallabies
1. James Slipper – 7. Good performance from Slipper. A couple of charging runs and solid work at the breakdown and set pieces. More of the same should be the minimum going forward.
2. Stephen Moore – 7. Good performance. Accurate at set pieces and plenty of industry in the tight stuff as expected from him.
3. Ben Alexander – 6. Decent performance. Accurate at the set pieces. Not enough mongrel for a tight forward. Lose the beard Benny, you are fooling no one.
4. James Horwill – 5. Average performance from the captain. Did the bare minimum but failed to provide that spark of leadership when the game started slipping away from them.
5. Rob Simmons – 7. Best performance in a Wallaby jersey that I have seen. Did well in the set pieces and the breakdown and carried the ball more than any other forward.
6. Hugh McMeniman – 4. Did not provide the mongrel that was expected from him. Largely anonymous and that is not what you want from your pack enforcer.
7. Michael Hooper – 8. Man of the Match for the Wallabies. Couple of turnovers, support for the ball carrier, and cover defence were the highlights of his game tonight.
8. Ben Mowen – 6. Not much of an impact in attack or defence.
9. Will Genia – 8. The usual good performance from the little master. Did however have a couple of ordinary moments which he will be disappointed about. Scored an outstanding try.
10. Matt Toomua – 6. Solid outing for his debut but did not really test the All Blacks defence enough with any of his kicks, passes or runs.
11. James O’Connor – 4. Poor game apart from an unchallenged run to score a try. Out of position for at least a couple of the All Black tries and selfish with ball in hand.
12. Christian Leali’ifano – 7. Good performance and builds on his solid Lions performances. Did not miss a kick for goal. Will be disappointed to be chargedowned for the Cruden try.
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper – 8. Challenges Hooper for Wallabies player of the game. Ran straight and hard and was the centre of most of the Wallaby attacks.
14. Israel Folau – 5. Hardly touched the ball and was largely anonymous. Will take a while to impose himself on a game when it isn’t going his way.
15. Jesse Mogg – 6. Will not need to watch the replay to know he had a very ordinary game but I think it wasn’t all that bad. Needs to work on his defence quick-smart and realize why the fullback is called the last line of defence
All Blacks
1. Tony Woodcock – 6. Solid performance without standing out.
2. Andrew Hore – 7. Good performance from the old fella. Made a nuisance of himself at the breakdown.
3. Owen Franks – 6. Decent performance but did get folded by Slipper on one occasion. Too many quiet games from the hard man is a little worrying.
4. Sam Whitelock – 6. Decent performance but nowhere near his Super rugby form. Sinbinned at the 75min mark for being stupid.
5. Luke Romano – 6. Replaced after 17 minutes. Solid.
6. Steven Luatua – 8. Super performance from the debutant. Tackled strongly and carried the ball with authority.
7. Richie McCaw – 9. My Man of the Match. Outstanding performance and business as usual from the great one. Stole a few balls including a very important one when the Wallabies were hot on attack and just 10m from the line.
8. Kieren Read – 7. Good game from the number eight but without his usual influence. When your standout moment in the game is a steal from the kick-off, you know you can do a lot better than that.
9. Aaron Smith – 9. Best game in the black jersey from the wee fella. Was always on the ball as any good scrumhalf should be and outplayed Genia which takes some doing. Will be disappointed to miss the tackle on Genia when Genia was 10 metres out from scoring.
10. Aaron Cruden – 8. Made some kick-off errors and hit the posts from a couple of place kicks but other than that a very influential game from Cruden. Stamped himself on the game and scored a great charge-down try.
11. Julian Savea – 6. Limited involvement in the game.
12. Ma’a Nonu – 7. Solid game from Nonu without any highlight moments.
13. Conrad Smith – 8. Great game from a great centre. Rock solid in defence and sharp in attack with quick hands which directly led to a couple of Ben Smith tries.
14. Ben Smith – 9. Spectacular game from Smith. Scored a hat trick of tries and some great moments in attack and defence.
15. Israel Dagg – 7. Good game from Dagg but will look to get more involved in the next game.
Man for man the All Blacks, in my opinion, out-performed the Wallabies and that will be of concern to the Wallaby management.
Genia and Hooper had very good games but even they were outshined by Aaron Smith and McCaw respectively.
Having said that, we all know our beloved game is not about any one player or even fourteen players.
It is about the whole team and there are countless examples where the underdog has beaten the favourite simply because they performed better as a team on the day. This should be the starting point for the Wallabies.
[roar_cat_gal]
strap
Guest
9. Will Genia – 8. The usual good performance from the little master. Did however have a couple of ordinary moments which he will be disappointed about. Scored an outstanding try Did you actually watch the game at all? Because Genia put in what to my mind was the worst halfback performance I have seen for quite some time, he was abysmal.
Chopping and Changing
Guest
@Marko of Manly...You can't blame one guy for the collective rubbish that the whole team produced in defense. The real problem is the chopping and changing. O'Connor spent months practicing at 1st five and then now he's suddenly put on the wing with on weeks preparation for the All Blacks. Go figure.
matthew rhys
Guest
Juan you are correct re Genia - too damned slow getting the ball moving. By the time the ball comes out the ABs are lined up and set to go. That is why we were under pressure so much. And that rubbish putting the ball into the scrum - I would ring him up if I was ref. Genia is a good player but to give him 8 is absolute rubbish.
Stevo TP
Guest
For many years now, post match commentaries by certain writers and commentators on the western side of the ditch on the occasion when the AB's have a win imply that * somebody in black was always a mile offiside * the pass to the runner in black who scored was forward * the ref was the worst this century and of course certain ex players behind the microphone echo this opinion today. We know who they are. More seriously, it was only a matter of time before allegations and implications of substance use arose. Just what we need in the game.
redheavy
Guest
Gangly look and odd hairstyle? That reminds me of a fella that used to play a bit of fullback called Larkham... Mogg to 5/8 maybe? :)
js-nz
Guest
Wow, 3 or 4 tries! Just by passing it to Folau? I think you should send a quick note to McKenzie and Wellignton will be all sewn up if it's that easy for the kid to score tries.... Or it could be that you didn't play the Lions,
Justin3
Guest
Yeah no issue with Joubert, he was clearly under instruction which is fine. I think the scrums will sort themselves out over a few months. Its quite a change for the packs. Joubert also allowed a good contest at the ruck with plenty of warranted penalties for holding on etc. And yes I was nit picking, but probably right too :)
walshie
Guest
Wingers coming off their opposite winger is a constant controversy in both league and union - they cannot do it unless confident they can block the pass to the unguarded man or perform a ball and man tackle. If the offensive winger stays wide, which experienced wingers do, it is useless for the defending winger to attempt this . With blocker moves increasing the only defence is a hover defence in a line with the defending fullback watching the opposing fullback but directing the defence. Did O'Connor recognize the overload and call for help before the All Black move was on top of him ?
riccardo
Guest
Possibly but now you're nit-picking my friend :) I thought Joubert acquitted himself quite well again.
riccardo
Guest
:)
Justin3
Guest
Classic post
Justin3
Guest
Tight head Ricc? It was out the same tunnel wasn't it and should have been re packed...
Riccus
Guest
I have never been convinced Messam was the answer at 6, especially comparing him to Kano, so I wanted McCaw to go there instead, but after this test match I believe we have found a genuine AB number 6 in Luatua, he was my player of the day - he also gives the AB's an extra lineout option which has been missing since Kano's departure.
riccardo
Guest
+ 1
riccardo
Guest
That's probably a fair comment. I thought the Wallabies pretty much owned the 1st 30 minutes too. But other than capitalising off All Black errors and poor discipline did not look like converting that into points. Fozzie's comments @ the break were telling: "We gifted them 19 points..." However in the 2nd half the All Blacks scored off a tight-head and were a whole gear above the Wallabies. I think it will take teams a little while to get used to the new laws and find ways to use them to their advantage, particularly with plays round the back of the scrum where an early release will be penalised. Your explanation of your ratings is fair I guess. I would possibly have Aaron Smith and Cruden ahead of Richie purely becasue of the penalties he cost us in the first half but as he got up to speed I agree he was superb.
Justin3
Guest
Chivas has been awfully quiet after it was suggested Luatua maybe a good in for messam....the kid can play.
riccardo
Guest
That's ridiculously harsh m'Lord. I think you'll find Luatua covers both positions and it is Auckland who have transformed him into a blindside flanker.
Wardad
Guest
True ,its just shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic !
dcnz
Guest
The ABs have worked out Genia and have the measure of the green and gold in the tight and the loose. luatua was a menace and got over the advantage line all night. Also the ABs know how to break up and into space and use team work and fast passes to move the ball. these are basic skills, but played at the highest level. hence all the posts here about moving this aussie back to that position and switching this guy here or there won't help. the key is to play as a team. Link has his work cut out.
Wardad
Guest
Good on yer ! Only performance enhancer [de-enhancer?] needed is a beer after a game .Oh a feed of NZ lamb and some fish and chups !as well .