The Prince's Wallaby player ratings

Having watched the first Bledisloe Test live, followed by a replay with the luxury of the pause, rewind, and play buttons, I have to say I thought the game was a good one – considering the conditions of course.

I’d like to go through my player ratings for the Wallabies, with 5/10 being a pass mark.

1. James Slipper
I think the fact that he was given the man-of-the-match from the Fox Sports commentary team says more about how poorly they watch and commentate rugby games than his actual performance, which was good but certainly not deserving of such an honour.

He made one notable good run in the first half, and then continued to carry reasonably well in the second half. He scrummaged and tackled well without dominating. He was no doubt the better of the two starting loose-heads but was he the best performer out there? No. 6.5/10

2. Nathan Charles
A good solid performance from a player that was under pressure. Good at set piece and carried a few times making one notable run over the advantage line. Almost put McCabe in toward the end of the match. Tackled well. Great to see we have genuine cover at Hooker. 6/10

3. Sekope Kepu
Another solid performance from a much improved player. Got penalised once at scrum-time, which for an Aussie no. 3 is not a bad return nowadays. Carried okay. Tackled strongly. Obviously he is no Owen Franks but he confirmed he is the best we’ve got at tight-head. Well maybe a fit Scott Sio might prove a better option down the line. 5.5/10

4. Sam Carter
He carried well, tackled strongly, caught his lineout ball when it came his way, and made his presence felt at the breakdown. I thought he was more impressive in this match than against the French when he received man of the match honours.

Regardless, on Saturday he was the best lock out there. Considering Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick are arguably the premier locks in world rugby at the moment that is praise indeed. 7/10

5. Rob Simmons
Caught well at the line-out. Sadly that was about it. Doesn’t carry strong enough nor does he ever really dominate contacts when he tackles. Considering he’s not much of a presence at the breakdown I really hope McKenzie sees the light and turns Carter into the line-out caller so that Simmons can slip out of the squad.

Sorry but in four seasons of international rugby he is yet to really impact a game. 5/10

6. Scott Fardy
Certainly the best he has played for the Wallabies this year. That wasn’t hard because in the French series he was a big disappointment. I’m still waiting to see the impact everyone else seems to think he could have on Test rugby. He carried well on a couple of occasions but I didn’t seem him dominate anyone with a black jersey.

His opposite Jerome Kaino is twice the player and that is a problem if he is fit for game two. Did anyone else notice the presence Fardy’s replacement Scott Higginbotham had in the last 15 minutes? If Higginbotham is selected at no. 6 next week, and Kaino is injured, we may have an advantage at blindside next week! Anyway back to Fardy, an improved performance but still only: 5/10

7. Michael Hooper
Watching it live he was my man-of-the-match just ahead of Horne and Carter. When I watched the replay closely I couldn’t see a reason to change my mind. Got over the advantage line every time he carried, made half break after half break, got a crucial turn-over and tackled everything that came his way with one or two bone crunching hits. That’s two big games in a row that he has outshone Richie McCaw, something I never saw George Smith or David Pocock do.

Okay he got penalised once at the breakdown and some may be critical of his captaincy for taking a scrum instead of points. Of course, if Beale hadn’t missed the following kick a minute or so later it would have made no difference.

Overall it was another inspiring performance from a young and promising captain. Is it too early to start predicting him as a Wallaby great? 7.5/10

8. Wycliffe Palu
Of the two no. 8s, again Palu was again the better player. Was heavily involved in the game all match and I was surprised to hear the commentary state at around the 30minute mark that he hadn’t been involved. At that time he was leading our carries and moments before he’d chased down and boot-laced tackled Ben Smith. This sums him up.

He does so many unheralded things and often doesn’t get any of the praise he deserves. Carried very strongly in tight yet again, tackled strongly and smashed into every ruck he was near enough too. It was not his best game of the year but he is arguably the best no 8 in the world at this precise moment. 7/10

9. Nic White
Oh dear. Many were calling for Phipps to take his place as the Wallaby no. 9 and White produced the kind of game that validates that opinion. In a word he was inaccurate. Inaccurate passing and inaccurate box kicking is not what he wants when it is those very things that had him selected over the more in form scrum half.

The conditions were suited for White and he failed to deliver. 3.5/10

10. Kurtley Beale
You put a no. 10 on his back and he cracks under pressure. Put a 15 or a 12 on his back, ask him to play only a marginally different role and he plays great.

As the game went on he began to play more like he was wearing a no 12 or 15 and did enough to retain a starting place next week. Aaron Cruden is no doubt the better player and that could prove the biggest factor next week. 5/10

11. Rob Horne
He was almost the best player out there on Saturday. He pressured the All Blacks with his bravery in defence and carried well over the advantage line every time he got the ball. His opposite no, who was by all means still a class act, was for the first time outplayed by a Wallaby no. 11, but only because they played very different roles for their side.

Horne is the inside centre we’ve needed for a while and I’m glad he’s done it while wearing the no. 11.

This way it will not draw attention to the fact that having a direct no 12 is the modern way for success. No wait I didn’t say that… he played really well out on the wing is what I meant to say. 7/10

12. Mat Toomua
The second best no. 10 in Australia at the moment behind Bernard Foley and the second best inside centre behind the Kurtley Beale/Rob Horne symbiosis. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to play Toomua because he isn’t the best option at 10 or 12.

To be fair, under the conditions he had a solid performance. He possibly played slightly better than Beale overall but both weren’t great so I suggest we will know more this time next week. With Ma’a Nonu injured we may have an advantage at 12 next week regardless. 5.5 /10

13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
Not the ideal conditions for outside backs and his rating is more indicative of that fact than any over-riding criticism. Ran well when he got the ball and I can’t recall any errors in defence. Was more than a match for his opposite no who also held his own with limited chances to shine. 5/10

14. Pat McCabe
When is Henry Speight available? To be fair to McCabe torrential rainy nights are not ideal for no. 14s and despite not having the stones to go for the corner when he really needed to, he at-least was the best no. 14 out there. Did anyone else notice Cory ‘built-like-Tarzan-plays like’ Jane walk off the field after the Haka and slip back on some 80 minutes later to shake hands?

Pat, something tells me your best role for the Wallabies is on the bench. 5/10

15. Israel Folau
Fullbacks are not meant to shine in these conditions. Made a horrible mistake early putting his foot out after catching a ball. Other than that he had a solid, unspectacular game. A couple of decent runs saw him still carry for the most metres of either side and watching him run over the top of Kaino was a high-light because I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else do that.

Of the two fullbacks I thought he was marginally better than Ben Smith. 6/10

As for the reserves I think it was a massive disappointment that McKenzie didn’t bring his subs on earlier. In a drenched, energy-sapping match you need to use your reserve forwards better and I can’t help but think that the token use of Higginbotham, Skelton and co, too late in the game, cost us dearly.

As for the All Blacks I mentioned in the above ratings their most influential and innocuous players. Over-all they were disappointing despite playing great wet weather rugby early on.

With the poor weather it really should’ve been a victory for New Zealand, who on paper certainly have the better wet-weather side, so I think the moral victory goes to the Wallabies.

Unfortunately that draw was as good as a loss for Australia, in the context of the Bledisloe, so I suppose the All Blacks would be the happier of the two sides even though they don’t deserve to be.