Ratings time! Much like the Italian hooker getting to the scrum, it’s taken us a while but we’ve finally got here.
It was a somewhat hard game to rate. The Wallabies didn’t necessarily play too badly. They started in excellent fashion, then were frustrated by the Italians’ attempt to slow down the game. Come the second half, we changed our game plan, played a little more conservatively and took the points when we could.
Let’s have a look at the individual players.
15 Kurtley Beale: Was quiet early, but never put a foot wrong without reaching the dizzying heights of previous games on tour. Solid under the high ball and chased well, while still looking dangerous with ball in hand — 7
14 Lachlan Turner: Never really got into the match. Worked hard off the ball, which he always does, but he’s going to have to learn to make something more out of a match otherwise it may well pass him by. — 6
13 Adam Ashley-Cooper: Again, one of those matches where play didn’t get to him. His inside men were kicking it, and his outside men were returning kicks, leaving AAC to kind of hover in between. A couple of missed tackles blackened his score sheet. — 5
12 Berrick Barnes: Hmmm. How to rate this? I thought he was a hindrance in attack and couldn’t maintain the momentum of our ball-in-hand style early on. Tackled effectively though, and then won us the game with an almost faultless goal-kicking exhibition. — 7
11 Drew Mitchell: As powerful in contact as always and was able to find cracks in the defence on occasions while showing his own crack. Scored an early try and remained a danger throughout. — 7
10 Quade Cooper: Was out on the wing in defence so never really got tested. Showed some of his usual flair ball in hand, but with a mixed kicking game. He didn’t control the game as a test flyhalf should. — 7
9 Luke Burgess: One of those mixed games where his brilliance was undone by brainlessness. I was a fan, though. I thought he was our most dangerous back and was a constant challenge to the Italians. Very solid in defence too. — 8.
8 Ben McCalman: A busy game for the Big Dog. Was a lot more involved than in previous weeks. Still fell off a couple of tackles, which is an area he really needs to work on. Liked it when he smashed the opposition scrummie late. Has a little of the mongrel we need. — 6
7 David Pocock: Not as prominent as usual but still topped the tackle count alongside his captain. Proving to be a very powerful ball-runner too, which helps in the absence of Cliffy Palu. — 6
6 Rocky Elsom: I thought this was his best game of the tour and he was rewarded with a try in the last play of the game. He ran hard and he ran often. Pushed a few passes early but was involved in everything. Made 15 tackles, almost half of which were dominant tackles. G&GR’s Man of the Match. — 8
5 Nathan Sharpe: Has perhaps been Australia’s most consistent performers all year, and this match was no different. Plenty of effective hit-ups, busy in defence with a couple of bigguns and quality lineout work. — 6
4 Rob Simmons: An impressive run-out debut. Kept it tight and got busy in the rucks, hitting them with impact. Showed impressive conditioning considering the difficult match against Munster just four days earlier. — 6
3 Ben Alexander: Scrummed strongly on his side, while the Italians focused much of the effort on the opposite side. Was used more as a wide runner this game, with mixed success. — 6.
2 Stephen Moore: Another very busy game with plenty of carries and dominant tackles. He and his nude-nut partner, Nathan Sharpe, are shaping as the vital experienced heads of our RWC forward pack, despite the claims of Tatafu Polota-Nau. — 6
1 James Slipper: Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Has battled hard all season, coming off the bench against some bloody strong scrums. To take on the man-monster that is Martin Castrogiovanni in your run-on debut is some challenge, though. The scrum has been discussed to death of late; needless to say Slipper fought hard and won a couple of battles, while also being very productive in the loose. Was the Wallaby Players’ Player. — 8
Replacements:
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau: It’s like he’s never been away. The set piece was average but he was fun to watch in the loose. — 5
17 Benn Robinson: Was only on briefly when Slipper broke his nose. Corresponded with some poor scrums. — 4
18 Mark Chisholm: Was not on for much and consequently didn’t do much. — 5
19 Matt Hodgson: A nice little turnover soon after he came on. Still would like to see more of him. — 6
20 Will Genia: Didn’t get on the field. — no rating.
21 Matt Giteau: Didn’t get on the field. — no rating.
22 Pat McCabe: Made his debut, but it was in the last two minutes and all he got to do was stand out wide and watch a couple of scrum resets before Rocky picked up the loose ball and scored his try. — no rating.
Rating system (no half marks):
10 – A legendary performance to go down in the history books
9 – Outstanding performance: Man-of-the-match shoo-in
8 – Excellent all-round game
7 – Good game with a few sparkles
6 – Solid performance
5 – Average — ho hum
4 – Below par
3 – Had a bad game
2 – Tell your story walking, pal
1 – A complete joke
