Who was Best on Ground BJ?
From my perspective, hard to give a best on ground because most only played half a game or thereabouts. But in the first half when the main squad was on, Matt To'omua was a standout. Ran hard, made breaks and put supports through gaps as well as made some very hard hits. Think of his best game at 12 for the Wallabies, and he was better at 10 tonight.
Best in the second half imo was Cronje. Very cool and in control of the game. And if we thought Nic White and Jesse Mogg had the biggest boots in Super rugby, Cronje surpasses them with his kicking for line or territory.
Happily, not much kicking at all in the game. Might be a sign of the more attacking game plan we've been hoping to see under Larkham. THE main squad was very precise in their passing and running game. Lots of ball movement with very few errors. In fact, can't remember them spilling a ball in the first half. Poey hit the ball up hard and showed some good distributing (passing) skills, and also made three or four clean turnovers in half a game. Henry Speight was sublime in his involvements and that form will certainly put him at the head of prospective wingers for the RC later in the year.
Andrew Smith was another to have a very good game, both in attack and defence. Made some very big hits to disrupt the opposition attack and also ran hard with the ball.
In the second half, Robbie Coleman showed good attacking skills coming into the backline; Siliva Siliva showed why he will one of the top hookers in Aus when given sufficient opportunities, and McCaffery was very solid and did some good work.
All in all, a very good hitout.