Australia vs England: Player ratings
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Recommend?
AUSTRALIA
James O’Connor 7/10
Team: Western Force; Caps: 15
This is one of the new meteors of world rugby, a simply awesome combination of natural talent and composure
Digby Ioane 6/10
Team: Queensland Reds; Caps: 10
The ball rarely ran his way but he still managed to play with a tremendous amount of resourcefulness and energy
Rob Horne 6/10
Team NSW Waratahs; Caps: 1
The anchorman of the Wallabies, he is still finding his way at this level and found himself up against a harsh opponent in Tindall
Berrick Barnes 7/10
Team: NSW Waratahs; Caps: 22
On the verge of becoming the misunderstood child down here, but an excellent performance, coming in late to replace the great Matt Giteau
Drew Mitchell 7/10
Team: NSW Waratahs; Caps: 42
As sharp as a needle, and undoubtedly one of the better attacking wings currently playing the game
Quade Cooper 9/10
Team: Queensland Reds; Caps: 12
Physically rather frail, yet it was only later that England realised how ruthlessly this budding genius had put them to the sword
Luke Burgess 8/10
Team: NSW Waratahs; Caps: 23
Has recently lost the jersey to Will Genia but was absolutely dominant around the fringes yesterday, far outshining Care
Ben Daley 2/10
Team: Queensland Reds; Caps: 1
In the loose he was fast and courageous, in the scrum he was nowhere remotely up to it at international level
Saia Fainga'a 6/10
Team: Queensland Reds; Caps: 2
He would never have chosen to have those two props around him, but for Australia’s third choice he was not half bad
Salesi Ma’afu 2/10
Team: ACT Brumbies; Caps: 2
With the greatest respect, an imposter. It was probably belated when he was finally put out of his misery in the sin-bin
Dean Mumm 7/10
Team: NSW Waratahs; Caps: 22 Another reserve player but showed some promise with a solid performance and an evening of excellent graft
Nathan Sharpe 9/10
Team: Western Force; Caps: 81
One of the locks of the era, it is no exaggeration to say that he is in the class of Martin Johnson as a fixer and enforcer
Rocky Elsom 7/10
Team: ACT Brumbies; Caps: 51
He had it all to do in attempting to shore up his pack but the talismanic flanker still had time to pop up for a try
David Pocock 6/10
Team: Western Force; Caps: 17
Australia’s next man of genuine potential on the openside, another who performed with credit off the back foot
Richard Brown 6/10
Team: Western Force; Caps: 14
With no scrummage base to play off, he was not as prominent as usual with the ball in hand, but another reserve player of quality
Replacements
Australia could have done with some great props, or indeed, even two below-average props. But there was no cavalry
TOTAL 95/150
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ENGLAND
Ben Foden 5/10
Club: Northampton; Caps: 5
Sadly, his attacking instincts appeared to have been utterly submerged by anxiety and conservatism
Mark Cueto 6/10
Club: Sale Sharks; Caps: 41
Disappointingly, he was unable to make his usual impact, though England were not successful in bringing him into the game
Mike Tindall 7/10
Club: Gloucester; Caps: 62
An excellent comeback in the second half, was very unlucky not to score and a focal point of the tourists’ revival
Shontayne Hape 2/10
Club: Bath; Caps: 1
It would be unfair to blame him. The blame must lie with those who saw him as an international rugby union player
Chris Ashton 5/10
Club: Northampton; Caps: 2
A storm waiting to break. Made one glorious try-saving tackle but otherwise was left to fume in splendid isolation
Toby Flood 4/10
Club: Harlequins; Caps: 30
Surely it is not too much to expect your fly-half to orchestrate something resembling an attack, given all that possession
Danny Care 4/10
Club: Harlequins; Caps: 20
Absolutely nothing doing. Was very lucky to be selected over Ben Youngs, who will surely get the nod to play in Sydney
Tim Payne 6/10
Club: Wasps; Caps: 21
Part of the dominant scrum, although almost any prop worth his salt would have been dominant given the opposition
Steve Thompson 6/10
Club: Brive; Caps: 59
Possibly not as effective around the field as he was during his great days, although well worth persevering with him
Dan Cole 7/10
Club: Leicester; Caps: 6
No doubt a nightmare for Daley to play against, arguably the only really good England international news of the season
Simon Shaw 6/10
Club: Wasps; Caps: 60
At least his appetite for work put others to shame, although possibly the energy was being sapped towards the end
Tom Palmer 5/10
Club: Stade Français; Caps: 15
The gap between what Palmer achieved and what was expected of him yesterday was far too large for comfort
Tom Croft 5/10
Club: Leicester; Caps: 20
His interventions were disappointingly fleeting, and England are still looking to find a proper role for him
Lewis Moody 6/10
Club: Leicester; Caps: 65
This must have been exactly like driving a bus with no engine for England’s courageous but dented skipper
Nick Easter 4/10
Club: Harlequins; Caps: 33
It all went badly wrong and, sadly, the more he tried to make an impact on proceedings, the more ineffective he became
Replacements
All that England proved with their substitutes was that they had their original team badly wrong in the first place
TOTAL 78/150
