Well, winning two in a row isn’t a bad thing for this team, the more we can string together, the better. But it is a mark of the increase in expectations we have on the team, that a solid win has the feeling of not being enough. A three try to one defeat over a member of the six nations should be nothing to scoff at, but that would be glossing over the obvious issues up front. It is clear that, as mentioned on the podcast, our front row is needing to use this tour to play into some form. The scores for the tight five reflect this, their primary job is this grunt work so the team can’t perform like this and have them rate high. Fingers crossed this is the bottom and we are looking up…
Anyway, to the ratings:
| Pos. | Name | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benn Robinson | 5 | Busy around the field, so fitness is OK, but not having the same impact in scrums as he was pre-injury. |
| 16 | Saia Fainga’a | 4 | Solid throwing in the line out. Huge impact in the scrum, mostly negative. The scrum woes were not all his fault, but he definitely shoulders some of the burden, if he can. |
| 3 | Ben Alexander | 5 | Scrummaging not up to standard. Still doing his work in the loose, getting a try and all, but the tight is his bread and butter. Each hitout should be helping. |
| 4 | Mark Chisolm | 3 | A good linebreak and some work in the tight, but it is clear a big part of our scrum woes comes back to the locks so clearly needs to do more. |
| 5 | Nathan Sharpe | 5 | Ditto for Chis, needs to show some of his experience by fixing the scrum fast. Has been great this year, but needs to maintain the rage… |
| 6 | Rocky Elsom | 7 | A few strong runs, very solid in a well balanced backrow that is getting a bit of combination together. Definitely growing as a leader. |
| 7 | David Pocock | 9 | Put in a Pocock like performance, bagging a meat pie to go with his efforts. |
| 8 | Ben McCalman | 6 | No highlight reel moments, but very solid and dependable. Again, works well with the other backrow players. A great find from the last couple of tests. |
| 9 | Will Genia | 7 | A solid performance, and good combination with QC, but only showing glimpses of the x-factor he has showen previously. |
| 10 | Quade Cooper | 7 | Typical attacking game from Quade. Kicking game still not on target, with a few kicks misplaced. Terrible in defence. |
| 11 | Drew Mitchell | 6 | Solid game from the winger with a couple of good runs. Needs to inject himself more, given the competition for wing places. |
| 12 | Matt Giteau | 5 | Took the poor option of a kick with a three on one. Really looks like he is playing on borrowed time. Still working off the ball, but only solid, no more. Defensivley sound, in this backline we need a couple of those. |
| 13 | Adam Ashley-Cooper | 6 | Getting more comfortable at centre. Defensivly sound, but missing a little impact in attack, probably a result of being in Gold 13 more than anything else. |
| 14 | James O’Connor | 7 | Has seamlessly added first choice kicker to his duties. Beginning to look comfortable on the wing, showed outstanding turn of pace to blow of Shane Williams to setup KB’s try. |
| 15 | Kurtley Beale | 9 | At the start of the year, fullback was a trouble position for us, no longer.A fantastic player with obvious pace, great vision and the desire to back his own abilities and we are reaping the benefits. Another great performance from KB. Unlucky not to score the test try of the year with a missed regather, but got a try anyway, capping off another G&GR (and official) Man of the Match performance. |
| 26 | Huia Edmonds | 5 | Involed himself in general play, a good run or two. Didn’t impair the scrum, but didn’t improve it either. |
| 17 | James Slipper | 6 | I think there may have been a slight improvement in the scrum when he came on. They were at least able to hold better. |
| 18 | Dean Mumm | 6 | Worked well in the tight, only a short time so not much impact. |
| 19 | Richard Brown | DNP | |
| 20 | Luke Burgess | 7 | Proving a reliable backup, and would not disapoint as the starting half. Dangerous running game and passing was good, not wild, as it has been in the past. |
| 21 | Berrick Barnes | 6 | A solid cameo, played his role well. A solid effort, would be a better starting game, with a more creative “spark” player coming off the bench. |
| 22 | Lachlan Turner | DNP |
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
