When I sat down to write these, I made a conscious decision to approach them more positively than Lance Free did last week. As the game wore on, that proved very difficult. All in all in was another wallaby performance that was well below were it should be.
No, not below what we have been conditioned to expect, but below what it SHOULD be. There were a few bright spots, some performances that were up to standard, but until there is more players putting in, we will continue to see the Bledisloe living on the wrong side of the Tasman.
It was good to see Dingo use the bench when the players on the field weren’t doing the job, though no backs were replaced.
All in all, a below average, though that average is dropping with every outing, performance that only rated a 4 for the team. We got the result we deserved.
| Player | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Beale | 7 | Showed his pace to outrun Dan Carter and Corey Jane to score a great runaway try. Positioning was good and defence a pass. Will look good with a couple more games in 15 at this level. |
| O’Conner | 5 | Came up short positionally again, it is not a co-incidence the ABs push most of their attack down his wing. |
| Ashley Cooper | 6 | Solid as always, moving back into 13 will take a little time to adjust to, but was defensively sound against an ABs team that asks a lot of questions. He won us the first kick off, a big up on last week, so that was worth a point on its own. |
| A Faingaa | 5 | Probably won’t look back on this game and remember it as a highlight other than for first run on. kicked one his first touch, not the game he is known for, so perhaps a sign of nerves? Got better as the game went on. |
| Mitchell | 6 | Shrugged off the problems of last week with a few very good runs, kept himself busy. |
| Giteau | 4 | Another game in 10, another example of why he is not a 10. Didn’t create, or do, enough. Defence was sound. |
| Genia | 5 | Seemed slow to the ruck and slow to clear. Some of that can be blamed on the forwards, but. Not his greatest performance in gold, and not what we have come to expect. |
| Brown | 4 | Very active, but not effective. He seems to have lowered the rate of stupid errors, but nothing has replaced them in his arsenal. Got subbed fairly early. |
| Pocock | 8 | Champion, turned in another performance worthy of the hype. Was everywhere and into everything, without him, the forwards would be nothing. |
| Elsom | 6 | Spent a good part of his game doing the work the forwards should be doing, so wasn’t spotted much. Would be acceptable if ‘c’ wasn’t next to his name. |
| Sharpe | 5 | Questionable pushing in the scrum. When he was running the ball, looked good, was subbed halfway through the second half. |
| Mumm | 6 | Nothing flashy, but plenty of work in the tight. It wasn’t his side causing the scrum issues. |
| Ma’afu | 3 | The scrum got stronger this week as the game went on, unfortunately for Salesi, the improvement came AFTER he was subbed off. Very poor. |
| S Faingaa | 6 | Played the whole 80, even with a rib tickler from Woodcock. Enthusiastic and willing. |
| Robinson | 6 | Getting his match fitness back slowly. Plenty of work in the tight and his side of the scrum held up nicely. |
Reserves that got a run
| Player | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Hodgson | 6 | Busy as always, it was good to see him getting some time. Didn’t let anyone down, but was involved in the tight. |
| Slipper | 6 | Sured up the scrum immediately. Busy around the park. |
| Simmons | 6 | Did his job in the tight, will have benifited from the run. |
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
