Usually I like a second view before the player ratings – but to watch that twice in one day will do my blood pressure no good at all.
[one_third last=”no”]
James Slipper
Shunted to the loose head, he attracted scrum penalties without the impact you’d want in the loose. 4
[/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
Stephen Moore
Came alive in the second half after some corrective eye surgery from JdP. Not his best with errors though 4[/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
Ben Alexander
Could have been penalised in every scrum for not getting his bind or angling down – almost was. 3[/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Rob Simmons
Seems to be marking time for someone who can make impact at lock. 4 [/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
James Horwill
Grafted hard , but a runaway French ref like this needed much better handling from a captain. 6[/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
Scott Fardy
Made every one of his 11 tackles but we needed more of his competition at the breakdown. 5[/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Michael Hooper
Worked his guts out (second most tackles, most runs) but had little effect on the meat eaters – except Etzebeth. 4[/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
Ben Mowen
Also busy in the tackle count, including the best hit of the season, but isn’t handling his breakdown duties 4 [/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
Nic White
The obsessive kicking tactic might not have been his, but the execution was. 4 [/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Quade Cooper*
Not doing the basics – poor kick-offs, lateral running, defensive howlers, high ball target. Time for a change 2 [/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
Joe Tomane
Looking like a rabbit in the headlights, but he’s not alone 3[/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
Christian Leali’ifano
If we’re using him as a second play-maker, I’m not seeing it. 4 [/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Tevita Kuridrani
Starting to find his feet in a role the Wallabies sorely need – tackled and trucked 7 GAGR MOTM[/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
Adam Ashley-Cooper
Got himself into the game from wing. Still struggles to connect with support. 6[/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
Israel Folau
Clearly doesn’t know what’s expected of him – Wallabies counter-attack is a mess 4[/one_third]
*Quade Cooper
My score of last night’s Wallaby 10 seems to have caused an uproar in the comments section – and not just among the usual reds crazies – so here’s a little more about why I rated him a 2.
First – you’re away at Newlands with a team who averages ONE try a test. This is going to be a tight test, if the Wallabies play out of their skins. Yet at the 13th minute mark, with the scores at 3 a piece and the South Africans 5 metres out, rather than trust his and his buddies D, QC decided to sprint out of the line and attempt the lowest of low percentage intercepts, effectively waving through Adriaan Strauss.
This is not OK at any level, let alone a test like this, in these circumstances. Interestingly, this probably won’t even go down as a tackle miss, as he came nowhere near attempting one. It was a crucial blow at precisely the wrong time in the match.
Most QC defenders have said “What about his quick tap and then kick pass for the try?”. It was in the 77th minute – IT DIDN’T MATTER. And that’s exactly the problem with the Wallabies of late. When it does matter – no performance – when it doesn’t matter they looks just awesome.
Another defence is that “he got bugger all ball the whole first half”. No kidding – I guess that’s because the Wallabies were trying to play territory like they’d been telling everyone all week. Well in that case, the last thing you want to do is stuff up six out of your seven restarts, because when you’re playing territory you want to make sure you at least start off at the right end of the field, either having forced a touch finder from a long kick, or contested and won a short one.
Coopers kicks did perfectly neither, and with a split kick off chase led to at least one try directly from them. Can you imagine seeing this from Dan Carter or Morne Steyne? It is the BASICS and by not doing it the Wallabies game plan was shot from every kick off.
Yes Quades tackle % approached that of his team mates, and he made a strip. But have you ever wondered why more players don’t go for the strip as much as Quade? What else could they be doing rather than a low % strip? A choke tackle perhaps? Or perhaps turning that tackle into a dominant tackle and getting himself over the ball to steal or at least slow it down? Why is it that we teach 9 years olds to stop trying to strip every ball?
I’ll also have to look again, but I remember seeing Cooper refuse to compete at last once in the air for a high ball and the South African commentators remark on him being a target for Steyne’s bombs. The basics.
So, could I have scored Quade differently? Perhaps I could have nudged towards a 3, but then the description for 2 is “Tell your story walking pal” – which in my opinion (you’re welcome to yours without spitting a dummy) is what Quades performance this weekend deserves.
Reserves
[one_third last=”no”]
Benn Robinson
Didn’t that scrum look better when he came on? A trademark pilfer as well. 6[/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
Saia Faingaa
Crucial hooking howlers. 2[/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
Ben McCalman
A noticeable injection of energy. 6[/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Sekope Kepu
Hard to evaluate except that the scrum appeared to solidify. 5 [/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
Will Genia
Seemed noticeably nippier, but not back to killer best . 6 [/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
Chris Feauai-Sautia
Finished one try, gave away another. Clearly has potential though 5 [/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”]
Sitaleki Timani
Nice hit and then main contribution was to get yellow carded for possession of a dangerous shoulder (was dumb though) 3[/one_third] [one_third last=”no”]
Matt Toomua
On for eight minutes but took his one chance. 7[/one_third] [one_third last=”yes”]
[/one_third]
The patented G&GR ratings guide:
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
