After each Wallabies Test we at G&GR are going to shine a spotlight on a player who may have slipped under the radar in the post-match analysis. Last week it was Pat McCabe; this week we are taking a look at Ben Alexander.
I thought he had a great game, one of his best in gold. He played the full 80 and was still making tackles out wide in cover defence late in the game. The scrum was solid and his work with ball in hand was good. He has certainly thrown down the gauntlet to James Slipper if the latter wants to get back into the Wallaby XV.
According to Austin’s statistics, Alexander:
- made 16 tackles (4 of them dominant) and missed none;
- had 50 involvements at a rate of 0.63 a minute, easily making him the most effective front-rower on the ground;
- made 5 runs, all of which reached the gain line; and
- had an error count of zero and scored a try.
While not in Man of the Match territory, it certainly was a very solid front row performance. So it’s been a bit of a surprise to see him copping some criticism over in the forum.
We’ve put together a few of his involvements in this video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MK7a2LHSF4[/youtube]
What do you think? Does he deserve the praise, or the potshots?
