This week the agonising job of rewatching the game and doing the ratings fell to me. It was not a task I enjoyed.
As you will see below, there is not much disparity in the ratings. No one played that well, to be honest. There is no G&GR Man of the Match, as no one earned the accolade.
So, to the ratings:
| Player | Rating | Comment |
| Sekope Kepu | 3 | Anonymous in general play, and was repeatedly penalised as our scrum faltered under the pressure applied by the Irish. Not good enough for someone who had been in good form this season. |
| Tatafu Polota-Nau | 3 | Clearly not the TPN we saw earlier this season. Where were the cannonball runs? The kamikaze tackles? He was fairly anonymous and looked short of a gallop. Hopefully he can keep recovering and get back to that old form. |
| Ben Alexander | 3 | Same as Kepu. Made little or no impact in general play, and was pillaged at the set piece. Had his worst game of the season by a mile. |
| Daniel Vickerman | 4 | Whilst he was the most involved Wallaby forward, his contributions were still well down on where they were just a few weeks ago. There were no dominant tackles or bruising cleanouts. Gave away a couple of needless penalties as well. |
| James Horwill | 4 | Like Vickerman he was not his usual dynamic self, and like Vickerman he also gave away a couple of stupid penalties. His leadership also failed to step up when the going got tough in the second half. After the last few games I expected more. |
| Rocky Elsom | 4 | Like the five preceeding him, Rocky struggled to make an impact and barely touched the ball. Lineout work and defence OK, but we needed something more from someone so experienced. |
| Ben McCalman | 3 | Tried hard but came up short. Made his tackles but never disrupted the Irish ball, which at the end of the day is what you need your 7 to do. But I don’t really blame him for the debacle that unfolded, he was never a 7 to begin with. |
| Radike Samo | 3 | Remember Brisbane Radike? Remember those barnstorming runs in open play? The big hits? Where have they gone? I want the old Radike back. Not the 2004 Radike, but the August 2011 Radike. Surely that isn’t too much to ask. |
| Will Genia | 5 | He was OK. That is probably the highest complement I can afford anyone. Didn’t really make errors, and almost scored when the game was already lost. |
| Quade Cooper | 5 | Created a lot of opportunities but made a few stupid errors as well. As usual he has been a bit of a scapegoat, when in reality he was far from our worst player. The flick-passes were mindless, but every time he had the ball going forward we looked dangerous. |
| Adam Ashley-Cooper | 4 | Filled in for Digby at 10 in defence, and sadly could not fill the gap. Which isn’t too much of an insult, as Digby’s defence is awesome. AAC’s was less so. Solid, but not brilliant. We suffered because of it. |
| Pat McCabe | 3 | His upright running style was exposed on a number of occassions by a canny Irish defence. Frankly it was a bit embarassing. Was fairly anonymous and we needed more from him. |
| Anthony Faingaa | 4 | Made his tackles, but didn’t really do much more. Made a crucial error late in the game by passing the ball into touch on our last real attacking opportunity when the game was arguably still alive. |
| James O’Connor | 5 | Didn’t really do much. Kicking wasn’t brilliant. Chased down Tommy Bowe and saved a certain try. That’s about it. |
| Kurtley Beale | 5 | Like Quade he threatened every time he had the ball, but also made a few silly errors. The chip-kick in our own 22 springs to mind, but he also knocked the ball on at a crucial time. Was still one of our best, but that’s not saying much. |
| James Slipper | 3 | Came on and was immediately penalised at the scrum to put the Irish out by 9. Made no difference at the set piece, and was barely sighted around the field. |
| Rob Simmons | 5 | Wasn’t too bad, I thought it was the first time he has made a real impact off the bench. Made a great tackle to thwart the Irish on our own line. Solid. |
| Scott Higginbotham | 5 | Played six minutes, wasn’t really sighted. |
| Wycliff Palu | 5 | Had eight minutes, and made a couple of good runs. A tantalising little period. He should have been on far earlier. |
| Drew Mitchell | 5 | Same as Higgers, came on in the 74th and I didn’t see him. |
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
Too harsh? Not harsh enough? Let me know what you think…
