That’s better!
A win makes rating the players much more fun but not any easier. The Wallabies put together a well-rounded team performance without any real superstar stand-outs.
Will Genia and Berrick Barnes combined very well, but the pack laid a solid platform for them. The centres were hard and direct. The whole team defended very well and discipline was very good.
Lots of players could have been a point higher or lower but I’d say they were fairly even across the board (or field).
| Player | Rating | Comments |
| Benn Robinson | 7 | Another solid performance from the Cat. Looked comfortable with his front row partners from the Tahs (thank God they were playing the right way round) and isn’t giving away silly penalties either. |
| Tatafu Polota-Nau | 7 | Played well before knocking himself senseless on a Welsh jaw. Ran well and threw an offload to Genia front rowers shouldn’t even know about. Still second choice to Moore, but will play himself into contention if he continues in this vein. |
| Sekope Kepu | 7 | Looks much better at tighthead and the scrum held together fairly well until he swapped sides. Kepu, Robinson and Moore would be a fantastic first-choice front row. |
| Rob Simmons | 5 | A fairly quiet game after his very involved performance off the bench against Scotland. Spent a lot of time offside riling up Mike Philips and was lucky not to get penalised. |
| Nathan Sharpe | 7 | Played most of the game with a mashed face and didn’t seem much worse off for it. The forward pack needs him there to direct the lineout and mauls particularly. |
| Scott Higginbotham | 8 | Impressive. Showed great strength to score a try and made some great tackles. The back row balance looks good with him at six and Palu at eight. |
| David Pocock (c) | 8 | A captain’s knock, and close to MOTM for mine. Was his usual self around the park, but seemed to be able to rally his troops more effectively and certainly outplayed Sam Warburton. |
| Wycliff Palu | 7 | Good to see him back in gold, played a solid 60 minutes before being replaced by Hooper. Always gets over the advantage line and combined well with Genia. |
| Will Genia | 8 | Was a different player to Tuesday. Directed the backline with precision and was always an attacking threat on his own, bagging a try too. He had a point to prove and did it. G&GR Man of the Match. |
| Berrick Barnes | 7 | Combined very well with Genia, distrubuted accurately and his kicking in general play was both well placed and timed. Seems a bit out-of-practice with his place kicking, but this is the Berrick we want at the Tahs! |
| Digby Ioane | 7 | Once again, a constant threat both on his wing and when roving. Made a number of breaks and some crunching tackles too. The only blight was a couple of handling errors. |
| Pat McCabe | 7 | Ran beautiful lines to score his try, tackled hard, and worked well with both Horne and Faingaa. Did everything that was asked of him. |
| Rob Horne | 6 | Wins a prize for bloodiest player of 2012. Played well too, tackled strongly but also put in work at the breakdown similar to Faingaa. Minus a point for bombing a try. |
| Cooper Vuna | 7 | A solid debut. Was obviously trying very hard, and things came off more often than not. A couple of defensive lapses were more than made up for with a strong kick chase and attacking spark. |
| Adam Ashley-Cooper | 6 | Might not be the first-choice fullback, but not far off. Good under the high ball, taking a lot of pressure off Vuna, and good everywhere else too. |
| Stephen Moore | 7 | Came on for the injured TPN at 55min. It wasn’t a barnstorming off-the-bench performance but it was solid, error-free and effective. Impressive considering he played 80 on Tuesday. |
| Ben Alexander | 5 | Looked good in open play as usual, with good work around the ruck and some decent tackles. Unfortnately the scrum seems to suffer when he comes on. |
| Dave Dennis | 5 | Fairly quiet and didn’t have much time either. Had to play in the second row for Sharpe, where he probaly shouldn’t be in a Test. |
| Michael Hooper | 7 | Played the last 20 minutes and really made his presence felt. Worked well with Pocock making a nuisance of himself at the breakdown and ran, ran, ran the ball. Has an uncanny ability to stay on his feet in the tackle. |
| Nic White | – | Did not play. |
| Anthony Faingaa | 6 | Came on as a blood replacement for Rob Horrne at 55 minutes, came off again and then returned for the last 10. Obviously very keen to get his starting spot back and plays like it. Solid defence as usual but hardly got to touch the ball in attack. |
| Mike Harris | – | Did not play. |
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
How did you see it?
