JO’C 8 – Was a constant threat from fullback and his positional play was first class. This time last week there were a fair few people crowing about Kurtley, but after this week’s 120 mins of rugby from JO’C, you have to ask – Kurtley who?
Diggers 7 – Set up the QC try with a typically bold run and sneaky pop ball but let himself down with a few elementary handling errors. Provides a brutal foil to the more refined skills of his back-division counterparts
Rob Horne 6 – Not once did the Pommy centres get a sniff of open space. Tindall may have made a few metres, but when it counted, Horne held firm. The number 13 jersey is his for the year.
Berrick Buns 6 – He is outstanding the way he gets off the line in defence and drags those outside him up as well. England’s best chance of scoring came to an abrupt halt as Barnes knee-capped Hape late in the first-half. I wish he wouldn’t do those dinky kicks however.
Shmoo 9 – Everyone (apart from the Poms it seems) knows that if your kick-chase is shithouse, you are going to have tries scored against you. Shmoo opened them up two or three times and his burst which lead to Rocky’s try was a combination of pace and power. Consistency is his problem so can he back this game up next week?
QC 9 – What can you say, a majestic performance. Provides so much space for his outside men with the ability to throw long passes both left and right and keeps defences honest with his willingness to run the ball. Missed a few tackles but who cares…Man of the Match.
Burgo 8 – Fixed his problems passing left to right by running the ball instead of throwing ‘wounded birds’. Hard to get too carried away as it has been a while since he has played such a good game. Kept Sanchez on the bench all night which was great for Burgess, but even better for Genia.
Dick Brown 6 – Not a night to be a prop or a Number 8. Considering the speed the scrum was retreating I think he did pretty well cleaning up what ball came his way. Smashed into plenty of rucks which was pleasing as well.
Pocock 8 – Was the most industrious of the backrowers and his ability to get to the breakdown and secure the ball ensured the Wallabies were constantly on the front foot from phase play. Snagged a couple of turnovers for good measure
Rocky 7 – With Dick and Bam doing the dirty work, Rocky was able to run a bit wider and cause mayhem in defence close to the ruck. Was able to keep the team composed even as the scrum disintegrated which proves his is leadership abilities.
Mummy 6 – Must have been practicing ball handling with Diggers as he shelled a few passes when the Wallabies were building nicely in attack. Spent plenty of time bossing the Poms around at the breakdown which is what you want.
Nathan Sharpe 8 – I haven’t had a man-crush on a Wallaby since Madness left town but watching Sharpie gave me a similar warm fuzzy feeling. Maybe Robbie should drop everyone at least once as it seems to have made Sharpie a better player. Owned the lineout and dominated the running metres in the trenches.
Salesi Ma’afu 3 – It was always on the cards but to see the way he was dealt with was cruel. He even had the ref encouraging him at one stage saying that his efforts were improving. The best thing about it was he didn’t suffer a serious injury.
Saia Faingaa 4 – Played pretty in the loose and his lineout throwing was solid, however during one scrum he ended up behind the locks. Gets a point for lasting 80 minutes against that sort of barrage.
Ben Daley 3 – Robbie Deans said the front row would learn a lot from the game and I suspect Daley learned he isn’t yet up to international standard. His day will come.
Rating system (no half marks):
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
