Wallabies vs France player ratings

1. Benn Robinson 8 – Fat Cat was outstanding last night.The scrum was solid and his work around the field was reminiscent of his Super 14 form, two pilfers confirm this.

2. Squeeky Moore 6 – Again the line-out wasn’t what it should be but Moore proved once again he is head and shoulders above TPN.One of the few Wallaby forwards to make an impact and dent the French defence.

3. Le Fuse 6 – Seemed to get the rough end of the pineapple by getting penalised at the scrum.Had one particularly inglorious moment when he head-planted right on the half-way line and got a mouthful of chalk.

4. Kev Horwill 4 –Hasn’t been able to replicate the form he showed in the Baa-Baa’ game and was fairly quite.On a night where the forward pack need ball runners in tight, he had little or no impact.

5. Nathan Sharpe 6 – Sharpe gets heaps of ball in attack but seems to do very little with it.His glaring lack of vision with a four on one overlap in the second half was disappointing but played the full game and let nothing through the middle.

6. Dean Mumm 6 – Played a very tight game that was focused on providing impact at the breakdown.The amount of penalties the Frogs gave away around this area proves he was pretty effective.Showed his versatility by moving to the second-row when Kev got dragged around the 60 min mark.

7. George Smith 9 – If only he’d have tried a chip and chase I’d have given him a 10!!

8 Richard Brown 8 – Answered the call by providing a ball running threat in the backrow and was generally busy all around the ground. He is still no Cliffy, but at least showed he can make a decent go of it if required. Some brutal defence which shortened up more than a few French forwards.

9. Luke Burgess 7 – Starting to play consistently well and no longer taking the wrong option. The French defence close the ruck was very good so he didn’t overplay his running game, that adjustment alone shows how far he has come since the Super 14.

10. Gits 6 – Not sure if he suffered from the lack of go-forward or quick ball, or was it the constant penalties the Frogs gave away whenever the Wallabies got phase play? No matter, kicked poorly out of hand but superbly for goal and the scored all the Wallaby points, but not at his best.

11. Drew Mitchell 7 – Missed out on scoring a try early on that would have been a cracker. On the positive side didn’t mess his hair up as he did in the Baa-Baa’s game while scoring.

12. Berrick Barnes 8 – Took more of a role in making things happen in attack as there was plenty of pressure on Gits. Tres Bon in defence.

13. Morty 4 – Not sure if it was the week off or the fact it fell to him to be the one to crease the French defence but he seemed to struggle dropping passes and generally looking half a step behind the play. Missed more than his fair share of tackles also.

14. Lachie Turner 7 – Played a great covering role helping AAC out at the back. His involvement in the only try of the game showed his class.

15. AAC 8– Had it not been for Smith’s performance he would have earned his second successive man-of-the-match in as many weeks. Is constantly involved from fullback and has learned the value of not using the mid-field bomb as an attacking option.

16. Ben Alexander 7 – Replaced Baxter early in the second half and was able to mix a good scrummanging performance with natural close quarter running. Something he was not able to do against the Italians.

17. TPN 5 – Not good, not bad. Only limited game time and opportunity.

18. David Pocock 7 – Came on toward the end of the game and snaffled two turnovers and upped the pace which is what you want from the bench.

19. Phil Waugh 7 – In baseball they would call him the closing pitcher, the bloke who comes on and shuts the other team out of the game. Waugh on the bench provides security, a bit like Gilchrist batting at number 7.

20. Josh Valentine 7 – Gets a seven for his ability to start an on-field push-and-shove fight rather than a off-field food-fight from the week previous.

Player	Pos	Mins	Runs (m)	Tack	Off	Kick	T. Ass	L. Brk	Ruck	T/Ov
Benn Robinson	LHP	80	3 (3m)	6	0	0	0	0	3	1
Stephen Moore	HOOK	59	3 (11m)	5	1	0	0	0	3	0
Alastair Baxter	THP	55	2 (6m)	3	0	0	0	0	2	0
James Horwill	LCK1	61	2 (10m)	8	0	0	0	0	2	2
Nathan Sharpe	LCK2	80	7 (20m)	10	3	0	0	0	8	0
Dean Mumm	BSFL	80	1 (3m)	6	0	0	0	0	1	2
George Smith	OSFL	80	4 (18m)	10	2	0	0	0	4	2
Richard Brown	NUM8	71	7 (40m)	10	1	1	0	0	7	0
Luke Burgess	HB	71	8 (30m)	4	2	4	0	0	8	0
Matt Giteau	FIV8	80	6 (52m)	5	0	8	0	1	4	1
Drew Mitchell	LWNG	80	5 (44m)	1	0	3	0	0	4	2
Berrick Barnes	ICEN	69	2 (30m)	8	2	4	1	0	2	0
Stirling Mortlock	OCEN	75	6 (61m)	3	1	2	0	0	6	2
Lachie Turner	RWNG	80	7 (70m)	2	1	3	0	0	6	2
Adam Ashley-Cooper	FBCK	80	10 (89m)	3	1	2	0	0	8	2
Tatafu Polota-Nau	RHKR	21	1 (4m)	3	0	0	0	0	1	1
Ben Alexander	RPRP	26	1 (5m)	3	0	0	0	0	1	0
Phil Waugh	RLCK	9	0 (0m)	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
David Pocock	RFL	19	1 (6m)	7	0	0	0	0	1	0
Josh Valentine	RHB	9	2 (3m)	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
Ryan Cross	RBCK	5	0 (0m)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
James O’Connor	RES1	11	1 (0m)	2	0	0	0	0	1	0

 

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