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1. Scott Sio
Kept improving throughout the game and ended up with the upper hand in the scrum. Made his tackles and chipped in with some great carries. Back to career best form. 8
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2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
Very similar to Sio without the effective carries but with pin-point like lineout throwing. Set the platform for Moore. 8
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3. Sekope Kepu
Another strong contributor in all facets of the game. It was a brave decision to opt for fresh legs when Kepu and Sio were playing as well as they were. 8
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4. Rob Simmons
Hard to rate, a solid game with a dumb penalty and some even dumber back chat. Made all his tackles and went off with a serious head injury early in the 2nd half. Let’s hope for a full and quick recovery. 6
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5. Adam Coleman
A huge attacking work rate was backed up by his usual defensive effort. Coleman made the most runs of any forward with 13. 8
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6. Jack Dempsey
Slipped through for metres on almost every carry with his unique left-foot step. A fantastic steal early in the 2nd half was the icing on another solid attacking and defending wallaby performance. After the game he joined the matching watch club with Foley, Beale and Izzy. Rugby.com.au is saying, “he is now the poster boy for Generation Next.” 8
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7. Michael Hooper (c)
Hooper was a ruck clearing wrecking ball this game. A tight and excellent performance from the Wallaby captain. His inspired decision to kick to the corner was brilliant as was his decision to back his long range kicker after his no. 1 was having an off night. 8
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8. Sean McMahon
Wawaweewa! A highlight reel performance against the best team in the world. Made one less metre than Damian McKenzie (who gets the cheap fullback ones). His 30m from his own red zone, showcased his ever persistent leg drive which busted several tackles well and put Australia truly back on top of the arm-wrestle that was this test match. His body on-the-line slide to take a loose lineout ball was also game changing. 9 – G&GR MOTM
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9. Will Genia (vc)
Solid ruck service under pressure. Heavily involved in every part of Australia’s play and like most other players seemed to improve throughout the game. 99/7 passes/runs is significant when compared with A. Smith 36/1. 7
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10. Bernard Foley (vc)
A poor night with the boot and a lot of handling errors in tough conditions, a couple of missed tackles too. Thankfully none of this cost us too much, he did some good things too and was on the end of a massive tackle that he took like a champ. 4
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11. Reece Hodge
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Hodge’s long range penalty to put the wallabies up by 5 was vital as it forced the Kiwis to work for a try instead of a shot at goal (which they weren’t able to do). His early intercept and run away try was classy and he was solid on defence too. 8
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12. Kurtley Beale
Beale looked to be targeted early by the Darkness and it forced him into a lot of errors and nothing kicks. He bounced back later in the game and was able to beat defenders and break the line. Too many dropped balls though. 5
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13. Tevita Kuridrani
Similar to Beale. TK seemed to be rattled early and made errors, but after getting stripped by SBW he didn’t put a foot wrong on attack and did what he does, which is straighten and bend the line, offering Genia fast, clean ball. 6
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14. Marika Koroibete
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15. Israel Folau
Shredded 7 tackles, offloaded twice, scored a try to finish the first half and threw the last pass for Koroibete’s try. 112 metres from his 17 runs. He can also catch a high-ball. 8
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Finishers
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16. Stephen Moore
Effective off the bench in a famous victory of his final home test. A fitting send off to one of the best Hookers world rugby has produced. 6
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17. Tom Robertson
A scrum penalty, but some good defence when he came on for Sio in the final 15 minutes. 5
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18. Allan Alaalatoa
Finished well coming on for Kepu. 6
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19. Lukhan Tui
Played almost all of the second half coming on for the injured Simmons. A staggering 11 runs in that time that took a huge amount of stopping. 7
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20. Ned Hanigan
Played the last 8 minutes.
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21. Nick Phipps
Played the last 6 minutes.
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22. Samu Kerevi
Drew a penalty that Hodge sealed the result with.
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23. Henry Speight
Unused replacement.
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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
Player Ratings – Wallabies vs All Blacks
