All Blacks Player Ratings vs England
The All Blacks have braved the conditions and escaped Twickenham with a one-point victory over hosts England. Here’s how they rated individually.
1. Karl Tu’inukuafe – 7.5
Started strong with a big penalty win on the All Blacks five at scrum time. Accurate in defence and had a couple of strong carries. Passed the biggest test of his young international career with flying colours.
2. Codie Taylor – 5
Had a few struggles at lineout time and was uncharacteristically quiet with ball in hand. Put the ball to ground and was largely untested on defence. Perhaps loosened any sort of grip he had on the No. 2 jersey with Coles’ return.
3. Owen Franks – 6.5
Made his tackles and propped up a solid All Black scrum. No real chances to carry.
4. Sam Whitelock – 8
A tireless effort. Constantly steadied the All Black ship. Led the team in tackles with 12 and won a turnover. 15 huge carries led the way for the forward pack.
5. Brodie Retallick – 8.5
After spilling the opening kickoff Retallick returned to his usual world-destroying self. Was all over the park, reliable as a ball carrier and made a few big hits. Will give England hookers Dylan Hartley and Jamie George nightmares after constantly disrupting the lineout.
6. Liam Squire – 4.5
Another quiet shift from Squire. Limited to one metre from his three carries. Made all five of his tackle attempts. Minimal impact on the match.
7. Ardie Savea – 8
One of the All Blacks’ best against England. Powerful leg drive to extend carries on several occasions. Plenty of work over the ball. Made nine tackles and won a turnover. Topped the forward pack in run metres.
8. Kieran Read – 8
Tough to bring down. Kept the ball alive several times and was handy as a lineout option. Backed his side by opting for a touch-finder with three points on offer.
9. Aaron Smith – 6.5
Generally solid delivery in trying conditions. Had a kick sail out on the full and got caught trying to do too much throwing a bad pass to bomb a certain try early in the second spell. Made a key tackle on his opposite close to the line.
10. Beauden Barrett – 7.5
Spent the first 30 minutes gifting possession to England. Overcooked his first few stabs in behind the defence, missed touch and got caught offside. Kept cool despite rush defence to find McKenzie inside for his side’s only try and was solid in defence. Accuracy off the tee and first international dropped goal proved to be the difference.
11. Rieko Ioane – 5.5
Caught off his wing for Chris Ashton’s opening try and turned the ball over a couple of times. Made solid metres when given the opportunity, but was otherwise limited in tough conditions and made a few errors.
12. Sonny Bill Williams – NR
Taken off early with an injury. Replaced by Ryan Crotty, who was a linchpin on both sides of the ball and a threat to break the line in a solid appearance.
13. Jack Goodhue – 7
Trucked it up the middle of the park well in his return after almost two months off.
14. Ben Smith – 7.5
Made a big break with his first real chance. Led the match with 79 run metres from just six carries. Broke the line on three of them.
15. Damian McKenzie – 8.5
Was the All Blacks’ best on the park. Cool head defensively, especially in the early goings. A constant threat to break the line. Beat a game-high 11 defenders and broke the line three times. Scored the All Blacks’ only try. Let down by a missed touchfinder and spilled ball just before being subbed.
Key Reserves:
Dane Coles was an instant upgrade over Taylor at lineout time. Very positive signs in his first real run after a long layoff.
Scott Barrett made an immediate impact from the blindside as a replacement for Liam Squire. Kept himself busy, joined Retallick in disrupting the lineout and made four quick tackles.
Ryan Crotty was as reliable as ever in the midfield. The injection of TJ Perenara almost cost the match after he had a box kick charged down by an offside Courtney Lawes.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
19 Go to comments