All Blacks player ratings vs Fiji | Steinlager Series
The All Blacks have silenced their critics with an impressive 60-13 thumping of Fiji at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.
Fiji showed promise early on in the clash, staying within touching distance of the home side for at least half an hour. However, the All Blacks eventually began to settle, growing a lead through patient play as Sevu Reece completed a first half hattrick and Ardie Savea, in his 50th test, dotted down for the All Blacks to register a 29-6 lead at halftime.
Despite seeing captain Leone Nakarawa sent to the bin, Fiji, through a Peni Ravai score, hit back at the start of the second half, after Will Jordan had strolled over for his 9th test try.
One way traffic was to follow shortly after, as the All Blacks started to show a clinical edge, building phases and scores, with Shannon Frizell and Rieko Ioane both dotting down. Samisoni Taukei’aho also featured, grabbing two tries on his test debut to see the All Blacks mark a strong finish to this Steinlager Series.
Here’s how the All Blacks rated:
1. George Bower – 6.5
Teamed up with Nepo Laulala to absolutely demolish a Fijian player off a restart, but was then pinged at the ensuing ruck. Held his own at the scrum, as he did last week. With Joe Moody unlikely to return to the fold until September, Bower looks like the man who will don the No 1 jersey heading into next month’s Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship. Off in the 51st minute.
2. Codie Taylor – 6
Stifled a promising-looking rolling maul by denying Fiji the chance to get the ball out and use it, thus forcing a turnover in the 10th minute. Sloppy lineout throwing in the 27th minute as he cost his side a potential try-scoring opportunity with a wayward throw from a promising position. Off in the 55th minute.
3. Nepo Laulala – 6.5
His conjoint hit with Bower on a brave Fijian ball-carrier was certainly an eye-catcher in the first half. His chemistry with Bower extended to the set piece, as both players anchored the scrum well. Off in the 51st minute.
4. Scott Barrett – 6
Stole a lineout in the 11th minute. Gave away a poor penalty in the 22nd minute with a side entry at the breakdown. Off in the 55th minute.
5. Sam Whitelock – 6
Plenty of grunt with ball in hand and sound at the lineout. Fearless in his ball-carrying, of which Ian Foster will take plenty of pleasure out of, as that was an aspect of the game he wanted to see improvements in from his forward pack.
MATCH REPORT: Jones miracle return complete but LCD's performance caught the eye. #LiosnRugby #STOvBIL https://t.co/caH067qR4z
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 17, 2021
6. Akira Ioane – 6
Proved his place in the starting team by holding his own up against the Fijian pack, something which Shannon Frizell couldn’t do last week in Dunedin. Equal-top tackler for the All Blacks. Not a vintage performance, but certainly solid enough. Off in the 67th minute.
7. Ardie Savea – 7
Strong impact in his first action upon return from injury as he made a crunching hit on defence. Looked to get involved frequently on defence, although he spilt the ball cold from a lineout move midway through the first half. Pure power to crash his way over for a hard-earned try on the stroke of half-time. Joined Ioane as New Zealand’s top tackler. Encouraging return to test rugby in his 50th appearance for the All Blacks.
8. Luke Jacobson – 6
Like Ioane, put in a better effort than his predecessor from last week as he found himself involved frequently on either side of the ball. Also like Ioane, not a performance for the ages, but he still stands as the best No 8 option in the country.
9. Aaron Smith – 6.5
Exploited the Fijian blindside channels excellently twice throughout the first half, which led to Sevu Reece’s second try and Rieko Ioane’s only try. Off in the 64th minute.
10. Richie Mo’unga – 8
Solid kicking out of hand to peg Fiji back with some nice touch-finders. Exceptional footwork on show late in the first half. Replicated that to create a searing line break out of nothing in the 56th minute. Served up try assists for Sevu Reece, Will Jordan and Rieko Ioane and was pretty trusty off the kicking tee as well. Definitely looks to be the better option between him and Beauden Barrett for the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship campaign. Off in the 58th minute.
11. Sevu Reece – 7.5
Showed off his raking boot in the first play of the match, but quickly undid his good work by getting penalised for a high tackle. Good support play to back-up David Havili for his try in the 15th minute. Good finish in the corner for his second. In the right place at the right time to scoop up his third and complete his first test hat-trick. Offered plenty on attack and finished the match with the most run metres. Looks to have locked in his place as a starter for Bledisloe I on August 7.
12. David Havili – 7
Caught flat-footed early in the match and was punished for it as he was the victim of a thumping tackle in the middle of the park. He learned his lesson, though, as the next time he got the ball, he danced through the Fijian defensive line and flicked a Sonny Bill-esque offload away to Reece for a try. Was the victim of yet another Fijian double whammy in the second half. All in all, though, a very solid performance and should retain his place in the starting side over the coming weeks.
13. Anton Lienert-Brown 6
Exposed on defence early on as he jammed in to help out Havili, which left a gaping hole in the midfield for Fiji to exploit and take the ball deep into enemy territory. Showed some glimpses of his physicality with ball in hand. Lack of communication with Havili cost the All Blacks a likely try in the 64th minute. Still a decent enough return from elbow surgery.
What a result for Argentina ?? pic.twitter.com/mkEj4ZIE9q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 17, 2021
14. Will Jordan – 6
Had a quiet first half, but got on the board early in the second stanza after running a good line to pierce the Fijian defensive line from close range. Off in the 43rd minute.
15. Damian McKenzie – 7
Put under some pressure by Fiji’s kickers and chasers as he was rushed into kicking the ball out on the full in the ninth minute. That seemed to be a theme throughout the first half as Fiji’s kick-chase game did as much as it could to disrupt McKenzie’s presence in the backfield, but he dealt with it well for the most part. Swift distribution skills featured on occasion. Outstanding try-saving tackle on Ben Volavola and then did superbly to win the penalty at the breakdown.
Reserves:
16. Samisoni Taukei’aho – 7
On in the 55th minute. In typical hooker fashion, scored off the back of a rolling maul in his first touch in test rugby. Eat your heart out Dane Coles. Barnstorming run up the middle of the park in the 68th minute nearly earned him a brace. Eventually got his second try off a set move from the lineout in the dying stages of the match. A big statement on his All Blacks debut that may have moved him up the national pecking order.
17. Ethan de Groot – 6
On in the 51st minute. Got his hands on the ball from time to time and disgruntled the Fijians at scrum time.
18. Angus Ta’avao – 6
On in the 51st minute. Couldn’t quite reel in the bouncing ball as the tryline loomed as part of an All Blacks counter-attack midway through the second half. Strong showing at scrum time.
19. Brodie Retallick – 6
On in the 55th minute. Slowly built back into test footy in just his second appearance in the black jersey since his lengthy sabbatical layoff.
20. Shannon Frizell – 6
On in the 67th minute. Burrowed over for a try shortly after entering the fray after some good build-up play by his peers.
This young French side have just narrowly lost the series to Australia after coming into the tour as overwhelming underdogs.
Does their impressive showing down under cement France’s status as genuine World Cup contenders? ?? https://t.co/HJU7kWyDdA
— RugbyPass+ (@RugbyPassPlus) July 17, 2021
21. Brad Weber – 6
On in the 64th minute. Didn’t quite make the impact Smith did, and didn’t provide the impetus Finlay Christie did in his two cameos off the pine over the past fortnight. That’s not to say he did anything wrong, but his performance just wasn’t as impressive as we’ve come to see from other halfbacks in recent weeks.
22. Beauden Barrett – 6
On in the 58th minute. Played his part well off the bench, especially with his ball-running ability from the backfield, but looks very much a second-fiddle option to Mo’unga at this point.
23. Rieko Ioane – 7
On in the 43rd minute. Scored shortly after his induction into the match on the back of some good drawing and passing by Mo’unga. Lovely work to suck in three defenders and then offload on the short side to set Lienert-Brown away for a line break in the 64th minute. Brought great energy as an impact option off the bench. Looks a lot more suited to the wing than in the midfield.
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.
17 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.
17 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 🤐
17 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….
17 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 💪
17 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.
17 Go to comments