All Blacks player ratings vs Namibia | Rugby World Cup 2023
The All Blacks have cantered to a 71-3 win over Namibia in Toulouse to get their World Cup campaign back on track following last weekend’s loss to France.
Cam Roigard and Leicester Fainga’anuku – both making their first starts of the year – were the stars of the match for New Zealand, with Roigard notching two tries and two assists, while Damian McKenzie contributed 26 points through two tries and 16 off the tee.
How did the All Blacks rate in the 68-point win?
1. Ofa Tu’ungafasi – 6/10
Part of a dominant scrum – although the All Blacks rarely took advantage. An outragous behind the back pass delivered en route to one of the All Blacks’ many tries might well be the best most skillful thing a prop has ever done on a rugby field. Incorrectly forming a lineout drive saw the All Blacks’ third try of the match scrubbed while chatting back to the ref saw his side marched 10 metres. Made a few frustrating errors at the start of the second half, conceding a breakdown penalty and tossing the ball forward in the open field. Off in 48th minute but returned to the fray for the final 10 after Ethan de Groot’s card.
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho – 7
Nailed all his lineout throws and made the second-most carries of the NZ forwards, with four. Looked to have grabbed a regulation try from a lineout drive only for it to be scratched out due to obstruction. Off in 52nd minute.
3. Nepo Laulala – 5
Made a stinging tackle early doors but was guilty of falling off a few others throughout the match. Threw plenty of backdoor passes. Dropped the ball cold when he eventually decided to carry then conceded a penalty for holding on. Off in 48th minute.
4. Brodie Retallick – 7
The key jumper at the lineout for the All Blacks, taking five balls and stealing one off the top. Useful at the offensive breakdown, securing plenty of ball for his teammates. Off in 57th minute.
5. Sam Whitelock – 5
Penalised once for not rolling away at the breakdown and a second time for infringing in the air at a lineout. Also at fault for the Taukei’aho no-try. Grabbed one lineout steal and made eight tackles, but otherwise not the best night for the elder statesman.
6. Luke Jacobson – 6
Missed a couple of tackles in the opening quarter but found his mark for the remaining 60 minutes, finishing with 10 to his name – the most of any All Black. Made some nice ground out on the wing but didn’t quite have the wheels to go all the way. Worked well as a link-man in the centre of the park. Off in 74th minute.
7. Dalton Papali’i – 6
Built to play a defensive game – and the All Blacks really didn’t have to do much defending throughout. Made one thumping tackle inside the first-receiver channel. Ran through a couple of Namibian defenders for a well-taken try.
8. Ardie Savea – 7
Had a quiet first spell but burst to life in the second, getting his side some excellent front-foot ball with some strong carries, particularly off the back of the scrum. Penalised once for interference at the ruck. Subbed for what feels like the first time in forever. Off in 64th minute.
9. Cam Roigard – 9
Couldn’t ask for much more in his starting debut. Grabbed the first two tries of the night – the first from running a good support line off Leicester Fainga’anuku, and the second with a jink and a jive off a five-metre scrum. Transitioned to creator towards the end of the half, making a nice break off a midfield scrum before giving the ball to McKenzie. Assisted for a second when he spun away from a defender close to the line then delivered the ball to a charging David Havili. Got some great distance with his one (one!) box kick of the night in the 51st minute. Off in 66th minute.
10. Damian McKenzie – 7
Kicking radar wasn’t always on the money (though still finished with eight conversions from 11 attempts) but led his team around the park well. Darted around plenty of defenders but scrambled sideways at times and may well have been punished against a more astute defense. Showed exceptional toe to outrun four Namibian defenders and pounce on the ball for what looked like an NZ try – only for replays to show the ball never made it over the line. Eventually skipped his way over from close range to grab the All Blacks’ third. Sparked a brilliant counter-attack from inside the New Zealand 22, hitting a gap then throwing the offload to Havili. Moved to fullback for the final quarter.
11. Leicester Fainga’anuku – 8
Impossible to stop in the opening exchanges, breaking tackles at will and eventually offloading for Cam Roigard to score the All Blacks’ first try. Grabbed a second in the 25th minute, following on from a lineout drive – beating four or five defenders in the process. Always looked threatening but wasn’t given as much room to move as the game wore on. Dropped a regulation pass when NZ were looking to counter.
12. David Havili – 6
Fluffed an attacking clearing kick, sending the ball directly into touch. Made a very poor decision to head towards the sideline from a kick-off and was unsurprisingly ushered into touch. Would have proved costly against more dangerous opposition. Clocked up some good metres in the midfield, showing off his sleight of foot, finishing one try. Made a couple of nice kick-passes in the second spell.
13. Anton Lienert-Brown – 6
Tried to pop a clever pass over the top to Fainga’anuku but tossed the ball forward when a simple pass through the hands likely would have sufficed. Scored an audacious individual try after receiving the ball on his own 10-metre line before showing off his football skills to grubber then fly-kick the ball all the way to the goal line for the touch down. Off in 69th minute.
14. Caleb Clarke – 6
Had countless opportunities to stretch his legs but didn’t always make the most of them. Was given the ball with plenty of space on the right-hand flank but instead of pinning his ears back and heading for the corner, he ducked inside and the opportunity went begging. Finally grabbed a try in the final quarter. Credited with six line breaks – but all a product of his teammates creating a numeric mismatch in the backline.
15. Beauden Barrett – 7
Ran well and stepped into first receiver regularly. A nice kick-pass gave Fainga’anuku the ball on a platter in the lead-up to the first try of the match. Made good headway down the right edge off an NZ counter attack then kicked the ball in behind the defence to create the opportunity for the All Blacks’ second. Off in 60th minute.
Reserves:
16. Dane Coles – 6
On in 52nd minute. Made a nice defensive read off a lineout as soon as he entered the fray. 2/2 lineout.
17. Ethan de Groot – 4
On in 48th minute. Scored a try with his first touch, camped out on the right wing. Red-carded with nine minutes to play for a dangerous tackle, not that it impacted the result at all.
18. Fletcher Newell – 5
On in 48th minute. Went about his business without much fanfare.
19. Scott Barrett – 7
On in 57th minute. Pinged for obstructing a tackler but worked well on both sides of the ball and took over as the key lineout man with Retallick off the park.
20. Tupou Vaa’i – 7
On in 64th minute. Got over the ball and won a penalty when Namibia were searching for a try inside the 22.
21. Aaron Smith – N/A
On in 66th minute.
22. Richie Mo’unga – 7
On in 60th minute. A well-weighted kick created a try for Clarke.
23. Rieko Ioane – N/A
On in 69th minute. Used his trademark pace to beat a couple of defenders and grab a late try.
Comments on RugbyPass
What ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
129 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
129 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
129 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
129 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
129 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
129 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
129 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
129 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
129 Go to commentsHo hum.
129 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
129 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
129 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
129 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
129 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
129 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
129 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
129 Go to comments