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Here’s how the All Blacks fared in this morning’s 38-18 victory over France in Paris.
15 Damian McKenzie 7 Nice touch to set up Cane’s try, but his decision-making means that the jury is still out on him as a long term option.
14 Waisake Naholo 8
The All Blacks’ best, and not just because of his two tries (which were remarkably easy, really). Was more than effective on defence with some nice turnovers.
13 Ryan Crotty 5 Showed with his try that his combination with SBW is coming along nicely, however went missing in the second half. He wasn’t alone, though.
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12 Sonny Bill Williams 6 Would’ve been higher had he not got that dumb yellow card, played a huge role in the All Blacks’ first half dominance.
11 Rieko Ioane 7 Very effective once he got the ball, played a big role in several attacking raids and set up Cane’s try. One of the few bright spots of the second half.
10 Beauden Barrett 6 Pretty much summed up the All Blacks – great in the first half, anonymous in the second. Goal kicking accuracy was nice to see, though.
9 Aaron Smith 7 Had to do a lot of kicking due to the rain, and acquitted himself well. Probably could’ve run more.
8 Kieran Read (c) 7 Left the field early in the second half, was that the reason the All Blacks went to bits? Until then was having a solid game.
7 Sam Cane 6 Put in a lot of good defensive work, but should’ve stepped up more as a leader in the forwards once Read left.
6 Vaea Fifita 4 For a guy his size he sure did his best to be invisible.
5 Sam Whitelock 5 Another part of an ineffective second row.
4 Luke Romano 5 Set piece was a shambles at times for the All Blacks and he could have done better in the lineouts.
3 Nepo Laulala 6 Had to get through a ton of scrums, not all of which went his way.
2 Dane Coles 6 Was playing fantastically till he had to leave the field after 25 minutes.
1 Kane Hames 6 Still has a bit of work to do to become the definitive loosehead, but you’d have to say he won his battle with Rabah Slimani when the Frenchman was binned.
Bench:
16 Codie Taylor 5 Got a decent amount of gametime, but has to carry some of the blame for the set piece woes.
17 Wyatt Crockett 5 Did nothing to change his reputation as a walking penalty-dispenser.
18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi 5 Didn’t really add much apart from a dumb penalty.
19 Scott Barrett 6 Got stuck in like a guy who knows he can make a test starting jersey his own.
20 Matt Todd 5 Wasn’t helped by the fact that he had to come on to a game that had degenerated into a mess.
21 TJ Perenara Not on for long enough.
22 Lima Sopoaga Not on for long enough.
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23 Anton Lienert-Brown 6 Just gets a rating because of his lovely offload to set up Naholo’s second.
