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All Blacks Player Ratings v Australia

By Sam Warlow
Brodie Retallick of the All Blacks. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

The All Blacks opened their Bledisloe series and Rugby Championship campaign with a 38-13 victory of Australia at in Sydney. Here’s how they fared individually.

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1. Joe Moody – 8
Wreaked havoc at scrum time, outmuscled his opposite Sekope Kepu. Made his tackles and was good in run support. 

2. Codie Taylor – 6.5
Had a few lineouts picked off including an effort on the Wallabies five-metre line. Made all eight of his tackle attempts. Conceded a penalty.

3. Owen Franks – 8
Like Moody, dominant at the scrum. Finished with seven tackles.

4. Sam Whitelock – 8
Outshone by locking partner Brodie Retallick, but still disruptive in the lineout and staunch defensively in his 100th Test.

5. Brodie Retallick – 10
Brodie Retallick was the man of the match. The industrious lock was everywhere. Had his way with the Australian lineout, won a handful of turnovers and scored a brilliant try to boot after selling a big dummy. Excellent comeback performance after an 11 month international absence.

6. Liam Squire – 6.5
Penalised five metres from the All Blacks line, cost three points. Otherwise handy in defence.

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7. Sam Cane – 7
Forced a Lukhan Tui knock-on after delivering a big hit early. Won a pair of turnovers. Quiet with ball in hand.

8. Kieran Read – 8
Penalty surrendered three early points, picked up a try assist to Aaron Smith after great support running. Put in a few big hits and didn’t miss a tackle.

9. Aaron Smith – 8.5
Scored a trademark try in support. Defensively sound, continues to set the standard in terms of distribution.

10. Beauden Barrett – 8
The positives outweighed the negatives for Barrett. Broke the line, scored a try and set up another with a well-placed kick for Waisake Naholo. Errant passes and points left on the board mark the five-eighth down.

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11. Rieko Ioane – 7.5
Unable to get involved effectively in early stages. Great once he finally found space with big line break to set up Goodhue try. Off injured after 45 minutes.

12. Ryan Crotty – NR
Mishandled the ball in attacking territory, was injured early and replaced by Anton Lienert-Brown.

13. Jack Goodhue – 9
Excellent defensively. Even better on attack. Led the team in run metres with 142 and tackles with 11. Consistently broke the line. Made an excellent tap-on pass to Naholo in build-up to Aaron Smith try, support running rewarded with a try. Big tackles near his own goal line and on Israel Folau.

14. Waisake Naholo – 9.5
Impressive control to stay in play and offload to Kieran Read leading up to Aaron Smith try. Big steal on opposite Marika Koroibete. Bagged a pair of tries including a 40-metre solo effort beating four defenders. The flying winger finished with 140 run metres and 13 defenders beaten.

15. Ben Smith – 8
Made initial break for Aaron Smith try, kept busy and continuously tested the Wallaby defence.

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Bull Shark 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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