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The All Blacks capped their series against France with a 49-14 victory at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Here’s how they fared individually.
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1. Joe Moody – 6.5
Letting Gael Fickou bust through him was the only black mark on a tidy test for the loosehead. Ten made tackles with just two misses, one more glaring than the other.
2. Codie Taylor – 7
Effective over the ball and at lineout time, save for one overthrow. Racked up two turnovers and had a few handy carries.
3. Owen Franks – 7
Sound defensively with identical defensive statistics to Moody. Scrummaged well.
4. Sam Whitelock – 7.5
Also whiffed on Fickou. Great at lineout time, led from the front and made all the right calls as captain.
5. Scott Barrett – 10
Scott Barrett was simply immense. I’ve never given a ten before, and if I could give an eleven I would. Filling in for Brodie Retallick, Barrett was all over the park. Led the match in tackles with 17, had a handful of strong carries and showed excellent hands to offload in the tackle. Caused problems for the French lineout all night long. Had the most influence across the ground.
6. Shannon Frizell – 6.5
Kept himself busy. Had a try rubbed out, made twelve tackles, shows plenty of promise moving forward. He can definitely be happy with his first effort in the black jersey.
7. Ardie Savea – NR
Unfortunately had rare start ended early. Performed well when he was on the park. Matt Todd was excellent as a replacement, filling up the stat sheet and wreaking havoc at the breakdown.
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8. Luke Whitelock – 7
Capped a good series with another solid effort. Nothing outstanding. Converted on all ten of his tackle attempts.
9. Aaron Smith – 6.5
Definitely an improved performance after last week. Kept busy, delivered quick ball.
10. Damian McKenzie – 8.5
Scored a pair of tries, one more dubious than the other. Picked his moments to run, had an excellent night off the tee. Think he has done enough to stay ahead of Richie Mo’unga in the pecking order.
11. Rieko Ioane – 9.5
Outstanding as per usual. The type of performance we have come to expect from the incredible 21-year-old. Once again dangerous with every touch, joins elite company after bagging a hat-trick.
12. Sonny Bill Williams – 7.5
Managed close to an hour, which is more than anyone expected after he was ‘ruled out’ before the series began. Ended up being a nice cameo for the dynamic Williams. Excellent taking on the line and finding his teammates.
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13. Jack Goodhue – 6.5
Another handy debut. Let in Welsey Fofana’s try but looked comfortable on both ends throughout.
14. Waisake Naholo – 7
Made good on his opportunities. Made great metres with every touch. Had a tough night defensively and fell off a few tackles. Racked up 98 run metres but missed half of his eight tackle attempts.
15. Ben Smith – 8
Capped an excellent series with another try. Always in the right place at the right time. Gets himself involved on attack and is solid in defense. Overall an excellent performance from the All Black back three.
Reserves:
As above, Matt Todd had instant impact early after coming in for Ardie Savea. Jackson Hempo was solid on debut, got the call earlier than he would have expected after Frizell left for blood. Made the most of his opportunity and seemed to pop up everywhere. Jordie Barrett slotted in nicely for Sonny Bill around the hour mark. Richie Mo’unga played sparingly but had a great touch finder as his first act in the black jersey.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
So Ireland will be tired. Despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Peoples champions? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win inconsequential tests. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
1 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
1 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
2 Go to commentshit on Lynagh was defo late and card-worthy. The other 2 are bang on OK. Hurts you at Test level if youre timing is off and the nostrils are flared. Jerry C knew when to lean in on one, Finau just needs to keep his discipline and head straight.
5 Go to commentsSlade was exceptional against Gloucester. Not only was he doing the classic Slade stuff of running amazing lines and timing passes to perfection to put his wingers into space, he was kicking goals, flying off the line smashing people and crashing into rucks like a flanker… his hair even looked on point. 😍
1 Go to commentsThat’s really sad, hope everyone involved is ok. At least he had pants on.
2 Go to commentsTo be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
1 Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
5 Go to commentsCan we also show some love for Tane Edmed’s fantastic draw and pass? Put his body on the line and committed the defender before letting go of that pass. Flawless skill.
5 Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
7 Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
2 Go to commentsJa, why do Bulls get flack for not bringing their best but Leinster never bring their best and it goes “unnoticed”?
4 Go to commentsIt’ll be very interesting to see how Razor’s AB’s handle the new England rush D. It’s basically the Bok recipe they copied, so if England goes well then we know most likely the Boks will go well too. If England cops a hiding then we’ll have to study and adapt.
7 Go to commentsTypical trait of an australian is to moan. Goes well with there lack of humbleness as evident by the Reds bench on the weekend.
5 Go to commentsSBW’s bro’town commentary and lazy default to hyperbole should be ignored, a technical analyst he is not. Sotutu is a good player when games get goosey loosey, high skill set that fans of Zinzan recall with starry eyes. But you need power and mongrel at no8 in the Test arena and Sotutu gets found wanting there, much like Akira Ioane. No8’s like Zinzan and Ardie have bucketloads of mongrel and power and tenacity which allow the skill sets to flourish.
12 Go to commentsAn inside pass to attacker on the angle can make a drift defence look lead footed. Relies on fleet footed forward/s to get across from the breakdown. An argument for the smaller faster 7 perhaps?
7 Go to commentsSensational tackle. The reds one was late and rightly penalised. The other two were simultaneous with the pass. If nitpicking TMOs can’t find fault there clearly isn’t any.
5 Go to commentsBrumbies fully deserved their win on the back of their physicality and desire to control the ball. Xavier Numia, Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax should be the ABs starting front row when we start our test schedule. They have “come of age” and have bested all they have faced as well as been dominant with ball in hand in making the gainline. With De Groot, Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell backed up by Taukei'aho and Cody Taylor there's not an international front row that can trouble us. Can't wait to face the Boks over there, won't be no one point game this time.
7 Go to commentsKinda strange that he wasn’t with a premiership team or a higher level of rugby? Start playing late or something? With that kind of size and athleticism you’d think someone would have picked him up?
2 Go to commentsShows how much attitude matters. Last week the Brumbies got done, this week they dominated the tournament leaders, who were likely thinking they could cruise to victory.
7 Go to comments