Highlanders player ratings vs Moana Pasifika | Super Rugby Pacific
The Highlanders nabbed their first win in 2022 after taking down Moana Pasifika 37-17 at Forsyth Barr on Friday evening.
A lopsided penalty count and numerous advantages should’ve seen the hosts put their opposites away early, but poor skill execution combined with the visitor’s refusal to roll over saw the result hang in the balance up until the last quarter.
It was a must-win game for the southerners and their hopes of playing in the knockout stages, however it came at the heavy cost of potentially losing Shannon Frizell and Manaaki Selby-Rickit to the injury ward.
Here’s how the Highlanders rated:
1. Ethan De Groot – 7/10
Had a little extra oomph with his carries tonight, providing his team with front-foot ball to work off of. Didn’t shy away from confrontation on defence either after finishing with just over a dozen tackles.
2. Andrew Makalio – 6
A handy pick up for the Highlanders after being let go by the Crusaders. Threw his weight around and after nailing his throws
3. Jermaine Ainsley – 6
Not quite as involved as De Groot, although he too seemed to have more venom in the contact area than in previous outings. Banged bodies and took care of his side of the scrum.
4. Manaaki Selby-Rickit – 5
Helped off in the 25th minute after copping some friendly fire to the knee, but got himself busy in his time on the field.
5. Josh Dickson – 6
The primary line-out target for most of the night, setting his hooker up with multiple scoring opportunities from a rolling maul. Trudged away with the drudgery during open play as well.
6. Shannon Frizell – N/A
Forced off with an apparent knee injury after taking the kick-off.
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7. James Lentjes – 6
The toiler amongst this evening’s loosie trio. Expended the majority of his energy chopping down the giants in front of him, 15 tackles all up, and securing the ruck following his teammates’ runs.
8. Marino Mikaele-Tu’u – 7
Wasn’t afforded the same game time last year as he was in 2020 with Japanese skipper Kazuki Himeno in the mix, but has made every post a winner when pulling on the jersey this season. Was somewhat of a Swiss army knife having had touches in all facets of the game.
9. Aaron Smith – 7
Picked apart the Moana Pasifika defensive line with his pin-point accuracy from the base and had a hand in all side’s momentum swinging sequences. Subbed off for Fakatava with a quarter to play.
10. Mitch Hunt – 5
Showed his class by weaving his way through the defence to put Dawai away in the corner and others into space on occasion. Was guilty of a few aimless kicks which put them under pressure though, and an off night from the tee kept the opposition within striking distance up until the closing stages.
11. Mosese Dawai – 6
Opened the scoring after a nice bit of handy work from Hunt and made sure to exploit the mismatch close to the line before the oranges for another. Still has a ways to go with his option taking, however, his improvement week to week shows he’s on the right path.
12. Scott Gregory – 5
Had the unenviable task of getting in front of Danny Toala and Levi Aumua while also having to cart it up in their direction. Took care of business with the former, but some better footwork may have meant he is less sore tomorrow morning.
13. Fetuli Paea – 5
A real rocks and diamonds sort. Has a knack for getting in behind the defence, which is good, only to undo all his work by not freeing it up to those in support or forcing an offload. Should learn to pick his moments better as he gets more reps under his belt.
14. Sam Gilbert – 5
Didn’t see a lot of action when working within the train tracks, so made himself useful by running off shoulders in the middle of the paddock. Reliable as always under contestable.
15. Connor Garden-Bachop – 5
One of those days where things weren’t quite going his way. This was more a result of the poor ball flung his way than a lack of trying. Covered the kick space well and was dangerous on the return.
Reserves:
16. Rhys Marshall – 6
Picked up where his fellow rake left off with a try via rolling maul with one of his first few touches and closed out proceedings with another dot from the same platform.
17. Ayden Johnstone – N/A
18. Saula Ma’u – 6
Some big charges and eye-catching use of the shoulders in his cameo.
19. Max Hicks – 5
On for his debut in the 25th minute after Selby-Rickit hobbled off. Did his job and secured the pill when jumping at the set-piece.
20. Gareth Evans – 6
Called into action straight after the opening whistle for Frizell and wasted no time getting
21. Folau Fakatava – 6
Lifted the tempo in the final quarter and picked up a try for his efforts after getting his hands on the pill a metre out from the chalk.
22. Vilimoni Koroi – N/A
23. Denny Solomona – N/A
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood 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.
30 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.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments