Wallabies player ratings: Ikitau impresses during mixed year for Australian centres
The wounded Wallabies showed plenty of fight, passion and character throughout a tough international season where they failed to win as many games as they probably deserved.
Time and time again, week after week, indiscipline and inconsistent team selections ultimately hurt the Wallabies who lost a number of crunch clashes by agonisingly small margins.
Australia started their season with a bang, beating rivals England in Perth by two points – but wins proved hard to come by throughout the rest of 2022.
After losing their next two Test matches against old foes England – and the series on home soil – the men in gold lost four of their next six matches before heading to Europe.
The Wallabies overcame a valiant Scotland at Murrayfield to begin to their five match spring tour, before losing their next three Tests by three points or less – including a first ever loss to Italy.
While they were able to complete an incredible comeback against Wales to finish their season, the disastrous run of form cannot be ignored less than a year out from the World Cup.
The rugby world saw glimpses of greatness from the men in gold throughout both their spring tour and the year as a whole, but they’re just slightly off the pace.
But don’t rule them out from winning rugby’s greatest prize next year just yet.
This week, RugbyPass will be rating the Wallabies players’ performances from the year that was. After going through the outside backs on Monday, we’re not going to take a look at how the midfielders performed this year.
Midfielders
Len Ikitau – 7/10
Played: 13 (12 starts)
Best performance: Argentina I
When Len Ikitau made his international debut last season, rugby fans would’ve been able to tell that there was something special about him – but he’s simply gone to an all new level this year. With Samu Kerevi unavailable for a significant part of this season, the 24-year-old really stood up as a leader. In fact, the Wallabies backline – especially defensively – wouldn’t be the same without Ikitau in the side.
Ikitau played a consistently high level this season as he continued to complete tackle after tackle, and do the things that wouldn’t necessarily make the highlight reel. The Brumbies centre had two standout performances against Los Pumas this year, where he scored a try in each of the two Test matches – and ran for 55+ metres on both occasions.
But to bring it back to his defnece and leadership, one of his best performances of 2022 came in the Wallabies’ final Test match against Wales. Ikitau made 11 tackles without missing any, was vocal in both attack and defence, and ran the ball six times.
The Wallabies wouldn’t be the same without him.
Samu Kerevi – 7
Played: 3 (3 starts)
Best performance: England I
On his day, Samu Kerevi is the best midfielder in international rugby. There’s just no question about it. But unfortunately for both Kerevi and the Wallabies, the star centre wasn’t able to don the coveted gold jersey beyond the July internationals.
Kerevi sustained a significant injury during the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, which ruled him out for the rest of the year. But the 29-year-old was able to play all three Test matches against England – and he starred in each of those Tests.
But the first Test of the year was a great one for Kerevi, who played a crucial role in Australia’s thrilling win over their old foes. Kerevi ran the ball a staggering 15 times for 39 meters, and made six tackles as well.
If Kerevi is fit and available for the World Cup next year, then the Wallabies backline could become extremely interesting.
Hunter Paisami – 6.5
Played: 9 (8 starts)
Best performance: Argentina I
Hunter Paisami has to be one of the most exciting and destructive players in Australian rugby right now. Time and time again, Paisami shows how lethal he can be with the ball-in-hand, and how dominant he can be with some major tackles in defence.
Paisami also sustained an injury during the opening few minutes of the crunch clash with Ireland, which later saw him head back to Australia early. It was, certainly at the time, a big blow for the Wallabies ahead of their final Test match of the year.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how the Australian midfield takes shape ahead of next year’s World Cup, with Kerevi and Ikitau also in the mix for starting roles. But similar to former All Black Ngani Laumape, Paisami could cause some major headaches with his impact off the bench.
Lalakai Foketi – 6
Played: 3 (3 starts)
Best performance: France
After making his international debut on the Wallabies end-of-season tour last year, Foketi was given another few opportunities to shine in green and gold – before an injury ended his campaign.
Foketi started both Test matches against the All Blacks – including a promising display in the first Bledisloe Cup clash – and was given his next chance to start against France last month. The 27-year-old returned to the Test arena against the world’s second best team and he didn’t skip a beat. In fact, he scored one of the tries of the year, as the Wallabies ran practically the length of the field against Les Bleus.
But unfortunately, injured ended his night in Paris, and was later sent home early from the end-of-season tour.
Reece Hodge – 6
Played: 1 (1 start) *in the midfield
Best performance: Wales
Reece Hodges’ versatility is simply an invaluable asset to Dave Rennie and the Wallabies selectors. Australia’s Mr Fix It started one Test in the midfield this year – against Wales – and he did the jersey justice with that performance.
Hodge ran the ball hard and with purpose, and also made his mark in defence with nine tackles – the second most tackles made out of the Australian backs. Rennie won’t be able to pick everyone in next year’s World Cup, but a combination of Hodges’ versatility and long-range boot seemingly makes him a likely option.
Irae Simone – N/A
Played: 1 (0 starts)
Best performance: Argentina II
Simone only played one Test match this year and it was certainly one of Australia’s worst performances of 2022. And while that’s not a reflection of him or his ability, it’s quite tough to rate a player as a result of that.
The New Zealand-born centre came off the bench in Australia’s disastrous 48-17 loss to Argentina earlier this year. Simone was only able to run the ball once and make four tackles after coming on with just under 20 minutes to play.
Full ratings (to date)
Outside backs
Tom Wright – 7.5
Marika Koroibete – 7.5
Mark Nawaqanitawase – 7
Andrew Kellaway – 6.5
Jordan Petaia – 6
Jock Campbell – 6
Reece Hodge – 5
Suliasi Vunivalu – N/A
Tom Banks – N/A
Izaia Perese – N/A
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments