Super Rugby Aotearoa: Highlanders player ratings vs Hurricanes
The Highlanders named an unchanged starting XV after their plucky outing against the champion Crusaders outfit last weekend. Aaron Smith was celebrating his 150th game for the Southerners and Ash Dixon joined the centurion club.
For the Hurricanes, who were on a hot streak of 5 wins in a row, Billy Proctor, Chase Tiatia and Jamie Booth were brought into the backline, Dane Coles was up front to captain in the absence of TJ Perenara.
Defying logic, the Hurricanes, a team who normally wear gold chose to wear their blue alternate strip against a team that wears blue. The Hurricanes were called back for three denied tries and Highlanders pushed out in the second half against the tiring visitors for a 38-21 win.
How did the winning side’s players rate in the final game of Super Rugby Aotearoa?
1. Ayden Johnstone – 7
Solid at scrum, some good distribution and running at first/second receiver. Off in 46th minute.
2. Ash Dixon – 7.5
Lineout maestro, genuine leader and a popular try-scorer off a rolling maul at 33 minutes. This week it was Josh McKay who was the recipient of his 22-metre long throw. Off in 56th minute.
3. Siate Tokolahi – 7
Highlanders scrum stayed solid and both starting props averaged 2 metres a carry. Off in 46th minute.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD5acAxg6Mk/
4. Pari Pari Parkinson – 6
Obviously wasn’t 100% after last week, succumbed to his dodgy sticks again after 39 minutes.
5. Jack Whetton – 8
His dropped ball led to Aso’s try. Came back though with some good work around the park and major component in the Highlanders’ purring lineout. Classic tight forward’s run up the middle at 45 minutes for Collins try and top tackler. Off in 70th minute.
6. Shannon Frizell – 6.5
His first-up tackle on Prinsep was a real “who’s your Daddy?’ moment. Relatively quiet game otherwise. Has become a solid lineout option. Had a nice little ding-dong with Ardie Savea around 68 minutes where he got bumped off by Savea then moments later crash tackled the Hurricanes number 8. Revenge was sweet!
7. Dillon Hunt – 7
Good work in tight exchanges in mopping up, solid on ‘D’ and kept Kirifi honest in a bonafide battle of the terriers at the breakdown.
8. Marino Mikaele-Tu’u – 7.5
Back to his effervescent best with ball in hand after a quiet shift last week. 47 metres off 6 carries but just 1 tackle. Off in 63rd minute.
Of course this was going to happen in the final match of the competition ? #SuperRugbyAotearoa #HIGvHURhttps://t.co/AURMOtgcdg
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 15, 2020
9. Aaron Smith – 8
Is the real heartbeat of the team and led more like a statesman than a yappy dictator this week. Creates so much from the base and picks runners well. Off in 72nd minute.
10. Josh Ioane – 7
Good under the high ball, not completely confident in defence stationed on the wing at the set-piece. Always a threat at the line with ball in hand. Off in 62nd minute.
11. Jona Nareki – 7
Off at 5 minutes for some patching up, back on at 18. The team used his left boot well to get out of their 22. Great work up the middle for Michael Collins’ try.
12. Patelesio Tomkinson – 7
Good all-round game; he’s had a good, consistent season.
13. Michael Collins – 7.5
Is growing in confidence with more time in the 13 jersey. Made some real yards, 62 metres in 9 carries.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD2tTBEgJqb/
14. Josh McKay – 6.5
Just doesn’t seem to get the space he needs with ball in hand. Very evasive player, some good passing skills and tackles well.
15. Mitch Hunt – 7
Got himself involved in the line in the first try to Punivai. Showed he has some real pace with some velocity down the right flank to score at 61 minutes. Very solid player with few weaknesses.
Reserves:
16. Liam Coltman 6.5
On in 56th minute. Good turnover at 66 minutes to snuff out a Hurricanes attack.
17. Daniel Lienert-Brown – 7
On in 46th minute. Solid defence.
18. Jeff Thwaites – 7
On in 46th minute. Put in some good defence.
19. Manaaki Selby-Rickit – 7.5
All action figure after his introduction at 39 minutes. Some significant carries, top tackles and soared high at lineout time.
20. Teariki Ben-Nicolas – N/A
On in 63rd minute.
21. Folau Fakatava – N/A
On in 72nd minute.
22. Ngatungane Punivai – 7
Came on for 13 minutes in the first half, good introduction with a strong run then, moments later, scored a well-taken try. Then on again at 62nd minute, a bit more quiet in the second shift.
23. Tom Florence – 6
On in 70th minute and got one big hit in at 78 minutes. One for the future.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter 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.
3 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.
36 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 comments