Super Rugby Aotearoa: Hurricanes player ratings vs Chiefs
The Hurricanes travelled north to take on the Chiefs at FMG Stadium Waikato as round four of Super Rugby Aotearoa continued on Sunday. With both sides at the bottom end of the ladder, the winless Hurricanes were desperate to get some points on the board to give their season some credibility.
In recent times, these two proud franchises have produced some thrilling encounters and this afternoon promised to be another. Many of the Hurricanes players played with their respective clubs last weekend when they had the bye and perhaps the reconnection to the grassroots of the game was the antidote the Hurricanes coaching staff were looking for?
The visitors turned up and their defence won them the game 25-18 despite being a man down at the business end of the match. It was a tough, physical encounter and the Chiefs brought power through the middle but the Hurricanes would not die and deserved their victory.
So how did the Hurricanes rate today?
15. Jordie Barrett – 7.5
He didn’t take long to settle into the game and looked to create opportunities and not to play within himself. Committed a cardinal sin when giving away a breakdown penalty when his side were deep on attack but sough absolution by defending well and persistently looking to attack. A solid return.
14. Kobus van Wyk – 7.5
Scored a try that anyone could in the opening minutes but really enjoyed his efforts in attack. Despite having a bit of a shocker against the Crusaders, Van Wyk ran some intelligent attacking lines and went looking for work. Backed it up with solid chasing but positioned himself out of an attacking opportunity when cutting in off an Ardie Savea blindside run when there was ample space on the outside. Grabbed a second try in the second half and generally had a good afternoon.
13. Peter Umaga-Jensen – 7.5
Put in a very good shift without. Hard with the ball, hard off it. Dropped off the odd tackle but looks like he’ll maintain the 13 jersey with this performance after making a try saving tackle on his line. Impressed.
12. Ngani Laumape – 7
Worked well off the ball allowing for space to be created as he draws so much defence upon himself. Still had several good touches and backed up well. Didn’t let his side down in defence.
11. Ben Lam – 6.5
A fair shift with limited opportunity. Made a turnover in the first half and came in to work in defence. For every positive impact he tends to provide a negative. Would like him to be more consistent moving forward.
10. Jackson Garden-Bachop – 6.5
A decent shift but at times chose the lesser option evidenced by kicking when he had Van Wyk in open space on a counter attack. By no means a poor performance but would have liked him to back his own running game more.
9. TJ Perenara – 7.5
Another intelligent performance, if anything his box kicking let him down a bit this afternoon. That aside, he rallied his troops well and generally directed the side to where it needed to be. Didn’t really feature in running the ball but made a number of vital tackles including a try saver with Umaga-Jensen on the line.
8. Ardie Savea – 8
It was always going to be won upfront and Savea took it to the Chiefs in every aspect of the match. Was ferocious in defence and in possession worked in tight for metres, but also linked prodigiously out wide. Starting to come back into some dominant form. Building each week.
7. Du’Plessis Kirifi – 8
Like Savea, he was on today. Despite infringing out the breakdown, he balanced it up with turnovers, a try saving tackle on the Canes’ line and wanted to impose himself in everything he did. Gave Sam Cane a real battle and one of his better performances in a Hurricanes jersey.
6. Reed Prinsep – 8.5
My man-of-the-match. He was simply epic in defence making 21 tackles and stopped the Chiefs’ momentum time and time again. Defence wins matches and this win was built on the shoulders of his efforts today. A definitive performance.
5. Scott Scrafton – 6.5
Was sent off for two yellow cards yet I thought the first yellow was a bit harsh as it appeared he was looking to play the ball, not the man in the lineout. He worked hard and had some good involvements and ran the Canes’ lineout well. Made the cardinal sin of turning his back on the attack which no doubt contributed to his second yellow and playing offside. Will be better for this.
An impactful return from injury by Jordie Barrett has handed the @Hurricanesrugby their first win of the #SuperRugbyAotearoa campaign. #CHIvHURhttps://t.co/iH1Rc0aykY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 5, 2020
4. James Blackwell – 8
Another typical Blackwell performance. Hard work and more hard work. There was nothing exceptional about his performance apart from his ability to do the hard work. 15 tackles to his credit and supported Prinsep in that wall.
3. Tyrel Lomax – 7
Went about his business quietly but as always did his job and looked to impose himself in tight.
2. Dane Coles – 8
A typical Dane Coles performance and sent Codie Taylor a message that he still has plenty of game about him. Doesn’t appear to have lost any speed and grabbed an intercept down the left edge to turn the momentum of a Chiefs attack that several phases later lead to a Hurricanes try.
1. Fraser Armstrong – 7
Only lasted 21 minutes after injuring an ankle early in the match, but within that time scrummaged well, worked hard coming off the line in defence and made a number of raids into the defensive line of the Chiefs in attack. The type of player you want to play with, not against as he’ll give you nothing but come at you all day.
Replacements:
16. Ricky Riccitelli – 5.5
On in the 68th minute. Did his job.
17. Ben May – 7
On in the 21st minute and struggled in the first few scrums but hung in there and made a big contribution in general play, even securing a turnover. A credible performance full of character.
18. Alex Fidow – 6
On in the 70th minute and made a near half field dash for the line but was felled meters out.
19. Vaea Fifita – 6
On in the 56th minute. Had some positive involvements without providing potent impact.
20. Liam Mitchell – 5.5
On in the 70th minute. Did his job.
21. Jamie Booth – 6.5
Came on for a blood bin and later for Garden-Bachop. Had a sweeping run for the line working off Savea off a scrum move. Like this player, has a big future.
22. Billy Proctor – 6
On the 70th minute. Did his job.
23. Wes Goosen – 6.5
On in the 66th minute. Looked to work with limited opportunity.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to comments