Wallabies Player Ratings vs All Blacks
Wallabies Player Ratings
The Wallabies opened their Bledisloe series and Rugby Championship campaign with a 38-13 loss in Sydney. Here’s how they fared individually.
1. Tom Roberston – 4/10
The late call-up Tom Robertson filled in for Scott Sio but was part of a Wallaby front row that was dominated from the get go. Robertson was penalised on the first scrum of the game for collapsing under pressure from Franks and was under pressure all night. He was reliable in defence and carried in tight but couldn’t set a stable platform for the Wallabies
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau – 4/10
The Wallabies needed Polota-Nau’s experience in this one but his lineout throwing was undone early under pressure from Retallick. His first two throws were stolen and his replacement Latu didn’t do much better. The All Blacks picked off seven throws in total in the match and completed a set-piece domination at both lineout and scrum.
He made a nice break in the first half and forced an error in a tackle on Retallick but was subbed early in the second half.
3. Sekope Kepu – 3.5/10
Kepu was ineffective all around, especially in the first half. Had one carry in forty minutes in addition to losing control at scrum time. Was penalised on his side and was subbed in the 34th minute. He returned in the second half but again conceding more penalties at scrum time.
4. Izack Rodda – 6/10
Played well at the lineout despite a bad night for the pack. Stole two lineouts against the throw, including on own the Wallabies own five in a pressure situation with the game still in the contest. When targeted, Rodda was reliable for the Wallabies on their own throws.
5. Adam Coleman – 5/10
Coleman carried well and defended stoutly in close channels, getting through a big load of work. Coleman’s biggest dissapointment of the night was at the lineout where he was ineffective when jumping. Retallick and Whitelock keyed in on him and picked off numerous throws as the Wallabies set piece capitulated.
6. Lukhan Tui – 3/10
Tui’s first carry was right into the teeth of the All Blacks, and he was chewed up and spit out. His next was an exit carry in his own 22 which he got hit by Sam Cane and turned the ball over. Was so-so as a jumper in the lineout, and missed half his tackles in the first half, conceding a line break to Ben Smith which lead to the All Blacks first try right on halftime. He showed flashes in attack, with a highlight reel bumpoff on Naholo and a nice offload which set Maddocks away but too inconsistent and not up to test level standard.
7. Michael Hooper – 6/10
Hooper tried hard, getting through a lot of work as he usually does. He guarded the middle third and put pressure on in defence with good line speed. He managed to force a couple errors, making a few key steals but missed a few tackles that let his overall performance down.
8. David Pocock – 8/10
Pocock was immense in the first half and big part of why the Wallabies held a 6-5 lead going into halftime. Had the first line break of the game off a short line out, forced two turnovers, had 11 tackles and seven carries in the first 40 minutes.
As the All Blacks broke the game open in the second half, Pocock had less impact, finishing with four turnovers and 18 tackles but also with four missed. He still pressured the breakdown, often committing multiple defenders into the ruck. Best on field for the Wallabies.
9. Will Genia – 7/10
Started the game with a high tempo, controlling the game when the Wallabies got inside the All Blacks 22. Couldn’t capitalise on early pressure as the Wallabies settled for two penalty shots. He asked questions of the All Blacks but couldn’t find the big blows. He sparked a long-range break in the second half that also nullified a potential All Blacks try and probed all night. Played well in a losing side.
High Tempo early. Controlled tempo inside 22, ran most of the attack. Asked questions of the All Blacks. Sparked long range break in second half that could’ve been a crucial All Blacks try.
10. Bernard Foley – 5/10
Overall, a mediocre performance from Foley. Not too bad but not impressive either. Beale took over the core duties like exit kicking and playmaking, leaving Foley to organise and distribute. Outside of goal line exiting, when he did kick, he kicked aimlessly downfield giving the All Blacks counter opportunities.
11. Marika Koroibete – 5/10
Saved a Barrett touchfinder with brilliant skill in the first half which kept the Wallabies lead in tact. In a crucial moment, got stripped one-on-one by Naholo which lead to All Blacks Goodhue try. Replays showed he was unlucky to not receive a penalty as his knee was down, but all the same was a big turning point. Was turned around by Barrett, caught out with long kick and then turned the ball over with bad pass inside the 22.
12. Kurtley Beale – 6.5/10
Was a solid performance from Beale who ran most of the attack from second receiver and played with speed and flair, as well as taking a share of the kicking. Was targeted in defence early but came through.
Missed an opportunity by spilling an inside ball from Genia on a break following turnover ball but also had a hand in the Wallabies only try by offloading in the tackle to help free Maddocks away.
13. Reece Hodge – 6/10
Was reliable in the midfield for the Wallabies, playing the majority of the game before finishing on the wing. His set-piece defence was solid, keeping the All Blacks out for a good 40 minutes. Kicked his penalties early and also had a booming exit kick from the dead ball line.
Had one nice line break in attack in the second half but didn’t offer much else in attack, as to be expected playing out of position.
14. Dane Haylett-Petty 4/10
Had a largely quiet night on the wing but kept Ioane under wraps for most the night. Wasn’t seen much in the air to contest in the kicking game, but had a few good clearing kicks himself. His worst play of the night was one of the biggest, dropping a ball cold off a set-piece scrum play that was kicked ahead by Barrett for a try that stretched the lead to two-scores ahead 19-6. Was substituted soon after.
15. Israel Folau – 5/10
Folau looked good early, injecting himself and getting a lot of touches in the first stanza. Looked dangerous but had limited success breaking tackles or the line. Had a couple of good plays in defence, bringing down Barrett after a clean break and intercepting a pass that would have lead to an All Blacks try.
He was injured in the 60th minute during a kick contest, hobbling off after twisting an ankle badly. A big confidence blow for the Wallabies and could be a huge loss for the rest of the Rugby Championship.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pacific Lions, cry me a river
125 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
125 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
125 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
125 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
125 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
125 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
125 Go to commentsHo hum.
125 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
125 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
125 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
125 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
125 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
125 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
125 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
125 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
125 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
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