Wallabies player ratings vs New Zealand | Bledisloe Cup
The Wallabies defended stoutly for large periods but a power game from the All Blacks and equally resistant defence kept them ahead, before blowing them away in the final quarter.
Despite the lopsided scoreline the Wallabies controlled large periods of the contest but couldn’t crack the All Blacks defence.
The home side turned down many opportunities at three points early in the second half in search of a try to mount a comeback but came up empty handed.
The All Blacks then struck with their first opportunity in the second half after defending for 15 minutes, which put the game away at 24-7.
Here’s how the Wallabies rated in Melbourne:
1 Angus Bell – 5
Strong first up carry and continued to make in roads with ball in hand. Off at 46 but back on in the 58th for Tupou. Had big line break in the 70th minute running onto a ball from Izaia Perese.
Overall the Wallabies scrum and maul didn’t find any success, with the scrum conceding a swathe of penalties. A big driving maul to start the second half was turned and stopped with the Wallabies searching for a way back into the contest. Another shortly after.
2 Dave Porecki – 6
Lineout was excellent with Porecki hitting his targets efficiently all through the first half. Was a worker in defence making a high load of tackles and disrupting ball carriers. A solid night’s work from Porecki who didn’t really put a foot wrong.
3 Allan Alaalatoa – 5
Suffered a leg injury from a collapsed scrum a few minutes from half-time. Was industrious with 10 tackles in defence. The Wallabies set-piece held up reasonably with Alaalatoa on, the lineout functioned well but the scrum pressure started to take a toll late in the first before the injury.
4 Nick Frost – 6.5
Strong defence early and got through 15 tackles in the first half. Was reliable jumper at the lineout and really stepped up with a big effort.
5 Will Skelton – 7
Came up with a brilliant steal to end a deep All Blacks raid inside the 22. Carried hard and pounded All Black defenders. Big steal early in the second half to put the Wallabies on attack. Was strong whilst the Wallabies were in the game. Off at 47.
6 Jed Holloway – 5
Defended well and made life difficult for ball carriers, holding them with the likes of Valetini. Big tackle on Aaron Smith to force a knock-on. Off at 46.
7 Tom Hooper – 7
Brought the ruck pressure relentlessly, competing hard at the breakdown. Didn’t steal any early but slowed the ruck down enough. Was a workhorse in the defensive line, coming up with 23 tackles in the first half and finished with 32. A magnificent showing in a losing side after his debut in South Africa.
8 Rob Valetini – 6.5
Levelled the scores with a power carry close to the posts early. Won a ruck turnover in tandem with Skelton to foil an All Blacks attack. Was one of the Wallabies best out there.
9 Tate McDermott – 5.5
Unlucky start getting hammered by Barrett to hand the All Blacks the first try. No protection from the forwards, but got into a rhythm and found clean ball at the Walalbies ruck. Brought good energy in defence making a couple of key clean up tackles. Didn’t have many chances to run in the first half. Off at 50.
10 Carter Gordon – 5
Wallabies shape looked great with Gordon running the show. He started with confidence and looked at ease running the Wallabies’ attack. His kicking game was excellent early before a key miss at goal from a penalty and stray bomb gave away control of the game. A cruel lesson for the number 10 came after a failed restart kickoff that didn’t make 10. That error led to a scrum, an All Blacks penalty, and the last possession of the half before the Jordan try. Momentum swings off errors can be extremely costly. Plenty of good to take out of the game. Off at 50.
11 Marika Koroibete – 4
An odd Koroibete performance with plenty of energy but lacking accuracy. Was saved by Valetini after failing to finish an early try with cute aerobatics. Produced a brilliant read on Mark Telea off a set play and won the penalty. Had another offside penalty defending the goal line which was unnecessary which led to a yellow card and 10 minutes in the bin. Wallabies edge defence was mixed up on Jordan’s play with Koroibete infield. Not his best night.
12 Samu Kerevi – 5
Centre pairing looked great early as two power options in tandem. Kerevi carried hard as usual. Had a silly penalty on Beauden Barrett after a kicking duel. Held up over the line at a crucial time, had some key missed tackles as Telea cut through the Wallabies midfield. Not lacking in effort tonight but below the typical impact Kerevi can bring.
13 Jordan Petaia – 6
Carried hard and found solid gain line. Defended well in the wide channels as part of a rather resilient defence. Brought out his kicking game in the second half which helped vary the options. A solid outing for Petaia back in the No 13 jersey.
14 Mark Nawaqanitawase – 6
Great first touch making a break up the middle. Was electric with every touch. Was much better in defence than against Argentina, saving the Wallabies a few times out wide. Played the drift exceptionally well on Telea early in the second half. Made 11 tackles first half. Made his first error in the middle of the second half with a panicked pass trying to make something happen. Overall was a gutsy showing by Mark.
15 Andrew Kellaway – 6.5
Good first take under the high ball but spilled the second one which put the Wallabies in their first pressure situation. Scott Barrett nailed Tate McDermott for a knock-on handing Frizell a try. Had a nice inside line off Petaia for a line break in the first half. Made some brilliant reads as the last man in defence, playing off two All Blacks to close to the sideline in the first half. In the second had a break after latching onto a Quade chip kick but couldn’t make anything of it. Was generally safe in the backfield.
Reserves
16 Jordan Uelese – 6 – On at 47 – Got stuck on defence for most of his time on the field, came up with 11 tackles.
17 James Slipper – 5 – On at 47 – Scrum didn’t improve with the reserves on, losing more penalties unfortunately as the Wallabies set-piece waned.
18 Taniela Tupou – 4- On at 37 and made a big tackle to start. Proved a handful to bring down and the Wallabies started to get front foot ball. Wallabies looked excellent off the back of Tupou’s carries but it was short lived as he went down in the 48th. Played on and was eventually replaced in the 57th. His last act was earning a yellow card.
19 Richie Arnold – 5- On at 47 – 10 tackles for the big man in a tough final quarter.
20 Rob Leota – 5- On at 47 – Made 13 tackles in a high work rate showing.
21 Nic White – 5- On at 50 – looked threatening around the ruck when he first came on.
22 Quade Cooper 5 – On at 50 – Had a nice chip kick to set up Kellaway for a break.
23 Izaia Perese – N/A – On at 71- His first touch was a beauty, firing a pass for a line break assist. Made a punishing hit on Anton Lienert-Brown.
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe 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?
4 Go to comments