Wallabies player ratings vs Scotland | Autumn Internationals
The Wallabies got their five-match spring tour off to an ideal start, as they fought for a tough 16-15 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.
It wasn’t pretty and the result certainly could’ve gone either way, with both teams having shots at goal inside the final 10 minutes.
Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley slotted his fourth penalty of the night to give the visitors a one-point lead late in the Test.
But a penalty against Taniela Tupou with three minutes to play gave Blair Kinghorn the chance to win it for the Scots, but he sent his shot wide left.
While discipline still appears to be an issue for the men in gold, they can take plenty out of this win ahead of a meeting with France next week. Here’s how the Australian players rated.
Wallabies player ratings vs Scotland:
1. James Slipper (c) – 6.5/10
The Wallabies captain made his mark on the game when his team needed him the most, as he crossed for a crucial score inside the final 20 minutes. Some impressive phase play the visitors, especially from the forwards, saw Slipper score just his third try in 124 Tests. The 33-year-old also made 11 tackles without missing any, and held his own in the set piece.
2. David Porecki – 6
It was a promising performance from Porecki at Murrayfield, as he was largely accurate when throwing into the lineout. He was otherwise quite quiet around the park though.
3. Allan Alaalatoa – 5
Alaalatoa just couldn’t make an impact on the Test in the way that he would’ve wanted. The 28-year-old was penalised during a scrum in the first-half, and was otherwise quiet during his time on the park. The tighthead prop was replaced at the main break.
4. Nick Frost – 7.5
Frost was undoubtedly one of Australia’s best against Scotland, finishing with the most tackles of any Wallabies player with 18. The 23-year-old was a reliable option for Porecki at the set-piece, but he also managed to pile plenty of pressure onto the Scottish throws as well – winning a lineout against the throw inside the first 10 minutes. Frost also played a crucial part in Slipper’s try late in the match, with some fast hands that would be the envy of any playmaker.
5. Cadeyrn Neville – 7
Both locks really stood up in this Test, with Neville also a regular option at the set-piece. But the 33-year-old’s standout moment was his try assist for Slipper, with a clever short ball sending his captain over.
6. Jed Holloway – 6
The blindside flanker had a couple of powerful runs early on, but struggled to make an impact on the Test as the match went on. Holloway finished with five tackles and four runs.
7. Michael Hooper – 7.5
Back in Wallaby gold, Hooper didn’t skip a beat. The Test veteran continued to run himself tirelessly around the park, as he has done throughout his whole career. With just under 15 minutes to play in the first half, and with the Wallabies on the backfoot deep inside their 22, Hooper made two tackles in consecutive phases. The 31-year-old made the initial stop after a lineout, before getting straight up onto his feet to stop the next paly too. The openside flanker finished the Test with an impressive 15 tackles.
8. Rob Valetini – 7.5
Valetini was in the middle of everything early on. If it was in attack or defence, the powerful Number Eight was made mark during the first 40 minutes. Valetini made a try saving tackle around the 28-minute mark, as he was able to get himself under the ball. He finished the night with 14 tackles and a team-high nine runs.
9. Tate McDermott – 7
McDermott had a golden chance to stake his claim for the number nine jersey during this Test, and for the most part he was great. The scrumhalf was constantly threatening the Scottish defence with his running, kicking and passing game. The 24-year-old had a 20+ metre run from the breakdown inside the first three minutes. McDermott later left the field in the 57th minute for a HIA.
10. Bernard Foley – 7
Cometh the hour, cometh the man, ‘The Iceman’ executed when the Wallabies needed him to once again. Foley slotted what was ultimately the match winning penalty goal inside the final 10 minutes, as he finished with a perfect 4-4 from the tee. But it wasn’t an errorless night by any means. In the 24th minute he kept the ball in place with some clever skill, before immediately sending a kick into touch on the full. Later on though, he made a potentially try saving tackle on Duhan van der Merwe.
11. Tom Wright – 5
Didn’t really get the chance to shine with the ball-in-hand himself during the first half but did set up his teammates for some half breaks.
12. Hunter Paisami – 6.5
As he always does, Paisami ran hard and with purpose whenever he got the ball in his hands – which he did, often. The 24-year-old had seven runs against Scotland for 28 metres, and he also beat one defender. Just before half-time he was inches away from setting up Andrew Kellaway for a try, with a clever kick in-behind the Scottish defnece almost working wonders for the men in gold. Paisami was nearly shown a yellow card in the dying stages for an intention knock down, but it was deemed to just be a penalty.
13. Len Ikitau – 7
The outside centre was impressive in defence once again against Scotland, making nine tackles and missing none. Other than that, Ikitau carried the ball with intent and kicked well when given the chance.
14. Andrew Kellaway – 6.5
Kellaway is certainly a player of the future for the Wallabies, and we saw glimpses of this once again during this Test. While he was safe under the high ball, the 27-year-old was threatening with the ball-in-hand. From four carriers he ran for 39 metres and beat three defenders.
15. Tom Banks – 5.5
Banks was relatively reliable under the high ball, but otherwise struggled to make an impact during his return to Wallaby gold. While attempted to reel in a kick, the fullback dropped the ball over the sideline with just over 15 minutes to play. Other than that, he had just two runs and made six tackles.
Replacements
16. Folau Fainga’a – 6.5 – Fainga’a made an impact when he came onto the part, with some accurate throws into the lineout when his team needed him.
17. Matt Gibbon – 5 – With the Wallabies up by one, Gibbon was penalised at the scrum with just over five minutes to play. Saw the hosts march up to about halfway
18. Taniela Tupou – 7 – After coming on at half-time, he made an impact very early on after winning a penalty at the breakdown. Tupou was celebrated by his teammates shortly after a dominant Wallabies scrum in the 50th minute. But he did give away the penalty that gave Scotland the chance to win the game.
19. Ned Hanigan – N/A
20. Langi Gleeson – N/A – One of two debutants after being called up as a late replacement for Pete Samu.
21. Nic White – 6.5 – Was playing with the advantage, but his first involvement was kicking the ball out on the full after replacing Tate McDermott. Otherwise kicked well and helped lead the Wallabies to victory.
22. Noah Lolesio – N/A
23. Jock Campbell – N/A – Made his debut off the bench in the 67th minute.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments