All Blacks
1) Tony Woodcock (6) – Managed to hold his own against John Smit when I had thought that he was going to teach the Springbok captain a lesson. The All Blacks scrums were pretty solid and a lot of this is thanks to Tony
2) Andrew Hore (3) – Had a shocker! He go the lineouts all wrong and never featured in the loose player with his rampaging runs like he normally does. I do not expect to see him starting in Durban.
3) Neemia Tialata (4) – He was struggling with injury for most of the game and I thought he would be taken off much earlier than her did. He held his own against The Beast and credit to him for that but all in all I am sure it is a game he would like to forget.
4) Brad Thorn (5) – Very average game by the big man. He did not feature much when I thought he would try get under Bakkies Botha’s skin. We need a bit more aggression in Durban Brad!
5) Isacc Ross (5) – It would have been a 4 as I feel he had a poor game especially since he is the go to man in the lineout but he gets an extra point for the torpedo clearing kick he made!
6) Jerome Kaino (4) – Did not see much of him during the game but funny enough the New Zealand papers today are saying he had a blinder. I certainly do not think so!
7) Richie McCaw (8) – Stand out player for the All Blacks. He may have been up against a very young Brussouw but he managed to be on par with him and show him thing or two about the break down.
8 ) Rodney So’oialo (5) – Disappointing game again from Rodney, he can certainly step up an extra notch and he has the ability to do so. But thanks to him for the couple of lineouts he won.
9) Brendon Leonard (3) – At this level you have to be able to feed the ball into the scrum straight! Shocking performance from him.
10) Stephen Donald (8) – He did what he had to do. He got his goal kicks over (5 out of 6) so you can not fault him for that. He put in his best defensive performance that I have seen as it was clear that the Boks were going to attack his channel but he held his own very well.
11) Sitiveni Sivivatu (6) – Always looking for work but never really got into the game at all as an attacking threat. There was one move when the All Blacks decided to run out of their 22 and he ended up kicking the ball aimlessly into touch when keeping it in hand may have been the better option.
12) Ma’a Nonu (5) – Never really got into the game as the Boks defended well and he never broke past the advantage line. I still have faith in him.
13) Conrad Smith (8) – One of the best games I have seen him play. Not only did he score a good try but he was immense in defence. He did not let de Villiers and Fourie through and I recall the amazing shoe lace tackle he put it on de Villiers which ultimately lead to the Ruan try.
14) Joe Rokocoko (4) – Saw very little ball during the game and offered nothing. Would still rather see him start than Corey Jane.
15) Mils Muliaina (4) – Terrible game again from Mils. He let us down with a couple of handling errors. Needs to step up come Durban.
Reserves
16) Keven Mealamu (6), 17) Owen Franks (6), 18) Jason Eaton (3) Was at fault for the error that lead to the Fourie try and he gave away a very silly penalty at the end that denied the All Blacks a bonus point. 19) Kieran Read (6), 20) Weepu (4), 21) Luke McAlister (4)
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3 comments
Kambas says:
Jul 28, 2009
Ron i disagree with you on woodcock, he was the incumbent, he was meant to eat John Smit alive and all he managed to do was score an even battle with him, on that one i have to disagree he would get a 3 from me.
As for Tialata, he got eaten alive by beast in the 1st half but once the replacement came on things settled down so he also had a horrible game plus their play in the tight was horrible.
as a whole the all black backline needs to do something because they were very lacklustre, maybe it was the altitude gwan but i dunno. If you ask me Mcallister needs to come on in place of stephen Donald and watch the all blacks light it up in Durban. I think the reason why mils and the centres arn’t lighting it up is because Donald has no vision or creativity to let them loose. that is how new zealand wins games.
Ron says:
Jul 28, 2009
I agree that McAlister needs to be in that backline and reports this morning suggest that when the All Black team gets announced later today, McAlister will be starting but in place of Nonu. Not a bad move if you ask me.
Guru says:
Jul 28, 2009
I have to disagree here gents. Luke Macalister is not that good, at least not at flyhalf. I have never rated him as a flyhalf but rather as a centre and only at number 12. He is very limited in his game. He had a shocker vs France and honestly, I think you maybe underestimating Donald. Yes, he is not a Danny Carter but he certainly is solid enough in defence and kicks well with botn feet. Luke is a hard runner and with a lot of explosove power, but i would not say he has the vision or creativity to play flyhalf. In fact i will put my head on the block and predict that Luke will be exposed by Jaque Fourie on Saturday. He is not good enough in my opinion.