Following the All Blacks’ 23-20 victory over Australia in Bledisloe II, here are our player ratings for the Wallabies in Dunedin.
Wallabies player ratings
15 Andrew Kellaway: It was a good outing from the Melbourne man, who ran over 100 metres with ball in hand, making two clean breaks and beating two defenders in the process. He looks to be Eddie Jones’ answer at full-back for the time being. 7
14 Mark Nawaqanitawase: The evasive winger tried to make things happen whenever he had the ball and made just short of 50 metres. It was not a game where he had great opportunity on his side but it was a hard-working effort. 6
13 Jordan Petaia: The star has stepped up quite nicely in Len Ikitau’s absence. The centre’s strength in the contact point is a huge asset as is his physicality on defence. He beat six defenders and contributed to the momentum gained by the side in a good performance. 6
12 Samu Kerevi: A player of his superstar quality should not be missing four tackles. Kerevi carried hard otherwise and did look dangerous with ball in hand throughout. There is still more to come from him but a decent performance. 7
11 Marika Koroibete: Just a serial try-scorer and a player who knows his way around the corner flag. The nice thing with the robust wing is that he does not need to be prominent all game long to score a try. His game was clean on defence to match in a solid outing. 8
10 Carter Gordon: Not perfect but encouraging would be the apt description for the young fly-half’s performance. He did make some errors in the game but attacked fearlessly, particularly in the first 20 minutes. The Rebel could become a world-class player fairly soon if he continues to trend this way. 7
9 Tate McDermott: An electric performance from the skipper who was denied a deserved try by superb Ardie Savea defending. Outside of that, the scrum-half was a livewire and led his team well for the most part. A case could be made for him to stay on for longer given his influence on his teammates. 8
Improved showing from forwards
8 Rob Valetini: One of the best loose forwards on both sides of the ball and it showed again. With ball in hand he made 11 carries notching up almost 50 metres whilst on defence he made 16 tackles. Another great effort from the most consistent Wallaby. 7
7 Fraser McReight: The inclusion of a genuine openside flank balanced out the back-row for the Wallabies today. The Reds star was absolutely everywhere and was influential on defence and at the breakdown. As a like-for-like Michael Hooper option he can add huge value to the Wallabies line-up. 6
6 Tom Hooper: Our best player on the Wallabies side. It is hard to think he is only just starting his Test career. Hooper is an incredible worker and notched up an equal game-high of 19 tackles. Add to that his show of herculean strength down the touchline to score and it is a top shift. 9
5 Richie Arnold: Executed his fundamentals and contributed decently throughout his time on the pitch. However, his replacement Will Skelton had more influence when he took to the field. 5
4 Nick Frost: The busier of the two second-rows with ball in hand, making 31 metres with five carries and an impressive 13 tackles on defence. A great shift from one of the more established options for Jones at lock. 6
3 Pone Fa’amausili: With a couple of injuries in the front-row they needed the Rebel to fire and he did. It was a solid performance at scrum-time and in the carry from the Wallaby. Denied a try that he would have deserved. 7
2 Dave Porecki: The hooker has been brilliant under Jones but was unfortunately removed from the field after a head injury in the 14th minute. N/A
1 Angus Bell: It appears that James Slipper will have to co-captain from the bench as Bell was top-notch again today and is easily the best option at loosehead. It was a busy effort in broken play with some strong carries whilst at scrum-time he was a beast. 8
Replacements: There were mixed performances from the bench but mostly on the good side with Skelton carrying the flag in that regard. Quade Cooper kicked a penalty late on whilst Matt Faessler filled in well for the injured Porecki. 7
READ MORE: Five takeaways from Bledisloe II including Richie Mo’unga and the ‘Australian way’
The article Australia player ratings: Tom Hooper shines again in tough Bledisloe II loss appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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