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Preamble not required. Rating scale at bottom.
15 Adam Ashley-Cooper Good under the high ball, solid on his feet (see try) and good last line of defence, but still not playing as a fullback 6
14 Peter Hynes - Showed some bright individual touches 6
13 Ryan Cross, Simply awesome in attack running strong, fast and straight – the highlight of the Australian backline and deserved his try. Such a pity about the two defensive misses, although Carter was more Mortlock’s fault 7
12 Stirling Mortlock (C), while being out of position needs to be taken into account, impact was low and his one kick and miss on Carter were embarrassing. More importantly, where was the leadership when needed? 3
11 Lote Tuqiri, We desperately needed more of LTs class. He usually rises for the big games, but not this one. 4
10 Matt Giteau, Difficult to rate as his first 39 minutes were shocking, the following 41 often inspiring. However, Giteau’s modus operandi when the chips are down is to start playing as a one man back-line, rather than marshalling the others. Place kicking kept us in the game. In balance overall, 6
9 Sam Cordingly, I’ve calmed a little and no, he probably wasn’t single-handedly responsible for the loss, but his glacial pace around the ruck and idiotic decision making came fµcking close. Thank christ he can no longer be selected 1
8 Wycliff Palu, was trying to do the right think when bungled a certain try, and then threw the ball to no-one from a tight head scrum immediately afterwards. 3
7 George Smith, battled heroically at the breakdown considering Kaplan had a blind spot for black jerseys on the rong side. That final turnover was magic. However, his stab kicks just gave away possession 7
6 Rocky Elsom, Was it the virus? Where was he? 4
5 Nathan Sharpe, was having a the usual sub-par game before waving Conrad Smith through for Woodcock’s crucial try 3
4 James Horwill, yet another immense game from the 23 year old. Within 2 minutes around the 55 minute mark he’d stolen a turn-over and then smashed Thorn back onto his mungo arse. Oh yeah, he also scored another try. A star has been born this tri-nations. 8 and G&GRs Wallaby man of the match
3 Al Baxter, Another impressive performance from Baxter (it’s getting easier to say) both in the scrum and making hard yards around the park 7
2 Stephen Moore, a big sigh of relief at how well the line-out went, even under pressure. A few too many ill-disciplined brainfarts though. 5
1 Benn Robinson, scrum held steady and he did his share of work along with Baxter 7.
Bench:
Brown – put his best foot forward in this game. Fast, with a great work rate, also made yards off the base and was an option in the line-out 7
McMenimen -still hasn’t made any impact on the international scene. How many chances do you get? 4
Robbie Deans’ use of bench – I don’t agree of changing for changes sake, but fresh legs were definitely needed along with a bullet for Cordingly 3
Rating system:
10 – A legendary performance to go down in the history books
9 – Man of the match worthy performance
8 – Outstanding
7 – Good game, great in parts
6 – Solid performance
5 – Average – ho hum
4 – Below par
3 – Had a bad game
2 – Tell your story walking pal
1 – A complete joke.
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