Here are my thoughts on the Australia player ratings from the momentous test at Twickenham on Saturday. Tally with what you saw?
Rating scale at bottom.
15 Adam Ashley-Cooper Everything was OK, except for the kicking. Still not a fullback. 4
14 Peter Hynes - Not seeing the gas or sparkle a winger should have. Couldn’t get around Croft the England blind side with 10 yards gap. 4
13 Ryan Cross – Like Hynes just seemed flatfooted and took the wrong options. Still a few questions in defense, although made a good turnover. 4
12 Stirling Mortlock (C), His demolition of Flutey, whether running over him or putting the Kiwi on his arse summarised the manful performance he put in. Led from the front including a cameo long range kick. 8
11 Drew Mitchell Yet again looked the better of the back 3 with some intelligent long range kicking backed up with good kick chase and defense 6
10 Matt Giteau, my sense is that there’s a certian disappointment with Giteau’s performance around the place, but when you think about it, what else could he have done? His defense was outstanding (including the try saver on Mears), his push pass made AAC’s try, he turned them around with his kicking and slotted seven from eight. 8
9 Luke Burgess, Another guy who’s copped a bit, but in this claustrophobic game he fronted up and wrestled with the rest of them including tackles, turn overs and fielding kicks. Still polish to come though. 6
8 Richard Brown, didn’t have the same power onto the ball today that he did in his other games 5
7 George Smith, again the breakdown interpretation didn’t suit his game, but his workrate was outstanding (20 Tackles, 7 Ruck/Maul, 6 Runs) 7
6 Hugh McMenimen, finally started to see his dynamism, especially hitting the ruck and applying pressure (18T) 6
5 Nathan Sharpe, Unbefµckinglievable. What a turnaround. From prime seagull to mr hitman. Charge downs, picked up and offloaded the lineout ball that led to the try, was everywhere, most pleasingly around the ruck and hard stuff. Line-outs and restarts excellent. I don’t know how he was walking at the end (20T, 13RM, 7R). Even though the two Cipriani breaks went past one of his shoulders he still gets 9
4 Mark Chisholm, keeps improving and is getting more and more acquainted with real work. 7
3 Al Baxter, If you look at my description of a “10″, then you have to say this is one. He monstered the monster, physically and mentally for him and the team. That picture of Sheridan, where he’s trying to look nonchalant after being pinged for collapsing, with chalk and blood seared over his face, is worth 1000 words. This could well be the biggest turning point in Aussie rugby for nigh on ten years (13T) 10
G&GRs Wallaby man of the match
2 Stephen Moore, line-out superior, scrum superior, tackled himself to death (15T, 2RM, 2R) 10
G&GRs Wallaby man of the match
1 Benn Robinson, is this guy still officially a rookie? Incredible. He’s a star. 10.
G&GRs Wallaby man of the match
Bench:
Palu – took his role back in the team. Great runs, great hits (11 of them including the peach on Cipriani) 8
Mumm – forced a turnover with a great hit on Mears. Managed to rack up 7 tackles in his time on the field. 7
Rest of bench – Not enough time. While I like the idea of keeping continuity in a game, Dingo pushed it a little far.
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.
Tags: adam ashley-cooper, al baxter, australia, benn robinson, drew mitchell, England, george smith, luke burgess, mark chisholm, matt giteau, nathan sharpe, peter hynes, player ratings, richard brown, ryan cross, stephen moore, stirling mortlock, twickenham
Loading ...
I agree most of this. Giteau without his kicking at goal would be a 5, average for him.
Burgess i think should be a 5 this is about as bad as i want to see him play in the future. He has so my talent just seemed to lack communication this game.
George Smith did well not to be his own worst enemy this game, showed he could adapt to the reff and leave the ball and counter ruck, I would have given him a 9 cos he’s proven he can play to the reff, which in the past he would have just been pinged all game.
McMenimen was fairly quiet as was Brown, but MMM did almost give the pass of the year when he dived on a ball, slid and pop passed to Hynes, who couldn’t get over but should have, some good english defense. I agree with their ratings though.
I totally agree with you about Chisholm, he played well and to his strengths. Theres talks of him losing his place next week, i cant understand that. This year i was on the rugby heaven website they said he was our best scrummaging 2nd rower (and vicks was our worst), I think its no coincidence he was there when they demolished the english, i think he deserves some praise. If he’s the best then surely that made some difference, not trying to take anything off the front row, obviously they do the most work.
Chisholm is fast in super 14 and seems to be johnny on the spot sometimes, i want to see him take this form to test matches. I think its a confidence thing, if he can hold down a starting spot, he might be the new new sharpe.
Moore got the official MOTM award. The BOBAS MOTM goes to MORTI, the captain led from the front, showed everyone how to win a game of rugby.
He was pretty much everywhere, Although the commentator thought he was more than everywhere often calling MOORE MORTLOCK.
I haven’t been to this blog for a while and now I remember why: I agree with everything you write!!!
I would have given Cross and Hynes 5 each.
Burgess maybe a 5 as well… although I like the work he does around the park – has a habit of being in the right place at the right time – on attach and defence.
Brown maybe a 6 and Sharpe maybe an 8…
…but this is all quibbling.
100% agree that this could be the “biggest turning point in Aussie rugby for nigh on ten years”.
The commentator on ch10 kept getting Morty and Moore mixed up. Maybe that explains how moore got MoM.
I agree with the ratings, although it’s hard to judge the outside backs when they only got a couple of passes out there. If england didn’t kick away so much our back 3 wouldn’t know what a rugby ball looked like.
Having Palu and Mumm come off the bench must be scary for those northern nancies.
Drop Hynes, put AAC on his wing. Put SOMEONE ELSE into FB (even Tuqiri if he’s fit).
I think I heard the commentator call him Stephen Mortlock at one point… but it was a late night so (stupid time difference!).
Morti, Chisholm and Smith….what can the link be……..
they all have won a super 12/14 title?
massive guns?
Burgess did just seem confused at the breakdown, and I think its an awareness issue. I think that even though our backrow fought well and came out on top at the breakdown the ruck was still somewhat messy, and this did seem to rattle him in his decision making. Early days mind you and he will be better for the experience.
Sorry to see the end of Richard Brown; i’ve got a high opinion of the bloke and even though we haven’t seen the best of him in recent weeks he deffo looks one for the future.
Mortlock just never ceases to amaze me. He had a fantastic game.