All Black player ratings
Here's how the All Blacks fared in this morning's 38-18 victory over France in Paris.
15 Damian McKenzie 7 Nice touch to set up Cane's try, but his decision-making means that the jury is still out on him as a long term option.
14 Waisake Naholo 8
The All Blacks' best, and not just because of his two tries (which were remarkably easy, really). Was more than effective on defence with some nice turnovers.
13 Ryan Crotty 5 Showed with his try that his combination with SBW is coming along nicely, however went missing in the second half. He wasn't alone, though.
11 Rieko Ioane 7 Very effective once he got the ball, played a big role in several attacking raids and set up Cane's try. One of the few bright spots of the second half.
10 Beauden Barrett 6 Pretty much summed up the All Blacks - great in the first half, anonymous in the second. Goal kicking accuracy was nice to see, though.
9 Aaron Smith 7 Had to do a lot of kicking due to the rain, and acquitted himself well. Probably could've run more.
8 Kieran Read (c) 7 Left the field early in the second half, was that the reason the All Blacks went to bits? Until then was having a solid game.
7 Sam Cane 6 Put in a lot of good defensive work, but should've stepped up more as a leader in the forwards once Read left.
6 Vaea Fifita 4 For a guy his size he sure did his best to be invisible.
5 Sam Whitelock 5 Another part of an ineffective second row.
4 Luke Romano 5 Set piece was a shambles at times for the All Blacks and he could have done better in the lineouts.
3 Nepo Laulala 6 Had to get through a ton of scrums, not all of which went his way.
2 Dane Coles 6 Was playing fantastically till he had to leave the field after 25 minutes.
1 Kane Hames 6 Still has a bit of work to do to become the definitive loosehead, but you'd have to say he won his battle with Rabah Slimani when the Frenchman was binned.
Bench:
16 Codie Taylor 5 Got a decent amount of gametime, but has to carry some of the blame for the set piece woes.
17 Wyatt Crockett 5 Did nothing to change his reputation as a walking penalty-dispenser.
18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi 5 Didn't really add much apart from a dumb penalty.
19 Scott Barrett 6 Got stuck in like a guy who knows he can make a test starting jersey his own.
20 Matt Todd 5 Wasn't helped by the fact that he had to come on to a game that had degenerated into a mess.
21 TJ Perenara Not on for long enough.
22 Lima Sopoaga Not on for long enough.
23 Anton Lienert-Brown 6 Just gets a rating because of his lovely offload to set up Naholo's second.
Latest Comments
Yep even if you're improving on already very good international players every little bit helps if you're at the top of this log jam of 'top 3' sides, if they are elite.
Go to commentsIndeed they were. When they were good they looked like potential world beaters but too many mistakes outweighed the occasional excellent moments. The French were not at the level they were against the ABs
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