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New Zealand

Player ratings: New Zealand

15th September 2012 10:57

Aaron Smith congratulated by Richie McCaw

Smith and McCaw both had good games

New Zealand beat South Africa 21-11 in round four of the Rugby Championship. Now it's time for Planet Rugby to rate the players at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday.

15 Israel Dagg: Another performance providing confirmation - as if it were needed - that Dagg is the finest full-back in the world at the moment. Brilliant under pressure at the back, but equally savvy when it comes to being in the right place to receive the ball in the opposition 22. 8.5/10

14 Cory Jane: Had one moment when he skipped round a couple of defenders and was solid in the air, but would have had an extremely quiet game if it weren't for South Africa kicking the ball to him. 6/10

13 Conrad Smith: Started well and made some good yardage, but missed a couple of tackles and conceding two penalties. Unable to make an impact when he had the ball in midfield. 4/10

12 Ma'a Nonu: His strong running made a definite impact, and the battle between him and Frans Steyn was a brutal one. Nonu was immovable, and didn't miss a single tackle. 7/10

11 Julian Savea: Went missing, which is becoming a bit of a trend in the tougher matches. Time will tell if he is a quintessential flat-track bully though. 4/10

10 Aaron Cruden: An okay game, but not an amazing one by any means. Missed a couple of kicks, a couple of tackles, and never really sparked the backline. But he was still good enough to marshall the All Blacks to victory. 6/10

9 Piri Weepu: A very poor first-half saw him gift the Springboks several opportunities. Substituted during the break. 3/10

8 Kieran Read: His outstanding offload to set up Dagg for the first try of the game was as good as you'll see, and he got through plenty of work, making 10 tackles. 8/10

7 Richie McCaw: Another standout performance from McCaw, even if some intense policing at the breakdown meant that he wasn't as effective as he can be. Was a strong ball carrier, and as usual he made more tackles than anyone else. 8.5/10

6 Liam Messam: Had a fairly quiet game by his rising standards, although he never really put a foot wrong and became more involved towards the end. 6/10

5 Sam Whitelock: Provided the first offload to Read, which in turn led to Dagg's try, but he lost more line-outs than he won. 6/10

4 Luke Romano: Guilty of conceding a couple of penalties, but otherwise he put in a strong performance. 6.5/10

3 Owen Franks: Solid and dependable throughout. 7/10

2 Andrew Hore: Missed his man with a couple of line-out throws at crucial times just before he was subbed. Had a pretty good first half though. 6/10

1 Tony Woodcock: A bit of a mixed bag really - conceded a few soft penalties, but also stole the odd ball at the breakdown. 6/10

Replacements:

16 Keven Mealamu: Nearly conceded the match with a terrible line-out throw on his own tryline. Must be grateful that Dean Greyling was having such a shocker! 4/10

17 Charlie Faumuina: Only played 10 minutes, so no rating.

18 Brodie Retallick: Carried the ball well and provided a trustworthy option at the line-out. 7/10

20 Aaron Smith: Strengthened his grip on the No 9 jersey with an all-action display in the second half, capping it with a sublime, opportunistic try. 8/10

Comments

ABlack says...

Piri had a shocker!! His non chalant manner around rucks is what gets him into trouble and his app isnt as good as A Smiths

Posted 11:26 15th September 2012

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