Player Ratings: England vs. New Zealand
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Following an absorbing 80 minutes of test rugby at Twickenham, we take have rated every starting player out of a possible 10.
England
1 Ben Moon - 6
Tested Franks at the scrums and made 10 solid tackles. Overall a solid hour out on the pitch for the loosehead adding to a great impact off the bench against South Africa.
2 Dylan Hartley - 6.5
Hit his jumpers at the lineout and was great on defence making all of his attempted tackles and scored off that fantastic maul.
Unlucky to get the hook at half time.
Jamie George - 4: Made 10 tackles off the bench but his lineouts were picked off regularly by the All Blacks.
3 Kyle Sinckler - 7
Industrious, aggressive and solid at scrum time. An excellent overall performance by the 25-year-old who seems to be making the #3 jersey is his own.
4 Maro Itoje - 6.5
Itoje made an excellent start to the game, dominating the lineout but Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock did get the better of him in the second half.
He did weigh-in with 20 tackles - a joint match high.
5 George Kruis - 5.5
Largely ineffective on attack and failed to assist Itoje at the lineout. Made a handy 14 tackles but did miss 4.
6 Brad Shields - 7
Arguably Shields best game in the England jersey. He made an impact at ruck time and got stuck into some of the All Black forwards.
Courtney Lawes - 6: Hugely impactful off the bench and made that charge down that was ultimately ruled out for offside.
7 Sam Underhill - 8.5
A huge performance by the Bath flanker as he puts his hand up for more time in the starting jersey.
He was physical and showed off some stellar footwork to beat Beauden Barrett for that disallowed try.
8 Mark Wilson - 7.5
Not quite the performance that he produced against the Springboks but effective nonetheless.
Once again he made over 10 tackles in 80 minutes, was a nuisance at the breakdown and was a solid ball carrier.
9 Ben Youngs - 6.5
Youngs was superb in the first half with some well-weighted kicks for Ashton and May to chase.
His performance dipped somewhat in the second half, which wasn't helped by the forwards failing to secure good attacking ball and was subbed off after the hour mark.
10 Owen Farrell - 8
A superb performance by the England captain. His kicks were on point as too were his tackles. He made an excellent tackle on Read and even slotted a drop goal that Jonny Wilkinson would be proud of.
11 Jonny May - 7.5
May looked to threaten the All Blacks defensive line every time he got the ball. He chased every single kick sent up for him and chased them well.
He also marked Ben Smith well - who is one easily one of the most dangerous attacking outside backs in the game.
12 Ben Te’o - 5.5
An ineffective game from Te'o as he struggled to gain any metres for England finishing the game with just 8 metres. Defensively he made 8 tackles.
13 Henry Slade - 6.5
Slade kicking game was excellent for England today and looked dangerous on attack. He starved of possession at times and could make got a higher rating had he got the ball more.
14 Chris Ashton - 7
A fairytale return to the starting line up for Ashton as he crossed over for a try in the opening two minutes.
Like Slade, Ashton was starved of possessions but did extremely well to contest in the air.
15 Elliot Daly - 6
Showed off his massive boot once again but largely ineffective on attack,.
All Blacks
1. Karl Tu'inukuafe - 7
A solid outing for the former club bouncer. Good at scrum time providing a solid platform for his backs to attack off of. He also made all of his attempted tackles.
2. Codie Taylor - 6
Uncharacteristically quiet game for Taylor. His scrum work was solid as too was his lineout but he was relatively ineffective around the park on attack and defence.
3. Owen Franks - 5.5
Was tested at scrum time but held his own. Like Taylor, Franks was quiet around the park but did show some nice touches to link up play. However, his carries were ineffective.
4. Samuel Whitelock - 8
Whitelock helped Retallick mastermind complete lineout dominance in the second half. He made a few superb turnovers and carried the ball well.
5. Brodie Retallick - 9
Retallick enjoyed a fantastic return to the All Blacks starting line up. It wasn't a performance like the one he had against Australia where he threw a lovely dummy to raceaway to score but this performance against England is nothing short of a second-row masterclass.
Along with his second row partner, Sam Whitelock, Retallick picked off a number of England's lineouts making in it incredibly difficult for the home so to regain the lead.
6. Liam Squire - 6
Like a number of the All Black forwards, Squire was relatively quiet in the opening half of the game. He made all of his attempted tackles but struggled to get his side on the front foot and was subbed off before the hour mark.
7. Ardie Savea - 6.5
A quieter game from the busy openside after shining in the #7 jersey recently. He ran some great support lines but failed to hold onto one that could have led to a try.
8. Kieran Read - 7
A testing match for Read with the All Blacks' captian copping a number of big hits. He made a few superb turnovers and made a team high of 12 tackles.
9. Aaron Smith - 7.5
An improved performance by Smith following a tough Rugby Championship. His kicking and passing game was excellent in the wet weather. He made intelligent decisions and hardly put a foot wrong.
10. Beauden Barrett - 8
A superb all round performance from Barrett provided a fantastic spectacle between him and Farrell.
Barrett kicks were excellent, out of hand and off the tee and he even slotted his first test drop goal.
11. Rieko Ioane - 5.5
A few good touches but Ioane was marked brilliantly. He was out of position for the first try of the game and failed to make the most of his opportunities with ball in hand.
12. Sonny Bill Williams - 3
Dropped an early high ball, performed one offload and made no running metres before being subbed off with an injury on the half hour mark.
Ryan Crotty - 8.5: A game-changing substitution albeit through injury. Crotty was sensational against England and set up the first All Black try of the game.
13. Jack Goodhue - 6.5
Dependable on defence and attack, Goodhue did little wrong in this test and put in a solid performance after missing the last two months through illness.
14. Ben Smith - 7
Was dangerous every time he got the ball and looked to open up the England defence. He was superb in the air and made three clean breaks.
15. Damian McKenzie - 8
McKenzie covered every single blade of grass at Twickenham. He ran superb line before the break to get the All Blacks back into the game.
He beat a whopping 8 defenders with the only blemish on his game being a touch finder that went out on the full.
