PLAYER RATINGS: Hard work

OPINION: The All Blacks have continued their winning ways with a 46-24 victory over Argentina in Nelson.

Sam Warlow rates the New Zealand players!

1. Karl Tu’inukuafe – 6.5 
   Dominated at scrum time early, made a rare line break. Performance marred by a few missed tackles.
2. Codie Taylor – 7
   Great hands and link play shown throughout. Big pass to set up Milner-Skudder try. Mostly tidy at lineout time, had a couple of misses.
3. Owen Franks – 6.5
   Good hands, had a few cracks at the line. Made his tackles. Typically strong scrum performance.
4. Brodie Retallick – N/A, replaced early by Sam Whitelock – 7
   Came on earlier than expected and made an impact. Won a pair of turnovers and made 13 tackles in a big shift.
5. Scott Barrett – 6.5
   Often in the right place at the right time. Quick hands to put Frizell into a hole. Came up with the ball close to his own tryline. Tidy performance, if quiet.
6. Shannon Frizell – 9
   After being penalised early, Frizell came right and was everywhere. Continuously broke the line, won a couple of penalties, helped set up a try with inside ball to Goodhue. Made more tackles than anyone on the park and didn’t miss. Bagged a try to cap a great performance in front of his home crowd.
7. Ardie Savea – 7.5
   More influence in the second period. Won a crucial penalty on his own try line and had a handful of powerful carries. Made 15 tackles and won a pair of turnovers.
8. Kieran Read – 6.5
   A quiet shift from Read, outshone by his back row partners. Picked up a captain’s knock and made his tackles.
9. TJ Perenara – 8.5
   Stepped up in a rare start at No. 9. Bagged a pair of tries, one from in close and another as a result of great support lines. Solid in defence and made a try saving tackle in the first half.
10. Richie Mo’unga – 6.5
    Started rough after missing touch a couple of times. Spilled some ball, missed a couple of tackles but generally distributed and kicked well off the tee.
11. Waisake Naholo – 6.5
    Made a couple of slicing runs when opportunities presented themselves – though said opportunities were few and far between. Won a penalty over the ball in another typical Naholo performance.
12. Ngani Laumape – N/A, replaced early by Anton Lienert-Brown – 8
    Constantly threatened the line, beat three defenders to make the break for Perenara’s second try. Solid defensively in the midfield. Another great performance from the versatile centre after entering earlier than expected.
13. Jack Goodhue – 8
    Strong with ball in hand and as a distributor. Finished a well-worked try as time expired. Continues to build on his impressive young All Black career.
14. Nehe Milner-Skudder – 6
    Caught out by Ramiro Moyano early but otherwise tidy defensively, finished off a try and found space in his return.
15. Ben Smith – 7.5
    Shook off early injury scare after HIA. Exploited mismatch and skinned Agustin Creevy to set up Read try. Another solid performance, though not spectacular.

Source: RugbyPass