Player ratings: Propping up Aussies
Australia produced a great come-from-behind win over South Africa in Perth on Saturday, which stretched their run over the Springboks to a record five wins.
It will be noted as a great team win, with the Wallabies coming back from 6-13 at the break to take it 26-19 – a dominant second half.
The Aussie still got away with some questionable tactics on the ground, but good on them for playing the referee.
They also dealt very well with the Bok pack, especially at the mauls.
Jan de Koning rates the Wallaby players:
15 Kurtley Beale:
Started with a very poor clearance kick, as Boks dominate the kicking game early on. Also a poor grubber and lost a high kick. However, he recovered to produce some respectable stats.
6/10
14 Dominic Shipperley:
There was just one semi-decent run in the first half, but then he bust through Jean de Villiers' tackle to set up Wallabies' first try. That sparked the Aussies and he marked his great debut with a fine clearance near the end.
7/10
13 Adam Ashley-Cooper:
There was a knock in open space and no defender near, but the bounced back to break a tackle and make good ground early in the second half. He also did great to tackle both Lwazi Mvovo and Jean de Villiers when the Boks threatened.
6/10
12 Berrick Barnes:
His grubbers went nowhere and threw a poor pass with an open line. There was some poor kicking out of hand. Although he settled down and made some great touch finders, his goal-kicking was the best part of his game.
6/10
11 Digby Ioane:
He was looking for work and made ground on occasion, but was not as effective as he often is.
6/10
10 Quade Cooper:
His kicking was ineffective – at times he simply kicked attacking ball away. There was poor clearance kicks and at times his passing was not too flush either. He kept at it and one of those grubbers finally came off in the second half. He got better in the second half and even won a crucial turnover one minute from time.
6/10
9 Will Genia (captain):
He was directing traffic well – the real general in Aussie team, with some good kicking out of hand. He will be a huge loss of that knee injury is serious.
7/10
8 Radike Samo:
Gave the Wallabies plenty of go-forward with ball in hand and there was some big hits on defence … one of the top tacklers. No doubt one of Australia's most productive forward.
8/10
7 Michael Hooper:
He worked really hard on defence and while he had just one turnover, he produced the highest tackle count.
8/10
6 Dave Dennis:
He was Australia's most productive player in the line-outs, taking all his balls, but he missed a couple of tackles and conceded a crucial penalty late in the second half by collapsing a maul.
6/10
5 Nathan Sharpe:
He gave away a few penalties at rucks and mauls, even got a warning from the ref, but he kept working hard in the tight exchanges. Strong carries and a high tackle count!
7/10
4 Sitaleki Timani:
He worked hard on defence and while he struggled to make ground with ball in hand, he remained productive. He kept the Bok bruisers at bay.
6/10
3 Ben Alexander:
Produced some good carries, making ground almost every time. He also stood his ground in the scrums and had Mtawarira under pressure. Then he scored a crucial try by carrying several Boks over the line. He really put his body on the line.
8/10
2 Tatafu Polota Nau:
His line-out throwing was well below par and also a few penalties, but worked really hard on defence and was one of the Wallabies most effective tacklers.
7/10
1 Benn Robinson:
He lasted less than half-an-hour – in which time he a few scrums. Came back late in the game, but no real affect.
5/10
Replacements:
16 Saia Fainga'a (on for Tatafu Polota-Nau, 73rd min):
Not enough time to be rated.
17 James Slipper (on for Benn Robinson, 28th min):
Penalised at his first scrum, against a seven-man Bok pack and then penalised for obstruction at a restart. He later got a scrum penalty back.
5/10
18 Scott Higginbotham (on for Radike Samo, 53rd min):
Bust the Bok defence wide open almost immediately after coming on and made a real impact.
7/10
19 Liam Gill (on for Sitaleki Timani, 65th min):
Made no real impact.
5/10
20 Nick Phipps (on for Will Genia, 69th min):
Not enough time to be rated
21 Mike Harris (on for Berrick Barnes, 72nd min):
Not enough time to be rated.
22 Anthony Fainga'a (on for Kurtley Beale, 71st min):
Not enough time to be rated.
