Wallabies player ratings from Rugby World Cup victory over England at Twickenham
AS the Wallabies crush England at Twickenham we rate the performances of the men in green and gold. It makes for happy reading.
ISRAEL FOLAU 6.5
Relatively quiet night. Made several vital surges in midfield in the first half with big leg drive and carried defenders with him. Looked to have muffed a try four minutes into the game when he didn’t pass earlier to winger Rob Horne outside him just metres from the tryline.
Better to give huge credit to England fullback Mike Brown for a super try-saving smother tackle on Folau. England’s pressure in the air meant he didn’t get clean gloves on several high kicks.
MATCH REPORT: Foley dumps England out of their own party
AS IT HAPPENED: Relive the action from Twickenham on our rolling blog
FIVE THINGS: What we learned from Wallabies’ emphatic victory
ADAM ASHLEY-COOPER 7
Little to do in the first half but a soaring moment to finish an epic night when he dashed onto a Foley pass for a run and fed Matt Giteau for the try on full-time. Solid reads in defence all night and ideal for the big occasion.
TEVITA KURIDRANI 6.5
None of his trademark gallops into space but starchy night. Good handling and defensively safe when England mounted their fightback.
MATT GITEAU 8
Excellent game from the veteran centre. So important early when used twice for key kick clearances from deep in Wallabies territory and also made 50m gain from penalty with big left-footer to touch. Did all the little things really well like sweeping back to dive on a loose ball and making the low tackle from which Hooper earned a key penalty.
Still had the dash in his 33-year-old legs on full-time to run 25m for the final try. Finished it with a dive that Matt Mitchum would have been proud of.
ROB HORNE N/A
Could have been an early try hero if ball had reached him on the left wing from Folau. Instead, he was cruelly out of the game after 10 minutes through a shoulder injury.
BERNARD FOLEY 9
Brilliant performance, his best as a No. 10 in Test rugby. At half-time, the scoreboard read Foley 17-England 3. Everything a top playmaker had to be by grabbing the big moments.
Seized on good lead-up to veer over for first try. Better still was his second try from a set play off phase ball when he flattened up in attack, fed Kurtley Beale a lovely inside ball and backed-up outside for the try. A fine 60m kick in the opening minutes got the Wallabies on the front-foot from the outset. Bobbed up again at the death to direct play for the Giteau try.
Slotted seven-from-seven as goalkicker in a throbbing Twickenham cauldron which is a huge plus for the knockout games ahead at the same venue.
WILL GENIA 7
His passing was slick and hands were steady when there was some shifting at the back of the Australian scrum. His pass to find Foley for the change of direction play for the second try was perfectly executed.
Two kicks from the ruckbase were charged down and gave the defence heart flutters. Just a calm man on the rudder when the forward play ahead of him was going on at 100km per hour.
DAVID POCOCK 8.5
Supreme at the ruck. His timing when going for turnovers was all class. When the Wallabies were hard on defence twice, Pocock zeroed in on the ball to change the whole momentum. He just reverses the momentum at the biggest moments when Australia’s needs him.
Did the same in the second half to force a penalty. All class and the Wallabies are twice the team in these tight Tests with Pocock in the backrow.
MICHAEL HOOPER 8
Sting in every tackle from the first minute when he hit Owen Farrell with a beauty. Another excellent game and earned a key penalty at the breakdown midway through the second half during England’s rally. Didn’t mind the penalty he conceded for a no-arms ruck clean-out on Mike Brown because it just showed the big attitude of the Wallabies to help each other.
SCOTT FARDY 7
Hardworking flanker’s game as always. You don’t see a lot of a blindside flanker’s toil but his workrate was big.
ROB SIMMONS 7.5
Strong lock’s game. Ran a good lineout and claimed all his own ball in the 64 minutes he was on the field. More than that, several strong ball-carries in the second half were vital when the Wallabies needed that oomph.
KANE DOUGLAS 7.5
Glad he could see the action with his head and hairband riding so low on his forehead. Strong, tough input and proved why he deserved a World Cup spot. Whacked England captain Chris Robshaw in a tackle when he didn’t have the ball. A penalty but heck that’s the intent you want.
SEKOPE KEPU 8
He earns an 8 just for being a scrum rock when for 12 months it was the hot spot that could have been the undoing of the Wallabies. A powerhouse and a player now shifting towards World XV class. It was his lovely little backhanded offload to Kurtley Beale which was integral to Foley’s first try. Every scrum penalty earned by the Wallabies pack was worth a try.
STEPHEN MOORE 8
The captain at the centre of it all has done much to pull the identity of this team together. He was the scrum leader for the Wallabies finest scrummaging victory at the coalface where England, for two years, thought they would rule. Favourite moment ... after the Wallabies marched a scrum early in the second half there was a chat in front of the ref. When an English prop bumped him, Moore snapped: “Don’t push me.” It summed up the whole Wallabies’ attitude.
SCOTT SIO 8
The most inexperienced Wallaby on the field stepped up like a veteran. After giving up the first scrum penalty of the game in a collapse, the young prop stood firm at scrum time, drive low with his pick-and-drives and generally acquitted himself well. A big future has arrived.
REPLACEMENTS
KURTLEY BEALE 7.5
One of his most significant Test performances. Played for 70 minutes as Horne’s replacement and mostly on the wing. Made a crunch tackle when knocking over Jonathan Joseph just minutes after coming on and worked the lovely inside pass interplay with Foley that produced the first try. Good workrate.
DEAN MUMM
Such a relief to see the first lineout he called be such a smooth delivery from hooker-thrower Tatafu Polota-Nau. Part of the late scrum dominance which earned two penalties in the final 10 minutes. That with four replacement forwards in the tight five.
Rating: Solid
GREG HOLMES
The bearded veteran is the fairytale of this outfit. Eight years after his 2007 World Cup trip, he’s coming on for the final 23 minutes to anchor the scrum at another World Cup with all his cagey experience.
Rating: A scrum lift
JAMES SLIPPER
Bounced back well after his concussion against Fiji. Made several nice little runs to keep the Wallabies moving forward over the final 20 minutes. Part of some big scrums and the grin showed it.
Rating: Added forward running
TATAFU POLOTA-NAU
Played the final 16 minutes and didn’t miss a beat.
Rating: Exerted his power at scrum-time.
MATT TOOMUA
Urgent as ever when he came on late. It was a lot about defence at that stage and solid as always in that area.
Rating: N/A
NICK PHIPPS
Ragged minutes in the final 20 when two successive passes didn’t find their mark and bounced dangerously when England were coming on strong. Could have been disastrous. He also gave up a turnover. Thankfully, he regrouped for the final 10 minutes. Rating: Inconsistent
BEN McCALMAN
Five minutes at the end.
Originally published as Wallabies player ratings from Rugby World Cup victory over England at Twickenham