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All Blacks player ratings: Billy Proctor sends ‘warning’ to Rieko Ioane – Planet Rugby

Posted on by Vaseline

Following the All Blacks’ 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego, here are our ratings of the New Zealand team’s players.

Ratings

15. Beauden Barrett: Ever-present in attack and unsurprisingly bagging two try assists on the night, his ability to complement other players like Damian McKenzie in attack is a superpower and the classy veteran proved that once again. 8

14. Sevu Reece: The winger scored a try in the second period in a shift in which he sought work often and made few mistakes with the ball he had. 6

13 Billy Proctor: Man of the match on his debut and a warning to Rieko Ioane that his jersey is not safe. Proctor looked potent, looking like he would tear through the defence with every carry, beating eight defenders and almost making 100 metres with the ball. All this culminated in a try and two try assists for a man who has just made Scott Robertson’s selection process that much harder. A remarkably good start to his Test career. 9

12 Anton Lienert-Brown: The centre oozes class in everything he does. Lienert-Brown clearly relished being back in the starting XV and had the ball in his hands throughout the game with a whopping 17 carries in which he got past eight defenders. The metres he covered were decisive in several attempts and, in defence, he somehow found time to make seven tackles. 7

11 Caleb Clarke: Rampant. The burly left winger did everything he could to get upfield and got a try as a result. His 109 metres were a match-high as he also beat seven defenders. The finishing of his disallowed try was brilliant and overall he will be delighted to put some pressure on Mark Tele’a’s position. 8

10 Damian McKenzie: DMAC looked sharp throughout the game in San Diego, whether it was throwing cross-field passes, showing off his quick hands and weaving past defenders to open up space for others. The fly-half worked brilliantly in tandem with the elder Barrett and the game never left McKenzie’s grasp. 8

9 Cortez Ratima: He was brutally unlucky to pick up a knock to the head just before half-time, when he was looking absolutely sensational. Ratima’s pass from the base was quick and accurate, he picked out some excellent options and scored a beautiful try. He has plenty of Test rugby ahead of him and Robertson may be tempted to keep him in the starting XV. N/A

10 - Career-defining tournament 9 - Highly successful campaign 8 - Significantly influenced team's campaign 7 - Committed and effective throughout 6 - Flashes of brilliance outside of fundamentals execution 5 - Filled role required by position (grassroots level) 4 - Poor execution of fundamentals 3 - Costly mistakes and/or discipline that proved costly 2 - Poor performances that directly impacted the outcome of key games 1 - Highly ineffective throughout 0 - Should have carried water instead10 - Career-defining tournament 9 - Highly successful campaign 8 - Significantly influenced team's campaign 7 - Committed and effective throughout 6 - Flashes of brilliance outside of fundamentals execution 5 - Filled role required by position (grassroots level) 4 - Poor fundamentals execution 3 - Costly mistakes and/or discipline that proved costly 2 - Poor performances that directly impacted the outcome of key games 1 - Highly ineffective throughout 0 - Should have carried water instead

8 Ardie Savea: Only Proctor’s eight outnumbered Savea’s seven defenders as the all-time backrow was at the centre of it all, delivering his over-the-top tricks as he ran between players. His try came after a beautiful touch-and-go move in which he showed off his power. 8

7. Ethan Blackadder: It was good for the flanker to get some testing minutes in his legs, but it wasn’t a spectacular performance. Blackadder fit the bill in a decent outing, but he’ll be left feeling annoyed at having missed four tackles on the night. 6

6 Luke Jacobson: One of the players who does the heavy lifting so others can run free and write headlines, Jacobson didn’t do much on offense, but he did make eight tackles on defense. 6

5 Tupou Vaa’i: He tried hard to keep the ball in his hands as much as he could, beating a defender in the process. Other than that, the set pieces worked well and he made his tackles. 6

4. Scott Barrett: Like Vaa’i, Barrett didn’t have much to do, but he made seven decent tackles and was much better with his kickoffs this time around. 6

3 Fletcher Newell: He laid a solid foundation throughout the match and from then on the responsibility of the ball was in the hands of the midfielders, who simply chose their runners. The pivot managed to overcome six tackles. 6

2 Asafo Aumua: The hooker would have enjoyed starting and would have done everything he had to do. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t the kind of test that allowed him to show off his power in the carry, but he would still be pretty pleased with his efforts. 6

1. Tamaiti Williams: Similar to Newell in that he laid the groundwork for others to run in. It was good to see the huge prop back in Test rugby and he will look to continue to grow. 6

Replacements: Robertson made good use of the bench, with George Bell scoring on his debut, as did Ethan de Groot. Wallace Sititi and Sam Darry looked sharp in their first outings in Test rugby, as did Noah Hotham. 8

READ MORE: Smooth-running All Blacks score SEVEN tries in emphatic win over Fiji as new internationals shine on debut