Wallabies vs France 1st Test Player ratings

[Moses]

This thread is about Gagger's player ratings. It's If we're to rank the side in order of number of kickers then the Force would be no 1.

[KenyaQuin]

As for blaming Burgo for Gits being out of position, I guess those calls could go either way.

That has to be the most riddiculous statement I've heard from you Moses. The scrum half looks for the fly half..he (flyhalf) is not a stationary object. The scrummie's core duty--his main roles in the game--are to direct the scrum and give decent ball to his flyhalf. Do that well and you get your 5, do that plus more and you get you 7s and 8s. Give plenty of shit ball and back down to 3 or 4 is where you go (irrespective of the rest of your game).

I've seen Lukey play good games (the previous test this season) and consider him top notch but there is no way he could be an 8.

[Moses]

fair point KQ, so Sharpe gets a 2?

[Darren]

I'd be interested in seeing how a non-SANZAR national/supporter would rate the Wallabies players. No matter how objective we try to be, a 'tahs supporter will rate 'tahs players differently than a Force supporter and vice versa ... Even the kiwis and South Africans are likely to have a leaning one way or another towards the Aussie teams/players based on their club...

[laura]

I've gone and got all nerdy now and found out their percentages...

Brumbies
7 George Smith - 6.38%
13 Stirling Mortlock (c) - 8.51%
Average: 7.44%
Contributed: 14.89%

Tahs
11 Lote Tuqiri - 5.32%
9 Luke Burgess - 8.51%
8 Wycliff Palu - 5.32%
6 Rocky Elsom - 8.51%
3 Al Baxter - 5.32%
1 Benn Robinson - 7.44%
Average: 6.73%
Contributed: 40.42%

Reds
14 Peter Hynes - 7.44%
12 Berrick Barnes - 7.44%
4 James Horwill - 6.38%
2 Stephen Moore - 5.32%
Average: 6.45%
Contribute: 26.58%

Force
15 Cameron Shepherd - 5.32%
10 Matt Giteau - 7.44%
5 Nathan Sharpe - 5.32%
Average - 6.02%
Contributed: 18.08%

But the contributed percentage doesn't take into account the fact that the Reds had 4players, Force had 3 players, Tahs had 6 players and Brumbies had 2. Just shows how much each team contributed according to GAG's rankings.

[KenyaQuin]

fair point KQ, so Sharpe gets a 2?

I've omitted forward play from my humble assessments for good reason.

[chook]

Nice write up gagger. Always on the money and un biased. Haven't watched this game so can't comment although I'm sure the Tahs players made sure we won the game.

Good 'ol Tahs players, always depend on them to step up when other provinces let Australia down.

[oxleymoron]

I agree with mortlock's rating, but there is one piece of play that could have left him being hero or zero. Mortlock's positioning when he took the intercept was he was out of the defensive line. Had the frog held the ball and sucked defenders in, mortlock would have been caught in an offside position, leaving a gap behind him for the french to penetrate. This would have led to a linebreak because of the flat nature of the defensive line. Fortunately, his anticipation was spot on to poach the pass and give us all glowing memories of 15th November 2003.

AAC was faced with a similar situation after receving the pass from Sheps break in the first half, which led to Gits try. Had AAC passed the ball, a frog was ready to pounce for the intercept, instead he took the tackle, quick ball followed and gits did the rest.

[GIGS20]

what about Burgess being very ordinary in the first half?? Hospital passes to Gits, picking balls of his toes or catching them 2 foot above his head. Bit hard for Gits to run a backline when he's got an erratic scrum half (in the first half at least)
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I guess in Gaggers book a decent flyhalf needs a second set of arms growing out of his arse....If Burgess was an 8 Gits was 11 just surviving the crap he was fed for 40 minutes.

How the f**k does lote get 5 points in ten minutes by nearly getting scored on by the smallest bloke on the field. Camo got a five for 80 minutes of rugby in a team that was dodgy as hell for the first 40, he covered pretty well (but I can't understand going for a 60 metre clearance after the bell either)

You really pulled out a couple of wood ducks this week mate!

[GIGS20]

This thread is about Gagger's player ratings. It's If we're to rank the side in order of number of kickers then the Force would be no 1.

and if we were to rank the side according to number of wankers the Waratahs would win, what's your point?

[The Lone Hydrangea]

Gigs, Gagger is a GTT man. He knows the game though. He posts here for obvious reasons( Chook and Moses also)

[gustafsl]

I agree with mortlock's rating, but there is one piece of play that could have left him being hero or zero. Mortlock's positioning when he took the intercept was he was out of the defensive line. Had the frog held the ball and sucked defenders in, mortlock would have been caught in an offside position, leaving a gap behind him for the french to penetrate. This would have led to a linebreak because of the flat nature of the defensive line. Fortunately, his anticipation was spot on to poach the pass and give us all glowing memories of 15th November 2003.

I was thinking the same thing. Had frenchy held onto the ball, he could have side stepped his man into the huge hole left by Mortlock and gone for a decent run. I'm sure Sheps would have stopped him and saved the day though. But that's the thing with intercepts, if you go for it and miss you look like a fool, but if they come off you're a hero.

[BLR]

I was thinking the same thing. Had frenchy held onto the ball, he could have side stepped his man into the huge hole left by Mortlock and gone for a decent run. I'm sure Sheps would have stopped him and saved the day though. But that's the thing with intercepts, if you go for it and miss you look like a fool, but if they come off you're a hero.

Yep, Sheps had him well and truely covered from looking at the replay, would have been good for his confidence if he made that tackle instead of Alexis making that kick....

[greenandgoldrugby]

I guess in Gaggers book a decent flyhalf needs a second set of arms growing out of his arse....If Burgess was an 8 Gits was 11 just surviving the crap he was fed for 40 minutes.

Gigs, Jargan and KenuaQin - Point taken on the misdirected passes in the first 15 minutes or so, but only one of them was an absolute shocker. For me, what more than balanced this out was:

• the urgency he injected in the second half straight off the bat which lifted the team
• the speed at which he dug the pill out to keep the momentum going
• his decision making, running and direction around the rucks and mauls

Thinking about it, if hadn't been for those passes and so-so kicks he could have snuck a MoM 9 for me. But maybe I'm too excited about what having a great 9 is offering us!

How the f**k does lote get 5 points in ten minutes by nearly getting scored on by the smallest bloke on the field. Camo got a five for 80 minutes of rugby in a team that was dodgy as hell for the first 40, he covered pretty well (but I can't understand going for a 60 metre clearance after the bell either)

If anything it was probably a bit tight giving a Lote a rating after so little time but 5 does mean average, not a failure. Same goes for Cam Shepherd. Apart from the throw-in and run (he beat 1 tackle?) my memory is struggling for anything else above the average for him, and can recall that mindfart kick - hence the 5. Maybe you can argue the run nudges him towards a 6, but is 1 point or less worth getting so bent outta shape over?

Hey - I love the viewpoints though - bring em on!

[KenyaQuin]

Gagger, KQ will do (I couldn't even try to pronounce KenuaQin )

I must confess that as a BIOD ("Back in our days") scrummie, I believe about getting basics right first and the rest is the added bonus..so please excuse me if I appear to be overly critical.

What you saw as 15 minutes I saw for the 60-70 minutes he was on the field. Point I'm making is that he is a good player no doubt however if he can't get the ball accurately to his first receiver then there is plenty of backline opportunity that is going to waste and in tight games or a rush defence this will become critical. In light of this, I cannot reconcile the 8 rating you've assigned to him with what I saw on the day.