All Blacks player ratings: Cam Roigard ‘absolutely incredible’ as workhorse ‘justifies’ Dave Rennie’s bold call
All Blacks' two-try heroes against France, Cam Roigard and Will Jordan.
Following a thrilling 34-32 victory over France in the Nations Championship clash at the One NZ Stadium on Saturday, here are the player ratings for the All Blacks.
15 Damian McKenzie: Filled in brilliantly at fly-half when Ruben Love was in the sin-bin and spotted the opportunity on the outside for Jordan to score. Dovetailed nicely with Love when the fly-half returned and was a constant threat on the gain line for the French defence, but just needs to tidy up his game as there were a few errors. 7
14 Will Jordan: Continued his remarkable scoring record with a fine finish and also came off his wing regularly in a hard-working performance. Jordan was another back to really test the opposition rearguard with ball in hand. 8
13 Quinn Tupaea: Some fine touches, including the deft pass for Peter Lakai’s try, while Tupaea was physical on both sides of the ball. Combination with Barrett worked well, just like it did in Perth last year, in an understated but utterly excellent display. 8
Hurricanes axis excellent
12 Jordie Barrett: A beautiful pass for Jordan’s try summed up another classy all-round showing. Got beaten on the outside shoulder early on by Damian Penaud but that was more a structural issue than an individual error. Nonetheless, he recovered well to be a focal point in the All Blacks attack. 8
11 Caleb Clarke: Registered an assist when he sent Lakai over, but Clarke wasn’t quite as prominent as Jordan. Looked powerful with ball in hand, but Les Bleus’ tackling was generally solid when he had the ball. 6
10 Ruben Love: Outside of the yellow card, it was a very promising first start at fly-half. Love had some brilliant moments in attack, and the backline looked altogether fluid thanks to the Hurricanes playmaking axis. 7
9 Cam Roigard: Absolutely incredible display from the scrum-half, not just for his two tries but his decision-making around the ruck. Service was lightning quick from Roigard, while he continually kept the French rearguard on the back foot. 9
8 Ardie Savea (c): His first game after becoming the official captain, Savea was magnificent. Back at number eight, he was absolutely everywhere, winning two turnovers, including one which led to Jordan’s try. Carried and tackled like a Trojan too. 8
Justified selection
7 Luke Jacobson: Arguably the biggest call Dave Rennie made in his selection, and after a poor start, which saw a couple of poor penalties, he justified his selection. Jacobson did his job thanks to his mammoth work rate where he was one of the All Blacks’ top tacklers. He also cleared out rucks and was a nuisance on the other side of the breakdown before providing a magnificent off-load for Jordan’s second try. 8
6 Peter Lakai: Apart from the try, he was much quieter than Savea. Offered a roaming role thanks to the selection of Jacobson, Lakai wasn’t nearly as prevalent as his fellow loose forwards. 6
5 Sam Darry: Started strongly by carrying magnificently and generally doing his job in the set-piece, while he was everywhere in defence as he took his Blues form into the Test arena. 8
4 Josh Lord: Like Darry, he was prominent early on as the two locks combined nicely in the first half, but Lord was quieter in the second period. 7
3 Fletcher Newell: Did his job in the set-piece where New Zealand had the edge, but Newell wasn’t quite as effective in the loose as his forward team-mates. 6
2 Codie Taylor: Decent around the field and set-piece was generally solid, despite the odd wobble, but Taylor is not quite as mobile as he once was. Sets the tone, however, for the more dynamic hookers to wreak havoc. 6
1 Ethan de Groot: A couple of errors halted the All Blacks’ momentum but he had the upper hand on Demba Bamba and earned a few penalties out of the tighthead at the scrum. 6
Replacements: First of all, congratulations are in order for Jamie Hannah, who made his Test debut and was solid. The front-row, meanwhile, continued to be strong in the set-piece but we didn’t see too many trademark impacts in the loose from Xavier Numia and Asafo Aumua. Elsewhere, it was relatively quiet, despite some decent touches from Wallace Sititi. It was mainly down to the starters, with the bench not quite doing enough to put France away. 6
READ MORE: All Blacks v France: Result, match details, stats, line-ups