Ratings

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Always good fun. Here are my thoughts.

Hogg - 9
Seymour - 7
Bennett - 6
Taylor - 8
Visser - 6
Russell - 5
Laidlaw - 8

Wilson - 8
Hardie - 7
Barclay - 9
J Gray - 9 (22 tackles made & 9 carries... immense)
R Gray - 7
Nel - 8 (minus one for the card)
Ford - 8
Dickinson - 8

Some high scores, some lower scores.

Laidlaw showed up today, kicked perfectly and played fast ball far more frequently than the last two games. It's hardly surprising that we made yards and scored tries as opposed to screaming at the ref for some nonsense penalty when the ball is perfectly presented at the bottom of the ruck. After the first couple of restarts in the second half it was obvious there was a serious problem/lack of communication - he should have addressed this with Hogg/Wilson/Gray bros. On the other hand it was obvious the maul was going nowhere against Italy and we didn't call many - not sure if that was Laidlaw but it was the correct decision.

I thought Bennett was anonymous & ineffective - he's been running at men and not at space all 6N. He's not found his RWC form yet. Russell had his best game of the championship to date but a lot of bad things bring the score down - YC, missing touch & generally poor distribution. Those loopy passes to isolated men with 3 defenders bearing down on them have to stop.

The rest of the backs were pretty good and the pack was excellent. That platform was incredible.

Some comments on the subs that were on more than a couple of minutes.

McInally - kept the pressure on in the scrum but looked ineffective in the loose compared to last match. He was driven backwards the 2-3 times he carried the ball.
Strauss - Carried effectively. Drew in 3-4 defenders with a big run in their 22 and created a lot of space. May have been in the build up to Seymour's try.
Horne - busy player, I think he had a couple of runs, one was particularly incisive but he fell off a lot of tackles in his short time on the pitch.
Lamont - smashed the ball up effectively a couple of times, good stuff. No problems with him as bench cover. Solid & reliable.

As a whole, I think the defence needs a bit of work ... Whenever we miss the first tackle it seems to create all kinds of chaos and space - other teams seem to cover these mistakes better than us. Wales, England and Ireland probably have similar tackle success rates but cover far better than us once the line is broken. Restarts are still a serious problem. When the ball is in the air - whether its an up and under or a restart I just have no confidence that we'll catch the ball and recycle. This is basic skills and there really is no excuse. A bit of work on these two things and we'll ship a lot less points.

[hp18]

I cannot agree with you on Russell. Daft card, knock a mark fine. Missed touch is annoying but it happens. His distribution was excellent, you've called out some long passes, sometimes that found men in space, at others it didn't but still with enough room to keep it safe. What it did do was continually move the Italian forwards around the field.

Throw in a great break pre 2nd try where he beat 3 defenders before offloading and the boy did pretty well.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

I cannot agree with you on Russell. Daft card, knock a mark fine. Missed touch is annoying but it happens. His distribution was excellent, you've called out some long passes, sometimes that found men in space, at others it didn't but still with enough room to keep it safe. What it did do was continually move the Italian forwards around the field.

Throw in a great break pre 2nd try where he beat 3 defenders before offloading and the boy did pretty well.

Take away the card and you're looking at a 6/10. That's a perfectly fair score IMO. Although in his defence he was just the man committing the offence once Peyper had decided enough was enough. We could have had a number of cards in the red zone, Taylor was clinging onto the ball over the top of a ruck for dear life right in front of a Peyper. That is a yellow card every day for me.

I did mention in the match thread that we don't appear to be giving him many options either. A lot of that is down to the training paddock & the rest of the backs themselves so perhaps I am being a little harsh. I think he struggles without Scott/Dunbar but I think Taylor is perfectly capable of playing the same role but he didn't appear to get used much.

[Chunks Baws]

Bennett was in the paper the other day saying how much he was enjoying playing with Taylor, I think he's just off the boil and would be no better with Dunbar or Scott.

Where you getting 22 tackles for JG? Everywhere I've seen is saying 17.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Bennett was in the paper the other day saying how much he was enjoying playing with Taylor, I think he's just off the boil and would be no better with Dunbar or Scott.

Where you getting 22 tackles for JG? Everywhere I've seen is saying 17.

It's Russell I think that would benefit from Dunbar or Scott. He's not using Taylor to smash it up and draw in numbers. That would likely be more beneficial to Bennett as well.


http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/playerstats ... gue=254969 I don't know how accurate it is.

[hp18]

Bennett was in the paper the other day saying how much he was enjoying playing with Taylor, I think he's just off the boil and would be no better with Dunbar or Scott.

Where you getting 22 tackles for JG? Everywhere I've seen is saying 17.

RBS site.

[hp18]

I cannot agree with you on Russell. Daft card, knock a mark fine. Missed touch is annoying but it happens. His distribution was excellent, you've called out some long passes, sometimes that found men in space, at others it didn't but still with enough room to keep it safe. What it did do was continually move the Italian forwards around the field.

Throw in a great break pre 2nd try where he beat 3 defenders before offloading and the boy did pretty well.

Take away the card and you're looking at a 6/10. That's a perfectly fair score IMO. Although in his defence he was just the man committing the offence once Peyper had decided enough was enough. We could have had a number of cards in the red zone, Taylor was clinging onto the ball over the top of a ruck for dear life right in front of a Peyper. That is a yellow card every day for me.

I did mention in the match thread that we don't appear to be giving him many options either. A lot of that is down to the training paddock & the rest of the backs themselves so perhaps I am being a little harsh. I think he struggles without Scott/Dunbar but I think Taylor is perfectly capable of playing the same role but he didn't appear to get used much.

7 down to a 6 for me. Saw Taylor, Ford and one or two others do the same, almost thought they wanted a card...

It takes a bit of time to build a partnership like that. I think 10/12 could work if they get the chance.

[Big D]

Hogg - 9
Seymour - 7
Bennett - 6
Taylor - 7
Visser - 6
Russell - 6.5
Laidlaw - 8

Wilson - 7
Hardie - 7
Barclay - 8
J Gray - 9
R Gray - 8
Nel - 8
Ford - 8
Dickinson - 8

[Wylie Coyote]

Live I thought Wilson played well, on replay I saw him getting brushed off tackles far too easily for a #8, something I've spotted before in his game. He works hard and is decently skilled but he lacks physicality for his position at the top level. Denton comes back in for me with Strauss on the bench.

Some folk are much too hard on Russell and Visser. Bennett too, the game didn't go his way but he's still a top quality player.

[Big D]

Live I thought Wilson played well, on replay I saw him getting brushed off tackles far too easily for a #8, something I've spotted before in his game. He works hard and is decently skilled but he lacks physicality for his position at the top level. Denton comes back in for me with Strauss on the bench.

Some folk are much too hard on Russell and Visser. Bennett too, the game didn't go his way but he's still a top quality player.

I agree with you on Wilson (not surprisingly) would be ok with him benching though.

I think it is ok to say players had ok games and just did their jobs (hence the 6s for Bennett and Visser) and similarly it is ok to penalise players (in ratings terms) for being binned. I know with my ratings I tried to keep in mind that we were playing Italy and the game was only safe late on but also acknowledge the several good things that were done by our team.

[Mikey Brown]

I think Strauss has to come in and give Denton a kick from the bench.

[kk67]

Really enjoyed that. Cracking bit of 'test match' rugby from both teams.
Poor Greg,....three times in the 2nd half he has to go head to head with a rampaging Sergio and three times he brought him down. Such a relief to see him smiling after the game. I'm fairly sure that staring at his 'face of disbelief' for prolonged periods is carcinogenic.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Live I thought Wilson played well, on replay I saw him getting brushed off tackles far too easily for a #8, something I've spotted before in his game. He works hard and is decently skilled but he lacks physicality for his position at the top level. Denton comes back in for me with Strauss on the bench.

Some folk are much too hard on Russell and Visser. Bennett too, the game didn't go his way but he's still a top quality player.

That's not really relevant though is it? It's a match ratings thread. I agree with you, Bennett is brilliant and capable of 9s and 10s. He was a 6 that day - I'm not going to rate him higher just because he's a top player in general. Doubt he cares much, mind you!

[Mikey Brown]

I'm finding it hard to judge Bennet. He's not had any glaring chances but hasn't sparked anything either. We're probably as settled in the backs as we've been for a while bar 12, and I wonder who would get the best out of him. He's been so consistent for us but I'd happily have a prime Scott/Dunbar combo too.

[Cameo]

I thought Russell was really good. The last couple of games we have looked like we have had a plan once in the opponents 22 and a lot of that has been him seeing when it is on and coming onto the ball at pace. The card is a pity but I wouldn't really judge him too harshly for that.

The centres are lacking a little spark. Taylor's decent but I dont think he has as much going forward as the others (though last week's try was good). As far as I'm concerned the ranking long term for 12 is Dunbar, Scott, Taylor but I wouldnt bring Dunbar back this 6N unless there are injuries