Thoughts on NZ:
- Very sloppy game from them, especially on defence. The attack was ok, but it was made to look great by very poor Scottish defence.
- Vito was probably my pick from the forwards, he had a great game. It would be nice to see him play at 8 against a top team now.
- Thomson shot himself in the foot.
- Weepu wasn't bad. He wasn't good.
- The midfield went pretty well, especially on attack. Again, it would be good to see the combination against a better team, but I doubt we will see it.
- Savea was very good, Barrett was ok when he came on, did most things well.
- Coles made a good impact, Kerr-Barlow wasn't great. Can't take much from this cameo though.
Nice sum up. Echo my thoughts pretty well.
1. Wyatt Crockett - Had a good game overall I thought. Carried pretty well and actually had some nice link play. His scrummaging dominated the Scottish (although he did tend to bore in). 7/10
2. Andrew Hore - Somewhat critical of him in this game. Other than a try which he showed a bit of grunt, his ball carrying was pretty average. He only rarely made it past the advantage line. Good scrummaging - but didn't see so much pilfering. 6/10
Owen Franks - Scrumaged well. Made tackles. 7/10
4. Luke Romano - Was actually very impressed. One of the main reasons our setpiece was dominant. Won some good lineouts against the throw and our scrum was solid. Fairly good ball carrying too. 7.5/10
5. Sam Whitelock - Probably my forward of the game. Ran well with the ball, lineouts went well. Didn't do muh wrong all game. 8/10
6. Adam Thomson - The problem is he drifted in and out of the game. He'd be useful and then invisibile, then useful, then invisibile. I'm not just talking about his yellow card either. 6/10
7. Richie McCaw - Good game from McCaw like always, made plenty of turnovers and carried well. - 7/10
8. Victor Vito - Carried very well, as you'd expect with that much space. Big fan of him but he still doesn't move bodies from a ruck like he does for the Canes. Still good game and he certainly benefitted from playing in his prefered position. 7.5/10
9. Piri Weepu - Got a lot of praise after the game. He was quicker than he usually is, but by no means was he quick. Interesting bringing him along for those games where it's 'wet', when the new quick ball interpretations means we need to speed up delivery. Still, not a bad game - just not one which should keep him safe from Peranara. 6.5/10
10. Daniel Carter - Magic. One bad pass intercepted, but the rest was magic. Hard to believe the guy is 30 with his dancing feet. All class, deserved man of the match. 8.5/10
11. Julain Savea - On the whole was good. Scored two nice tries (I think he's scored more tried now than games he's played?). Sometimes I wish he'd back himself to run a bit more, rather than kick (as he's not especially good at it). 7.5/10.
12. Tamati Ellison - Suprised more people aren't talking about him, thought he was slightly better than Ben Smith, which is annoying cause usually I don't rate him THAT highly. Had very good feet and distribution. Wish he wasn't just about 30. 8/10.
13. Ban Smith - Always prefered him at centre than at fullback, certainly had a good game there. Nice hands and vision with a handy bit of speed for a centre. 7.5/10.
14. Cory Jane - Good under the highball, kept the ball alive well for Hore's try, scored a nice one himself but never really got that much space. Did pretty well considering. 7/10.
15. Israel Dagg - Did well till he got hit in the mouth, landed heavily on his arse and awkwardly on his leg all in the fraction of a second. Hope he isn't too injured. 7/10.
16. Dane Coles - Looked pretty good when he came on. Cleared a lot of ball from the rucks, carried reasonably well when he got the chance - scrum didn't hurt while he was on. 7/10.
17. Tony Woodcock - Didn't notice the game change much when he came on. Continues to scrum well. 7/10.
18. Ben Franks - See Tony Woodcock. 7/10.
19. Ali Williams - Didn't do anything exceptional while he was on but didn't screw up much either. Hope he doesn't play against Wales or England. 7/10.
20. Sam Cane - N/A
21. Tawera Kerr-Barlow - Looked very nervous. Good to see him get a run. His passes always fast and crisp, but a few weren't very accurate. Still, I expect to see him improve in the coming games when the nerves aren't as big. 6/10.
22. Beuden Barrett - Was very impressed with Barrett. Didn't notice he was at fullback for much of it, as he joined the line as a second distributor very often. Still, had some very nice passes, especially one leading to one of Savea's tries. 7.5/10.
23. Ma'a Nonu - N/A
My thoughts on the overall game - All Blacks were poor in defense. We let Scotland get momentum and run up rather than hit the line at pace and drive them back. We made too many errors in our own half, and didn't play enough down in theirs. We were too passive at the breakdown, relying on them to make mistakes rather than really contesting (something which I thought was one of the reasons we drew with Aussie). To be honest, if you let Scotland in for three tries - that's worth tripple the number for just about any other team - so we have a LOT to work on.
Scotland actually played fairly well. A few too many errors but overall wasn't a bad effort. Gray was a monster running the ball - often sucked up three tacklers to get him down and still made it far past the advantage line during those quick taps. Visser did very well to score two tries - if Maitland makes the Scotland team they well have a very, very good back three. Mike Blair was class as usual. Was suprised with Nick de Luca as he looked good about two or three times in the game when he ran hard, almost breaking the line, but rarely seemed to get the ball. Don't know why David Denton doesn't start - clearly one of the best looseforwards going.
