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All Blacks player ratings vs France | Autumn Nations Series
By Ben Smith at Stade de France, Paris
The All Blacks built a half-time lead of 17-10 after tries to Peter Lakai and Cam Roigard, before France equalled proceedings early in the second with a shift maul try.
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Locked 17-all, France grabbed the momentum with a kick-break try to winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey after an offload went to ground. Both sides exchanged penalties with New Zealand never retaking the lead.
Stuck in front of their own goal posts, New Zealand tried valiantly to go the length of the field but France’s defence held strong for a one-point win.
Here’s how the All Blacks rated:
1. Tamaiti Williams – 4
Just not enough polish on Williams’ performance tonight. Was pinged for sealing off on an exit phase. Won New Zealand’s first breakdown penalty with a great steal. Broke open France up the middle but veered right with Roigard on the left. Had a half break with a line outside McKenzie but butchered the pass. Missed opportunities for the big man. Off at 62.
2. Codie Taylor – 6
The All Blacks own lineout functioned very well with 5/5 in the first half. On the first key maul defence Taylor produced a key strip defending the goal line. Defensively had a big motor as usual getting through seven in the first half. Penalised for access obstruction right after an All Blacks penalty goal in the second half. Off at 62
3. Tyrel Lomax – 6
The scrum was a battle with back-and-forth penalties. Lost their first scrum with a penalty leading to France’s opening three points. Turned it around on the next with a penalty. All Blacks appeared to get dominance through the first half. Off at 62.
4. Scott Barrett – 6
Carries off No 9 for the captain with plenty of pullback passes. Finished with eight tackles and nine carries getting through his work. Pressured France’s lineout a couple of times but no steals.
Carries off No 9 for the captain with plenty of pullback passes. Finished with eight tackles and nine carries getting through his work. Pressured France’s lineout a couple of times but no steals.
5. Tupou Vaa’i – 6
A solid night from Vaa’i reduced by one bad play. Had the read on France’s lineout early. A steal early to start the night and another shortly after. Second half he threw an offload which gave France a counter-attacking opportunity they made the All Blacks pay with. Finished with nine tackles. Off at 55.
A solid night from Vaa’i reduced by one bad play. Had the read on France’s lineout early. A steal early to start the night and another shortly after. Second half he threw an offload which gave France a counter-attacking opportunity they made the All Blacks pay with. Finished with nine tackles. Off at 55.
6. Samipeni Finau – N/A
Went off for an HIA in the first two minutes and did not return.
Went off for an HIA in the first two minutes and did not return.
7. Ardie Savea – 6
Despite playing openside saw plenty of ball. Had 10 carries after 35 minutes. First run down the left side put flyhalf Ramos on his backside. His second in a similar spot beat three France defenders and found an offload for Lakai for the first try. Got pinged for sealing off, which was a problem for the All Blacks in the first half. Had a ruck steal and was promptly penalised for holding on as was isolated. A big load in attack but had a quiet second half. Finished with four tackles.
Despite playing openside saw plenty of ball. Had 10 carries after 35 minutes. First run down the left side put flyhalf Ramos on his backside. His second in a similar spot beat three France defenders and found an offload for Lakai for the first try. Got pinged for sealing off, which was a problem for the All Blacks in the first half. Had a ruck steal and was promptly penalised for holding on as was isolated. A big load in attack but had a quiet second half. Finished with four tackles.
8. Wallace Sititi – 5
A tougher night for Wallace as he carried in close quarters and found going difficult. The French pack handled him well. His biggest play of the night came in the 69th minute with a big breakdown penalty, but then had an off throw from the top to Ratima.
A tougher night for Wallace as he carried in close quarters and found going difficult. The French pack handled him well. His biggest play of the night came in the 69th minute with a big breakdown penalty, but then had an off throw from the top to Ratima.
9. Cam Roigard – 8
Probably the most influential All Black of the night. Got Savea free down the left side early with a looping cutout pass. Played the blindside a lot to target France in the 15s. Pinched Dupont’s pocket from a France scrum and raced away for a well-taken solo intercept try. Sniped well and got his offload game going. Had eight carries by half-time. Subbed off for final half hour.
Probably the most influential All Black of the night. Got Savea free down the left side early with a looping cutout pass. Played the blindside a lot to target France in the 15s. Pinched Dupont’s pocket from a France scrum and raced away for a well-taken solo intercept try. Sniped well and got his offload game going. Had eight carries by half-time. Subbed off for final half hour.
10. Beauden Barrett – 6.5
Played more of a distributor role off set-piece with Ardie Savea the anchor point of the launch plays. Kicked his first three at goal. Took a long range drop goal on half-time which missed. Got more direct the second half, challenged the line and ran more. Didn’t really put a foot wrong, France did well to contain.
Played more of a distributor role off set-piece with Ardie Savea the anchor point of the launch plays. Kicked his first three at goal. Took a long range drop goal on half-time which missed. Got more direct the second half, challenged the line and ran more. Didn’t really put a foot wrong, France did well to contain.
11. Caleb Clarke – 7
A beautiful touch combining with Savea on New Zealand’s first try. Had some physical ball carries always taking in multiple defenders and cut back inside well away from the sideline. Often found himself one in from the left wing with Lienert-Brown outside oddly. Always looked dangerous and carried well.
A beautiful touch combining with Savea on New Zealand’s first try. Had some physical ball carries always taking in multiple defenders and cut back inside well away from the sideline. Often found himself one in from the left wing with Lienert-Brown outside oddly. Always looked dangerous and carried well.
12. Jordie Barrett – N/A
Took some punishment with ball in hand from France’s punishing defence. Huge touch finder on his first exit kick, winning 60 metres. Was solid on defence with some key spot tackles before going off after 36.
Took some punishment with ball in hand from France’s punishing defence. Huge touch finder on his first exit kick, winning 60 metres. Was solid on defence with some key spot tackles before going off after 36.
13. Rieko Ioane – 4
Overran the first launch play a touch leading to a dropped ball from Savea, but had a big work rate in the first half with nine carries and nine more in the second. Had a big drop pass with three minutes remaining that nearly cost the game with France counter-attack coming up just short.
Overran the first launch play a touch leading to a dropped ball from Savea, but had a big work rate in the first half with nine carries and nine more in the second. Had a big drop pass with three minutes remaining that nearly cost the game with France counter-attack coming up just short.
14. Sevu Reece – 7
Came up with a clutch intercept in the first half. Had some strong pick and goes and cleaned up well in the backfield. Didn’t put a foot wrong.
Came up with a clutch intercept in the first half. Had some strong pick and goes and cleaned up well in the backfield. Didn’t put a foot wrong.
15. Will Jordan – 6
A mixed bag with good and bad. First touch had a turnover. On an early touch produced a brilliant round the corner offload for Tupou Vaa’i. Saved a try with a foot on Bielle-Biarrey’s second kick after Dupont found the space over the top. Ran back kicks with vigour every time. After a long build up in attack, went for an over the top ball to Clarke but it didn’t pay off. On the wing came up with a big intercept with France looking to score. Pushed a pass on a late All Blacks break that again didn’t come off. Let down in the passing game.
A mixed bag with good and bad. First touch had a turnover. On an early touch produced a brilliant round the corner offload for Tupou Vaa’i. Saved a try with a foot on Bielle-Biarrey’s second kick after Dupont found the space over the top. Ran back kicks with vigour every time. After a long build up in attack, went for an over the top ball to Clarke but it didn’t pay off. On the wing came up with a big intercept with France looking to score. Pushed a pass on a late All Blacks break that again didn’t come off. Let down in the passing game.
Reserves
16. Asafo Aumua – 4 – On at 62. Penalised for a cleanout that gave France a four point lead. A few hard hits.
17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi – 5 – On at 62. No scrums for the reserve front rowers. One tackle for Ofa as All Blacks had ball on attack.
18. Pasilio Tosi – 5 – On at 62. Two tackles for Tosi.
19. Patrick Tuipulotu – The All Blacks maul defence held strong with the bench forwards on, stopping France from scoring.
20. Peter Lakai – 7 – A big night for Lakai who was on very early after two minutes. Scored the opening try on a support line inside Savea. Tackled well. Was isolated on a key possession inside France’s 22 and lost possession. Had some strong carries as the game wore on, very powerful leg drive. Finished as the team’s top tackler.
21. Cortez Ratima – 5 – On at 52. Snatched a key breakdown penalty on halfway. Had a bad spill with a tough lineout off the top from Sititi.
22. Anton Lienert-Brown – 5 – Came on late in the first half for Jordie Barrett. Often spent time on the left wing in phase play. Carried from set piece hard.
23. Damian McKenzie – 7 – On at 52. Immediately injected into the game with an impact from fullback and put Williams through a half gap. Saved the game scrambling and cleaning up a kick at the end. Looked like sparking something with every touch.
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based on the ratings (for the ABs and Les Bleus), the ABs must have lost by around 30 .... maybe a reality check would help before publishing such stuff
Starting props deserve 8s, reserves get 7s. Immense pressure at scrum time, a bit ridiculous that some of those scrum penalties were not awarded. Codie Taylor 100% at the lineout as well, so a 6.5-7 for him.
Barrett and Vaai immense around the park and at lineout time. 7s for them too.
Savea and Sititi had excellent games as well, definitely closer to a 7.5 or 8 for them.
Not rating JB after having 36 mins on the pitch and starting? Someone was obviously rushing a bit.
Backs ratings are good, aside from ALB. Immense pressure on the French backline.
Overall, you'd think the ABs had a shocker and not barely lost by a single point with unexecuted oppurtunities against a solid French outfit. Utterly ridiculous.
In a test where we dominated the massive French pack for much of the game, it's criminal to rate any of our tight 5 starters as low as a 6. They were immense.
Aside from DMac, the bench impact collectively was neutral to negative. Ratima was terrible. Timed out in the most important test was unforgivable giving the momentum to FRA 15 metres out. Then later panicked at attack lineout & knocked on the wobbly feed from Sititi. No excuses. Roigard dealt with his fair share of messy ball but cleaned everything up with composure.
As great as the bench was v IRE, they were hopeless in this test.
Haha what a hoot just scrolling through looking at the numbers after reading the French ratings.
There must be a 30 point difference in ratings. Is that because NZ could have scored another 30 points in this game if they had played as well as the Fnech players?
Just by being All Blacks you're automatically waaay better than the opposition, you guys better live up to this expectation next game!! 🤣
Yeah I thought the front row ratings in particular were rubbish. Does the author just flick off the telly when the scrums happen? What about all the linebreaks from the tight 5? Just stupid.
The author of this article is writing under a pseudonym - his real name is
either Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder or Andrea Bocelli.
Please 007 those guys probably even have a much better feel for a game rugby than this guy.
These ratings are well off the mark for almost every player.
these ratings are so bad lol
Ratima scoring higher than Tamaiti is ludicrous tbh. Some weird scoring by Ben. Weird that they lost, but it feels like probably the best game the ABs have played this Autumn Series
I don't think he really watched the game. Tamaiti was massive in the first half. And Ardie only played 2 minutes at openside before moving to the blind.