Player ratings: Giteau shows his class
Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:27
Australia beat South Africa 41-39 in thrilling fashion in Bloemfontein on Saturday to reclaim the Mandela Plate and secure second place on the Tri-Nations standings.
While fullback Kurtley Beale slotted the match-winning penalty in injury-time, it was the creative genius of inside centre Matt Giteau that really caused the Springboks problems.
Jan de Koning rates the Wallaby players:
15 Kurtley Beale:
There was a cynical penalty early on, but he was again brilliant with ball in hand. He had a shocker late in the game, when the ball bounced off his head, but he composed himself to land the eventual match-winner.
8/10
14 James O'Connor:
He sparked the counter-attack to set up Rocky Elsom's try and produced some great kick-chasing on the day. This young man will be around for a long time.
7/10
13 Adam
Ashley-Cooper:
Strong with ball in hand, as always, and kept the Bok defence busy. But he will have to learn to use more than just his brute strength to be more effective.
6/10
12 Matt Giteau:
Great distribution in the lead-up to Kurtley Beale's try and overall showed his creative play - which often troubled the Boks. He was the real difference between the teams.
9/10
11 Drew Mitchell:
He exposed the Bok defence in the first half on a couple of occasions, but a bad knock-on early in the second half took some of the gloss off a fine performance.
6/10
10 Quade Cooper:
He was very composed and his tactical play exceptional. He had a quiet patch in the second half as well.
6/10
9 Will Genia:
His first kick was directly into touch and while his service crisp made up for
it for most part, there was a shocking second-half pass that set up a Bok five-metre scrum. Not his usual high standards.
5/10
8 Ben McCalman:
He missed a crucial tackle on Jean de Villiers, which allowed the Bok inside centre to score. His physical presence was also far less effective after the break, when the Boks eventually arrived.
5/10
7 David Pocock:
He is still a master at the breakdown - he won a great penalty turnover and effected some brilliant steals at the tackle.
7/10
6 Rocky Elsom (captain):
He was physical, as always, and made a couple of great first-half runs. Had a quiet period in the second half.
6/10
5 Nathan Sharpe:
While he looked impressive when the Wallabies were on the front foot, his overall contribution was far less effective. There was a penalty
at a ruck and dangerous play in the lineout in the second half.
5/10
4 Mark Chisholm:
As busy as he was in the first 20 minutes, he became almost anonymous in the second half. Not a surprise when he was finally replaced.
5/10
3 Salesi Ma'afu:
Always in trouble on the scrums and lasted just 20 minutes.
3/10
2 Stephen Moore:
His physical presence made a big difference in the early stages, but he became less effective after the break and also conceded a penalty at the ruck.
2/10
1 Benn Robinson:
There was a knock-on at crucial stage in the second half and his scrumming was also not nearly as effective as expected.
5/10
Replacements:
16 Saia Fainga'a (on for Moore, 65th min):
His only
contribution to the game was a spear-tackle and a yellow card.
0/10
17 James Slipper (on for Ma'afu, 22 min):
He is also a liability in the scrums and his work-rate needs to improve.
5/10
18 Dean Mumm (on for Chisholm, 53rd min):
He showed why there were concerns about his game last week and the Aussies do have a real problem in the second row.
5/10
19 Richard Brown (on for McCalman, 70th min):
Not enough time to be rated.
20 Luke Burgess (on for Genia, 55th min):
There was a great kick over the top and he brought a real buzz to the game. He may well warrant a start ahead of Genia in next week's finale.
6/10
21 Berrick Barnes (on for Giteau, 71st min):
There was a great inside pass for Mitchell's try,
but not really enough time to be rated.
22 Anthony Fainga'a (on for Mitchell, 74th min):
Not enough time to be rated.