Both Irish forwards delivered for their side, so the final ratings are somewhat strange.
As much as one tries to stay above the fray, emotions and immediacy can often seep into the compilation of player ratings.
For example, we awarded Peter O’Mahony 10/10 when the All Blacks were beaten at Lansdowne Road back in 2018. With three years’ of water under the bridge, it could be argued the occasion got to us. Was O’Mahony full-on and effective? Yes. Did he come up with a number of big moments? Yes. Was he 10/10 perfect? Possibly.
On Saturday, as Ireland beat New Zealand for only the third time in 33 Tests – but third time in their last five encounters – we went one further. There were liberal sprinklings of 8s and 9s, while James Lowe and Caelan Doris got 10/10.
Having watched the full game back, late on Saturday, there are no reasons to change those scores. If any score were to change, it would be Jamison Gibson-Park getting 9, instead of 8. He was sensational.
Check out those full Ireland player ratings HERE
Having a scout around some of the rugby world’s leasing outlets, there are understandably high marks for Irish players and some nightmare ones for All Blacks players. James and and Josh van der Flier, though, were dealt a tough hand by one English publication.
Two Ireland forwards get harsh ratings
Over in New Zealand, journalist Liam Napier wrote about a “dominant” Ireland make the All Blacks live off scraps. Gregor Paul, a leading Kiwi columnist, stressed the result should concern all fans of New Zealand.
‘There is reason to be worried,’ he stated, ‘that the All Blacks no longer have the ante to play at the same table as the likes of Ireland, England and South Africa and are no closer to finding the muscularity they need than they were when they began searching for it four years ago.’
While most Irish outlets concentrate on player ratings for local players, and Kiwi outlets do likewise, it was left to many English publications to give their marks for both sets of players. At a remove, they were still tough on the All Blacks but not so much swept up in that green wave of euphoria.
That could be the reason, then, that the popular Ruck website awarded James Ryan and Josh van der Flier just 6/10 for their contributions.
For context, we awarded both men 9/10. Ryan made 14 carries for 21 metres, stuck all 10 tackles he attempted, was massively physical, claimed four Irish lineouts and stole two from New Zealand. Van der Flier was the impetus for that aggressive Irish defence and flogged himself for 58 minutes until he passed the baton to Peter O’Mahony.
The same ratings had two 9/10 marks as their highest ratings, for Lowe and Tadhg Furlong. Jordie Barrett and try-scorer Will Jordan rated highest for the visitors with dual 7/10s.
Stuff, meanwhile, gave Dalton Papalii their highest rating, 8/10 while Jordi Barrett [7.5] was not far behind. They also doled out 4/10 marks to Rieko Ioane, Sevu Reece, Nepo Laulala, captain Sam Whitelock and Beauden Barrett, who went off concussed after only 21 minutes.
In Test rugby, it is so often much more closer than the ratings suggest. You may have teams that deliver more 7s and 8s than 6s and 7s that get over the line. On Saturday, the ratings reflect a gulf between the sides that was acknowledged by All Blacks coach Ian Foster when he admitted they were ‘second best’.
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