In his first start after getting less than a minute against Argentina in Christchurch, he showed nice early touches. Will wish he had done better tidying up a nasty ball that led to a 35th-minute, rot-setting try.
14. Sevu Reece — 5/10
Fiery wheels, asevidenced in the choice set-piece break for a 31st-minute try. But he seemed oddly uncertain when given chance at one-on-ones.
Quiet in a novice midfield. Unlucky not to score in the 22nd minute when Richie Mo’unga found him with a clever chip, then lucked in on 24 minutes, despite the No 10′s forward pass.
12. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck — 6/10
In his first test start, he had a couple of lovely touches in link play, hinting at what he could bring to the All Blacks with more time on the field. An energetic, fizzing talent.
The big bopper is always a hard nut to crack when hitting the defence on a short ball. A quality try in the 41st minute set his side back on the right path, and he made all the right moves in defence.
10. Richie Mo’unga — 4/10
An over-reliance on the boot early left his side disjointed — when your mates look so much better with ball in hand and your scrum is crushing it, maybe ditch the uncontested midfield kicks? Needs to take control.
9. Finlay Christie — 5/10
Smart at finding options for snappy attacks — sometimes too smart, with teammates not on same page. Fast feet and fast hands. But, oh dear — poor execution led to Warner Dearns’ charge-down try.
8. Hoskins Sotutu — 5/10
Against opponents tailormade for a skillful Kiwi No 8, the Blues man showed his goods. An early kick-chase was nice; but one-handed carries from the scrum have purists groaning. He showed in the second half he can nail the fundamentals when things get tense.
Hoskins Sotutu carries the ball in Tokyo. Photo / Photosport
7. Sam Cane (c) — 4/10
A hard and smart toiler in defence who reads a breakdown swiftly. Not much else on show here. The team could have really used some x-factor in this unsettled and unsettling clash.
6. Shannon Frizell — 4/10
Plenty of work to do tidying up breakdowns in physical clashes, but was well matched by Kiwi-Samurai Michael Leitch.
5. Tupou Vaa’i — 5/10
A key man in his pod in the first half, with nice handling and breakdown work. Forced things a little too much after the whole team got a halftime rev up. Toiled hard throughout.
4. Brodie Retallick — 3/10
Delivered in the set pieces and trotted in for the opening try. Hot tip for young players: Don’t give the ref a really dumb reason to give you a red card and you probably won’t get one. Left his team in the lurch.
3. Nepo Laulala — 4/10
Would have wanted to showcase more with dash around the park. Gets a pat on the broadest of shoulders for a scrum platform that dominated the hosts.
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho — 5/10
Elevated to the starting line-up when Dane Coles got crocked in warm-ups, he had a hand in ongoing lineout jitters, but a lovely bump and break to set up Retallick for the opener. The All Blacks’ best moments often involve this bloke.
1. George Bower — 6/10
Showed why he’s probably the best of the crop of All Blacks props for carting the ball, linking and offloading. Scrum couldn’t be faulted.
