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Home / Sport / Rugby / Rugby World Cup

Player ratings: All Blacks v France

Chris Rattue
By Chris Rattue
Sports Writer·NZ Herald·
18 Oct, 2015 12:00 AM5 mins to read

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Ma'a Nonu leaves players in his wake after being set up by Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Ma'a Nonu leaves players in his wake after being set up by Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Chris Rattue rates the best and the worst from the All Blacks' 62-13 demolition of France this morning.

ALL BLACKS

Ben Smith 9
His chasing, catching and anticipation were fantastic. Not as prominent when shifted to the wing in the second half.

Nehe Milner-Skudder 8

Fabulous step inside Dulin and Spedding for try helped start the avalanche. Injury curtailed his influence.

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Conrad Smith 7

The glue when it was needed.

Ma'a Nonu 9
Spectacular game. Knocked France back early, lovely hands for Milner-Skudder try, big tackles, and nearly a try to finish.

Julian Savea 9
Knocked away Nakaitaci, Spedding and Slimani for never-to-be forgotten try, nabbed two more...echoes of Jonah.

Dan Carter 8
Pulled the strings, set the show in motion, and picked his spots as the carnage unfolded.

Aaron Smith 8
The metronome was back ticking, and one fine piece of cover defending at a point in the game when it seemed vital.

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Kieran Read 7
More handling lapses, from a kickoff and lineout. Some good aerial moments but well short of his best.

"Shades of Lomu". Photo / Brett Phibbs
"Shades of Lomu". Photo / Brett Phibbs

Richie McCaw 9
His incredible motor and drive got him to all the important places including strong turn over when France threatened.

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Jerome Kaino 9
Fabulous game in the thick of the action. The harder you looked the better he got.

Brodie Retallick 9
Memorable charge down try set France back. Excellent attack and defence in variety of ways.

Sam Whitelock 8
Mauling a strong point in aggressive all round game without a signature moment.

Owen Franks 8
Probably contributing as much as he ever has around the field. Hardly any scrum work required.

Dane Coles 8
Got the lineouts right and produced typical maverick touches including fast hands then great rip in tackle for Savea try.

Wyatt Crockett 6
Nothing much before departing early having just conceded penalty. Frustrating - missed the party and big opportunity.

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Read more: Sublime All Blacks win, muted response

Reserves

Keven Mealamu (Coles, 59m) 7
A few good moments.

Joe Moody (Crockett, 27m) 8
Joe Who? Not anymore. The late World Cup arrival was right at home and a fine finish included top offload for Kerr-Barlow try.

Charlie Faumuina (Franks, 51m) 8
Excellent around field and fine gap run and pass made a try.

Victor Vito (Kaino, 65m) 6
Struggled to shine as the party took off.

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Sam Cane (McCaw, 68m) 8
Sensational cameo with two steals and loads of work.

Tawera Kerr-Barlow (A. Smith, 65m) 8
Brilliant two-try burst and has made the bench spot his own, ahead of TJ Perenara.

Beauden Barrett (Milner-Skudder, 40m) 5
Tends to run hot or cold as a sub, and seemed out of touch in a game made for his talents.

Sonny Bill Williams (C. Smith, 51m) 8
The offload king produced two beauties.

FRANCE

Scott Spedding 6
Tried hard, some innovation and one long penalty. Tricky job as the last line of defence in a shambles.

Noa Nakaitaci 5
Started quite well and then got destroyed by Savea.

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Alexandre Dumoulin 4
Needed to be more aggressive on defence. Hardly any running.

Wesley Fofana 8
A class act in the chaos. Some outstanding runs.

Brice Dulin 5
Completely overshadowed by All Black wings and defensively passive.

Freddie Michalak 3
Missed Nonu twice before hobbling off with early hamstring injury.

Morgan Parra 4
Passed without conviction, hardly ran, and missed an easy penalty.

Louis Picamoles 8
Storming game from the heavy set loosie. Yellow carded for petulant attack on McCaw cost his side a good position and robbed France of his impact though.

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Bernard Le Roux 6
Very busy, tackled hard, but without huge impact.

Thierry Dusautoir 5
No heroics this time. Low involvement and couldn't stir his troops.

Yoann Maestri 5
Conceded turnover in first few seconds and lack of grunt at the heart of the problems.

Pascal Pape 4
Anonymous with and without the ball and part of a lineout that misfired when it counted.

Rabah Slimani 6
Showed up around the field but not with much force. Even the few scrums didn't go well.

Guilhem Guirado 5
Hard to pinpoint exactly where the rot started, but the lineouts are a good candidate. He did try to do his bit on defence.

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Eddy Ben Arous 5
Hard to spot doing much at all.

Read more: Records tumble as All Blacks run riot

Reserves

Dimitri Szarzewski (Guirado, 56m) 5
Not even close to changing the course of events.

Vincent Debaty (Ben Arous, 60m) 4
Carbon cop of Arous, which wasn't a good thing.

Nicolas Mas (Slimani, 60m) 4
Not a match for French props.

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Damien Chouly (Picamoles, 71m) 3
Giant hospital pass. Replacing France's best when the damage has been done.

Yannick Nyanga (Pape, 47m) 5
A few runs.

Rory Kockott (Parra, 68m) 5
Put in some effort in a hopeless cause.

Remi Tales (Michalak, 11m) 6
Fair to say he tried hard especially in tackling without showing much class behind an erratic pack.

Mathieu Bastareaud (Dumoulin, 60m) 5
One strong run. He's probably too big for his own good as a centre.

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