The All Blacks handled business by defending both the Eden Park record and retaining the Bledisloe Cup once again. It was a strange game where the All Blacks flew out of the blocks, but between some of their own mistakes and Australia stringing together some great footy, the game remained close down the stretch.
Now, as we do here at betcha each weekend, we provide you with our grades for each player in the black jersey, which means it is time to do that for Bledisloe Game 1.
Ethan de Groot
He was one of the many All Blacks who left the game early due to an injury in the first half, so no grade here.
Grade: N/A
Codie Taylor
It was a welcome return for the centurion, who made 14 good tackles and brought back some accuracy at lineout time. That accuracy was a critical reason why the South Africa test got away from them in his absence.
Grade: 7.5/10
Tyrel Lomax
He didn’t really do a whole lot around the paddock and was also penalised in the first half. What was disappointing was the lack of scrum dominance, and he certainly had a part to play in that.
Grade: 5/10
Fabian Holland
Another solid outing for the All Black rookie, who played the full 80 minutes. He was the key and efficient lineout option while also leading the side in tackles with 16.
Grade: 6/10
Tupou Vaa’i
He did little to nothing in the attacking phase and wasn’t required as the key to the lineout with Fabian Holland present. However, making two turnovers was significant, especially as they came at crucial moments.
Grade: 5/10
Simon Parker
It wasn’t a huge game from Parker, but there was no doubt he was industrious as the new All Blacks blindside flanker. He made 14 big tackles without missing any. I’d like to see more of him in attack in the coming tests, though.
Grade: 5.5/10
Ardie Savea
Like most of the forwards, it wasn’t a barnstorming game from the captain, but he also didn’t do a whole lot wrong either. He made 16 tackles and, in the attacking phase, beat the most defenders in the team with seven. However, his most crucial moment was, a point-saving turnover in the second half.
Grade: 7.5/10
Wallace Sititi
Another quiet outing for the 2024 breakout player of the year, whose All Blacks season continues to stall. There may be some questions around whether he should be suiting up in Australia at the base of the scrum over someone like Peter Lakai.
Grade: 5/10
Cam Roigard (betcha’s Best)
Best player on the park in his return to international footy after dealing with that annoying knee injury a few weeks back. The Hurricanes halfback was a superstar who made the All Blacks tick, doing all his core jobs well while also being a nuisance for Australia all day. He had the second-most carry metres of any All Blacks player and scored two tries of his own in vintage fashion.
Grade: 9/10
Beauden Barrett
Another All Black who saw less than 30 minutes in the first half due to his shoulder. He did make a bright start though, with his in-play kicking game looking sharp.
Grade: N/A
Caleb Clarke
A great moment for Clarke, whose dad sang the national anthem pre-game, which brought plenty of emotion from the winger. He built on that emotion with a phenomenal first half, scoring the opening try and leading the All Blacks in metres gained with 69. Hopefully his leg injury will not rule him out for long, because he looks very much at home in the black jersey.
Grade: 8/10
Jordie Barrett
He has been one of the best All Blacks all season and continued that fine form this weekend. He was the best player on the park under the high ball and also had some superb moments with the ball in hand as a primary creator.
Grade: 8/10
Billy Proctor
This was the last performance All Black fans wanted to see from Proctor, who had seemingly been going from strength to strength through the middle part of the season. However, he gave away a game-high number of penalties and struggled to get any kind of foothold in the game in either phase.
Grade: 4.5/10
Leroy Carter
Another busy night for the young winger, who is certainly earning his stripes at the next level. He grabbed a second meat pie and was a constant thorn in the side of the Wallabies all evening with the ball in hand.
Grade: 7/10
Will Jordan
Better evening for Jordan, who I honestly thought had been nothing short of poor over the last few weekends. He finally took a high ball cleanly from an early Beauden Barrett bomb and was a real threat in space, beating five Wallaby defenders.
Grade: 6.5/10
The Bench
Samisoni Taukei’aho
With Taylor playing 64 minutes on his return, there wasn’t much opportunity for Taukei’aho to make a difference. What was better than the last game was not having the backup hooker make a mountain of mistakes when subbed on.
Grade: 5/10
Tamaiti Williams
The injury to de Groot gave Williams around 50 minutes on the park, and like all the other props, it wasn’t a huge outing for the young man. He didn’t dominate scrum time, nor make a huge impact in open play.
Grade: 5/10
Fletcher Newell
He was maybe the best of the lot after coming on for Lomax with 51 minutes gone. In a crucial moment, with the game on a knife’s edge, Newell won his side a penalty in the scrum.
Grade: 6.5/10
Patrick Tuipulotu
The All Black veteran has been a revelation whenever given the chance this season, and once again brought direct carrying and physical defence in abundance off the bench this weekend. I think he was the best replacement in this game.
Grade: 7/10
Peter Lakai
It was great to see him back at test level, something I have been calling for. I think he looked up to the physical requirements of test footy and showed more promise than Sititi has in the early part of this season.
Grade: 6/10
Cortez Ratima
4 minutes only for Ratima, so no grade.
Grade: N/A
Quinn Tupaea
Great shift from Tupaea, who brought some real physicality to the backline after being subbed on five minutes into the second half. He could have spun the ball wide once when he had numbers outside him, but his line break for Barrett’s game-sealing try was timely, to say the least.
Grade: 6.5
Damian McKenzie
He was brought on as the first five when Beauden left the game early. While he didn’t have any huge impact moments, Mckenize drove the ship well enough and had no glaring mistakes like his opposite number.
Grade: 7/10