{"id":749674,"date":"2026-08-25T22:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/749674\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T22:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:22:11","slug":"all-blacks-player-ratings-bench-saves-dave-rennie-from-embarrassment-as-stark-richie-mounga-contrast-evident-against-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/749674\/","title":{"rendered":"All Blacks player ratings: Bench saves Dave Rennie from ’embarrassment’ as stark Richie Mo’unga contrast evident against Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the All Blacks\u2019 41-35 victory over the Lions<\/a> at Ellis Park, here is how we rated Dave Rennie\u2019s charges in the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry tour match.<\/p>\n

All Blacks player ratings<\/p>\n

15 Beauden Barrett: He stunningly delayed the Lions\u2019 first try by punting the ball into touch. He had moments where he really shone, while he also kicked well out of hand. He lacks a touch of pace to really finish off chances, but he still showed his class. 7<\/p>\n

14 Fehi Fineanganofo: The only real blight in his game was his hesitation to go after Kelly Mpeku, who beat him into the corner in the first half. Otherwise, Fineanganofo was lethal on attack, sparking the break that led to Narawa\u2019s first-half score and burnt Mpeku in the lead-up to Ethan Blackadder\u2019s try. Replaced before the hour mark. 6<\/p>\n

13 Rieko Ioane: After his lapses in defence saw the Lions take an early lead, Ioane did his utmost to make up for his error, scoring twice in the second half. He tore the Lions up with his pace and soft hands but was guilty of a few lapses in defence. Still, he was crucial in several try-scoring plays. 7<\/p>\n

12 Timoci Tavatavanawai: A regular source for gain-line success as the Highlanders powerhouse shunted the Lions<\/a>\u2018 shirts backwards and linked up brilliantly with Ioane and co, at times. He won a nice turnover in the 12th minute and was lively throughout.\u00a07<\/p>\n

11 Emoni Narawa: Went in search of work throughout and made a cracking break from around the fringes of a ruck to set up Noah Hotham. He should have done better in the air in the early knockings of the second half, and the Lions capitalised to score. Did cross the whitewash too. He came up in the clutch to score the winning try for the All Blacks<\/a>. 7<\/p>\n

10 Richie Mo\u2019unga: There was a stark contrast to Ruben Love as Mo\u2019unga got his hands on the ball far more often than the man currently possessing the Test number 10 jersey. Mo\u2019unga had flashes of brilliance throughout his 80 minutes and ran the attack rather well, linking up nicely with Beauden Barrett at times. An overcooked kick to touch in the first half was costly though. Considering the mix-match nature of the selection and the bravery the Lions played with, Mo\u2019unga did fairly well, making good decisions more often than not but perhaps lacked a little bit of control and game management. 7<\/p>\n

9 Noah Hotham: To be frank, it was clear today why he wasn\u2019t initially picked in the All Blacks\u2019 squad. He botched his first box kick into touch and was then terribly slow and didn\u2019t look up before passing directly to Sibabalwe Mahashe, who cantered away to score. His service was sluggish in what was an error-ridden performance. 3<\/p>\n

The forwards<\/p>\n

8 Semisi Ta\u2019eiloa: Needed to get his hands onto the ball more because when he did, he wreaked havoc for the Lions\u2019 defence, but because he didn\u2019t, it was a largely quiet evening for the loose forward. A fairly solid shift. 5<\/p>\n

Springboks: Rassie Erasmus admits to \u2018bad planning\u2019 in loss to All Blacks and explains why \u2018very inspirational person\u2019 had to be recalled for second Test<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

7 Ethan Blackadder: His brace of tries were just reward for his brilliance around the park. He was brutally effective with his carries and busy in defence. He won a great turnover early on in the game, but it\u2019s worth adding that the Lions loose forwards won the battle on the deck. Few All Blacks would have really pressed for a space in the Test squad, but Blackadder certainly did. 8<\/p>\n

6 Wallace Sititi: Some hulking carries throughout his shift as he regularly required more than one defender to take him down. He made his tackles too and didn\u2019t do his Test hopes any harm. 7<\/p>\n

Springboks team: Rassie Erasmus confirms second Test decision on fitness doubt Siya Kolisi<\/a><\/p>\n

5 Patrick Tuipulotu (c): Hooked early in the second half, perhaps being saved for Saturday. Had some decent involvements overall, simply doing his job as a second rower. 6<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

4 Sam Darry: The lock really started the year well in the black jersey and continued in that way during the tour but was rather wasteful today, conceding possession far too often. He worked relentlessly and ran the lineout well, but the coaching staff would have expected more. 6<\/p>\n

3 Pasilio Tosi: Made a nice break, which he will remember fondly, while he was solid in the scrums for the most part, with the Lions really battering the All Blacks once. 6<\/p>\n

2 Samisoni Taukei\u2019aho: One skew throw ruined an otherwise flawless lineout display. He was part of a front row that held firm, with one exception, at scrum time while he carried well into contact. Enough to force his way back into the Test squad? Probably not. 5<\/p>\n

1 Siale Lauaki: Penalised a few times in the scrum when he was put under the pump. He was quiet around the park too. Played 70 minutes before trodding off the park. 4<\/p>\n

Replacements: Kyle Preston brought more whip, accuracy and direction along with\u202fAnton Lienert-Brown, which was much needed in the second half as the All Blacks launched their late comeback. Those were the two standouts from the bench who saved the All Blacks from embarrassment, but Jamie Hannah and Peter Lakai deserve credit too. 7<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Sir Steve Hansen: All Blacks \u2018in a position to win it\u2019 but must \u2018get desperate\u2019 against Springboks in Cape Town<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following the All Blacks\u2019 41-35 victory over the Lions at Ellis Park, here is how we rated Dave…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[242,348,620,50,5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-749674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-features","tag-home-page","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}