Best/Worst Players of the WC so far

Little has been made of individual players at the WC. A lot of focus has been on the individual teams, and how they are faring, and perhaps it's too early to make a comprehensive assessment of a player's form when some have only played one game.

Maybe this can be used as the torunament goes on as a forum for discussing the performance of certain players who have either played very well or very poorly, or for players who perhaps much was expected, and they failed to deliver, or little was expected, and they in fact played a key and important role in their teams' performance.

I will admit now that I have not seen every game, and neither NZ game, so I am in no great position to judge some players.

Too early miaow but i was really impressed with Warburton, a true fetcher and a potential great aged 22 and captain

Worst so far has to be Fourie du Preez, best possibly Schalk Burger

Curtly Beale is exceptional, as is sam warburton, Jerome kaino and sonny bill.

Quade Cooper has been a real disappointment for me. If you shut his space down he's no more effective than Ceiron Thomas (no offence Ceiron)

mckay1402 wrote:Quade Cooper has been a real disappointment for me. If you shut his space down he's no more effective than Ceiron Thomas (no offence Ceiron)

He defends like dan Parks too.

I was hoping Scotland would have made a better account of themselves..!

maestegmafia wrote:

mckay1402 wrote:Quade Cooper has been a real disappointment for me. If you shut his space down he's no more effective than Ceiron Thomas (no offence Ceiron)

He defends like dan Parks too.

I was hoping Scotland would have made a better account of themselves..!

Scotland have a bad habit of sinking to other teams levels. They were poor against Romania but made the formidable Georgian pack look very ordinary. Argentina will be a titanic clash and I hope we can rise to the challenge

Has Quade Cooper made any tackles yet???

O'Brien has impressed me, as has Warburton, Haskell (yes, really!) and also Bismark Du Plessis. Parra going to 10 worked well too.

Ross has been a great player for us, Darcy has not

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:
Scotland have a bad habit of sinking to other teams levels.

They also have a habit of getting other teams to sink to their level!

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

mckay1402 wrote:Quade Cooper has been a real disappointment for me. If you shut his space down he's no more effective than Ceiron Thomas (no offence Ceiron)

He defends like dan Parks too.

I was hoping Scotland would have made a better account of themselves..!

Scotland have a bad habit of sinking to other teams levels. They were poor against Romania but made the formidable Georgian pack look very ordinary. Argentina will be a titanic clash and I hope we can rise to the challenge

We saw the way Argentina controlled England until the end and i am just watching the highlights of the Argie vs Romania match, they have really improved and could well give Scotland a very tough match.

Let's hope Scotland can be at their best for the game, both sides are wonderful on their day and it would be great to see them go through.

I haven't seen all the games but the standout player for me have been:

Ma Nonu, Sonny Bill Williams, Jerome(?) Kaino, Stephen Ferris, Sam Warburton, Jamie Roberts, Todd Clever, Digbe Ione and Morne Steyn.

Nonu is the guy who has really impressed me so far. It is early days, but he really has improved over the last few seasons. Nonu and Smith have to be the NZ centre pairing. Warburton is another who has impressed, but we will see in a few hours. Slade has to be one of the worst, he managed to be dismal in such a landslide game for NZ.

Colin Slade,dropped one ball,had a pass intrecepted by a noted Poacher who ANTICIPATED it,As he has done in 4 RWCs.Missed 4 kicks at goal.But kicked 9,created several breaks with slick passing,scored a try,kicked well from hand.Had a very reasonable game for a player of only 3 or 4 starts.
Morne Steyn dropped several balls,made a couple of poor passes,missed
half his kicks at goal.But had a good all round game,he has been first choice
for several years for the Boks.
When you critcise Slade he is poor to Dan Carter,because HE is not Dan Carter.BUT he is a very decent Fly half,and has performed better the Johnnny Wilkinson for example has to date in this RWC.
JW incidentally missed MORE goal kicks,his kicking from hand poor and his distribution terrible.
Given game time he will be a very decent player,no matter who he is playing against.
Replay the Japan game and see how many passes he made to Nonu to rip open the Japan defences there were loads.

The thing about Slade is he started with a petrified look on his face and that showed early on in his kicking- missing easy ones.

He needed to settle and with the team taking over and allowing him time to settle in meant he could function as required. He may not get that against stronger teams and GH has made it clear he's looking out for those players- 'rabbits stuck in the headlights'- and that was clearly what Slade was like at the beginning. That's why he plays better as a sub- the attention on him is diverted by the time he comes on. He's way to nervous a wreck to be starting so I don't think he will again. He needs time.

No prob's with the intercept- he was amongst his own players and you'd expect the support to be there for that ball- UNLIKE the idiot pass Cooper threw away without looking at the end of the Irish match. Mistakes a la Spencer are creeping into Coopers game as just the wrong/ right time.

For me O'Connell was fantastic. Inspirational. Fourie for SA has been as solid as you would want a centre to be with perhaps Nonu shading him with more opportunities. Kaino and Smith also playing well. Beale , Genia and O'Connor still play well no matter the situation and they are 3 truly gifted players.

Hi,Taylorman,so he missed some kicks at Goal,Wilkinson ,Sexton.Patterson,Sexton.Hook,Carter have all missed too.
He was picked to back up the best Fly half in the World,he`s had very little game time.He knows he`s under a microscope,who else held there hand up
Crudon? not on his S15 form.Donald?or McAlister? no way.
You`re not asking him to start [hopefully] if and when you do Weepu is a good backup for him.
Andy Ellis is familiar with both Slade and Carter and should start.

Yes I know all that but that doesn't remove the fact that he looked obviously petrified- the others didnt. His misses were pure pressure.

They just missed their kicks. Not saying he won't if he has to. Just saying he shouldnt.

He may be a liability at the beginning of a key match that we don't recover from. Hopefully we wont be in the position where he doesnt start for us again.

No news about theSickies is there?

Problem is Dan Carter and Richie Mccaw have something like an 88%win ratio when they have started together.There natural replacements Nick Evans and Marty Holah,did`nt get game time so they went abroad,Slade
should have gone on the 2009 NH tour.Crudon was the Golden Boy ,but he could`nt kick his goals but he toured.
Unless you give a player game time he can`t improve,it`s hardly Slades fault he had hid jaw broken twice.
RWCs are cruel things,when you think of players like Frano Botica never getting on the park.Guildford looks likely to be the same,it is awful knowing you go on the park.The smallest mistake the Coach drops you and thats it.
Isaac Ross was the best thing since sliced bread in 2009,chucked in the deep end.Versus Matfield and Botha,his partner a non jumper Brad Thorn,3 losses. Despite being lauded to the skies ,unceremoniously dropped could`nt even get a game at ITM level.

yep its the cut throat of pressure in sport. The players had their chances and sometimes you need the luck.

A few weeks ago we had an embarrassment of riches at wing- Gear, Jane, Guilford, Toeava, Smith and in the space of 2 weeks we have two new ones- likely Kahui and SBW- whats that about?

Toeva has some strange hold over Ted, ever since his debut match v Scotland.He`s okay but drops to many balls for me,Guildford has`nt been given a chance.
Gear should have been picked but wasn`t,Sivivatu but for the fractured eye socket would have.
You have 4 full backs Dagg, Cory Jane,Muliana,Toeva,plus Slade.all bar Mulian a can cover wing.Kahui`s played over half his tests as wing.Cory Jane ditto.[he is probably the best full back any way].
Conrad Smith/Nonu are established centres,SBW is impact player,Weepu can cover 9/10 and is familiar with first choice mid field.
Ellis has the quickest service at 9,Cowan the best defence,Ellis is also a Dab hand at dropped goals.
Go figure,wish it was 2010 you knew where you stood teamwise then.

Yeah at least the forwards are more settled.
As long as Carter Nonu and Smith play we should be ok in the backs. There's some talent out there in some shape or form but with injuries we have this ongoing back up in weird positions going on.

We're not as bad as some teams- Oz one for example so perhaps we have to look at things on a relative basis. This year I think intensity, attitude and determination are going to matter more than sorting the wings out- provided we don't get the McCaw, Carter thing again.