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Head coach Steve Hansen lauded his captain Richie McCaw as the “greatest player in New Zealand’s history” after witnessing the All Blacks skipper leading his side to a second consecutive Rugby World Cup triumph in the win over Australia.
Separated by the Webb Ellis Cup in the post-match press conference, Hansen said that while it was not up to him to decide if this victorious crop of All Blacks were the greatest to have played the game as a team, he gave McCaw his seal of approval.
“With regards to whether it’s the greatest team, that’s for others to decide,” Hansen said. “For the players, I know a bit more about them and yes, I think he probably is the greatest All Black we’ve ever had, and Dan [Carter] is a close second.
“The only thing that probably separates them is that one’s a flanker, and he shouldn’t play 148 Test matches as a flanker, that’s unheard of. You put your body on the line every time you play there and there was a lot of talk going into this game about the loose-forward trio and I think without wanting to be disrespectful to the others who played really well I thought our trio won that battle, and McCaw was the leader of our trio.”
However, it was Carter who was named man of the match afterwards and rightly so. The fly-half contributed 19 points which included a drop-goal and penalty that took the wind out of Australia’s sails when they had fought back from 21-3 down to trail by just four points.
Show all 30 1 /30New Zealand vs Australia player ratings New Zealand vs Australia player ratings <b>New Zealand:</b> Ben Smith - 6 out of 10 A trusty pair of hands under the high ball but he needs to work on his tackling after a tip tackle earned him a yellow card and allowed Australia back into the game. Made up for it by setting up the third try to kill the game off.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 14. Nehe Milner-Skudder - 7 out of 10 Threatened with two good runs before he delivered to finish a good team try for the All Blacks on the stroke of half-time.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 13. Conrad Smith - 7 out of 10 Cut a lovely line to create the space outside for Milner-Skudder to score the opener, but what must have been an injury ended his game at the break. Sparked the back line into life in the first half though.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 12. Ma'a Nonu - 8 out of 10 Saved his best for last as the inside centre set the tone with a barn-storming run inside the first minute. Took his try very well to cut inside and out-pace Mitchell, and he rode off into the sunset in style.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 11. Julian Savea - 5 out of 10 Strangely enough you wouldn’t have known he was on the pitch for the large part. Had two half-breaks in the first half but was turned over in both ensuing tackles, and his work-rate was very disappointing. Couldn’t catch Kuridrani for the Australian’s second try.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 10. Dan Carter - 9 out of 10 Absolutely brilliant in every department. Not only did carter contribute 19 points with his trusty left boot, but he also put in the most tackles as the Wallabies tried to intimidate him. Caught slightly late by Kepu but got up to take centre stage.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 9. Aaron Smith - 7 out of 10 Much better than his semi-final appearance and he pushed the borders of the offside rule to hurry Genia and disrupt the ball. Tactical kicking was much more precise.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 1. Joe Moody - 7 out of 10 Gave the All Blacks a solid platform to work with that only got stronger as time wore on. Very good in defence as he rocked Folau early.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 2. Dane Coles - 8 out of 10 Ultra-reliable in the lineout but it was in the loose that he excelled today. Popped up on the wing in the first-half to make all of 20 metres, and showed a turn off pace too.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 3. Owen Franks - 6 out of 10 Slightly disappointing as he was singled out in the scrum for binding on the arm, and he was just off the pace in defence that Australia tried to expose. Replaced short of the hour by Ben Franks.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 4. Broadie Retallick - 7 out of 10 Like he does so often he gained the hard yards around the fringes. Didn’t feature as prominently in the lineout as Read and Whitelock did the bulk of the work.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 5. Sam Whitelock - 8 out of 10 Charged down Genia early on as the All Blacks made a flying start. Dominant in the air from both restarts and in the lineout, and he was a unit in defence too.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 6. Jerome Kaino - 7 out of 10 Ran with a ferocity that made him a nightmare to stop, and did a lot of the unseen work. However, one of those ‘unseen’ incidents saw a forearm smash go unpunished that probably warranted a yellow.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 7. Richie McCaw - 7 out of 10 The bulk of his work was in defence, but he was in the right place at the right time to suck in the defence and deliver the pass for Milner-Skudder to go over afterwards. The big question now is will he stay on?
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 8. Kieran Read - 7 out of 10 Read took a prominent role in the lineout and given that he was supposed to be targeted at the restart, he coped extremely well.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings <b>Australia:</b> Israel Folau - 8 out of 10 A marked improvement on last weekend’s display and he looked like the threatening full-back we know he can be. Smashed early on but he recovered well and put New Zealand’s defence in a spin at times.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 14. Adam Ashley-Cooper - 6 out of 10 Kept very quiet throughout as he was starved of ball. After the joy of the semi-finals, he will have been disappointed with the impact on the game.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 13. Tevita Kuridrani - 7 out of 10 Again he stepped up to do a fair share of the running, and he was in support to take Foley’s offload and score the second Wallaby try to give them real hope of a comeback.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 12. Matt Giteau - 5 out of 10 Had very little time to impose on the game as New Zealand kept the ball away from him. Left the field shortly before the half hour mark with little idea what planet he was on, and didn’t return from a Head Injury Assessment. Replaced by Kurtley Beale.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 11. Drew Mitchell - 6 out of 10 Saw a lot of the ball and tried his most to do something with it, but he tired dramatically as the game wore on, and two knock-ons late on paved the way for Beauden Barrett’s final score.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 10. Bernard Foley - 7 out of 10 Accurate with the boot as he landed all three of his kicks, and he used his awareness to find space before setting up Kuridrani for his try.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 9. Will Genia - 6 out of 10 Given little time around the fringes but he was able to get the ball away on most occasions. When he didn’t it proved costly, although his tactical kicking was good.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 1. Scott Sio - 7 out of 10 A rock in the scrum that suddenly fell apart on the hour when the Wallabies were decimated and driven off the ball. However, he’s had a phenomenally impressive campaign and one scrum won’t knock what was another strong showing.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 2. Stephen Moore - 6 out of 10 Struggled to impose in both attack and defence as the barrelling runs he enjoyed last weekend went AWOL. Taken off shy of the hour as a man who looked like he’d given it his all though.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 3. Sekope Kepu - 6 out of 10 His tackle on Carter was judged to be late, but on another day it would have gone unsanctioned. His second high shot was a bit clearer and deserved the penalty. Got the better of Owen Franks, which isn’t something many people can say.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 4. Kane Douglas - 5 out of 10 Forced off after just 13 minutes after being hurt in a nasty fall. His replacement, Dean Mumm, excelled in defence as he led with a team high of 15 tackles.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 5. Rob Simmons - 6 out of 10 At times it looked like he needed to do just a little bit more to help get his side on the front foot, and his poor missed tackle on Keven Mealamu towards the end was one of a man exhausted.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 6. Scott Fardy - 6 out of 10 As been as crucial to the Wallabies’ back-three as his two widely-praised colleagues, but today just wasn’t his day. Looked half a yard off the pace, though that says more about the All Blacks than it does Fardy.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 7. Michael Hooper - 8 out of 10 Phenomenal in the first half as he gave New Zealand nightmares at the breakdown with three pivotal turnovers in quick succession when Australia were under the kosh.
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New Zealand vs Australia player ratings 8. David Pocock - 8 out of 10 Put in another standout performance to get the Wallabies back into the game and it was only fair that it was the No 8 who scored the first try. His titanic battle at the breakdown was intriguing to watch, but for once it couldn’t change the result.
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But Carter, in his final appearance before international retirement, also made the most tackles of any New Zealander with 12, and his determination to put his 2011 World Cup demons to bed – when he missed the final through injury – were plain to see in his performance.
“I’m pretty grateful to be where I am,” Carter said after the match. “After four years ago, having to sit and watch my team-mates play in the final, to win back-to-back World Cups is a dream come true. It’s just a special feeling to be part of this team.”
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