Rugby: Player ratings - Highlanders vs Brumbies

Dan Pryor of the Highlanders is tackled during the round 11 Super Rugby match between the...
Dan Pryor of the Highlanders is tackled during the round 11 Super Rugby match between the Brumbies and the Highlanders at GIO Stadium. Photo by Getty Images.
ODT Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire rates the Highlanders players after their loss to the Brumbies on Friday night.

Trent Renata 5/10: Hardly got a chance, due to the fact that the Highlanders could not hold the ball long enough for him to inject himself. Made one good run, although had a miscommunication which caused a bad pass on another.

Waisake Naholo 6/10: Looked dangerous when he did see the ball, which was not all that often. Was pretty tidy elsewhere, other than his defensive blunder which nearly resulted in a try to Henry Speight.

Richard Buckman 6.5/10: Defended bravely going up against one of the most destructive centres in the world. Went looking for turnovers at the breakdown too and did a good job slowing the Brumbies ball down.

Shaun Treeby 5/10: Really needed to provide more of a threat in the absence of Fekitoa, although ran a nice angle to score his try.

Patrick Osborne 5/10: Looked dangerous with ball in hand and tried to get involved, but threw a few too many poor passes as well.

Lima Sopoaga 4.5/10: Was trying to create and at times was the liveliest Highlander, but just did not kick well and dropped too many balls.

Fumiaki Tanaka 4.5/10: Struggled and was under a ton of pressure which caused him to deliver some poor passes. Admittedly he did not receive much protection from his forwards.

Nasi Manu 6.5/10: The best Highlander in the first half and was pretty good in the second too. Made an impact carrying the ball and kept tackling.

James Lentjes 4/10: Was constantly beaten to the breakdown by a better and quicker opposition, which did not help in holding onto the ball. Got dragged after 35 minutes.

Elliot Dixon 6/10: Made his tackles and had a couple of good runs. Was a safe target at the back of the lineout.

Joe Wheeler 6/10: Typical sort of performance from Wheeler. Made his tackles.

Tom Franklin 5/10: Was solid in the lineout and played pretty well in the first 20 minutes of the second half, being fairly prominent on defence during that period.

Pingi Tala'apitangi 4.5/10: Won a scrum penalty, but did not make much of an impact around the field.

Liam Coltman 5/10: Seemed pretty urgent on defence and had good line speed and made plenty o tackles, but had a couple of lapses on attack where he was too late arriving as the supporting player.

Kane Hames 4/10: Looked like a player who has not played a lot of rugby of late. Virtually anonymous in general play and did not make an impact at set-piece.

Ash Dixon 6/10: Got pretty stuck in, ran into contact hard and threw well into the lineout.

Brendon Edmunds 7/10: Seemed to keep popping up around the field, both on attack and defence. Added some much needed spark to the tight five.

Josh Hohneck 6/10: Pretty solid and looked more urgent in his support play than the starters.

Joe Latta 7/10: Had a tough induction to Super Rugby but did really well. Threw himself around and got highly involved in the tight.

Gareth Evans 6.5/10: Ranged wide quite a lot and made a few good tackles in the open.

Dan Pryor 7.5/10: Made a huge difference with his intensity and speed around the park. Showed great desperation on defence and just kept on going.

Josh Renton 5/10: Like Latta, Renton had a tough induction to Super Rugby. On the whole not horrible, but was still taking an extra step sideways when passing and threw a dumb no-look pass at a crucial moment.

Jason Emery 6/10: Pretty solid, defended well and attacked the breakdown. Not too many chances on attack.

 

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