Otago fell to Canterbury in their match at Christchurch yesterday. ODT Online rugby contributor Jeff Cheshire rates the players' performances.
Matt Faddes 6.5/10: Did well with the ball he saw, look okay with ball in hand and came up with a couple of timely plays, notably an intercept while hard on defence and a good breakdown turnover.
Kieran Moffat 6/10: Strong on defence, came up out of the line to shut down the Canterbury backline and did so well, made a few mistakes on attack but was generally pretty solid.
Jayden Spence 6/10: Tidy on attack just filling a gap and doing his job, while defending well and making his tackles, ensuring that Ryan Crotty didn't wreck havoc in the midfield.
Fa'asiu Fuatai 7/10: Ran dangerously in space and looked keen to do so too. He did well to chase down Breen's kick to score Otago's only try, running past Tom Taylor. Like most of the backs he had less to do in the second half.
Hayden Parker 7.5/10: Pulled the strings well, particularly in the first half where he kicked well and made sure Otago got the better of the territory stakes. Looked keen to create when in good field position too, but loses half a mark for a couple of missed tackles.
Fumiaki Tanaka 7/10: Passed well as always, even when he was getting dished up bad ball. Generally took the right options and scrapped around the breakdown to make himself annoying to the opposition.
Paul Grant 6.5/10: Tackled well and became more prominent in the second half, although he didn't get so many chances running the ball as it really just wasn't that sort of game.
Hugh Blake 7/10: Made plenty of tackles and was fast to and effective at the breakdown, just getting in the way and messing up the Canterbury ball. Didn't really feature on attack, but was very good considering he has seen little rugby this year.
Gareth Evans 7/10: Was good defensively, made some good one-on-one tackles that had to be made in the line, while also looking keen to run when he got the chance. Very good at lineout time too, being so explosive off the mark he was good snatching at the front both on attack and defence.
Tom Franklin 8/10: Good in the middle and back of the lineout on both attack and defence, but even better around the field where he made a truck-load of tackles and made a few good runs. His critique would be the way the Otago scrum struggled all day.
Tom Donnelly 7/10: Another who was very good at lineout time, while also adding some physicality in general play. Has found some good form after a couple of average performances early on, which can only be a good thing.
Scott Manson 4.5/10: Was always going to be up against it at scrum time and struggled against a powerful Canterbury front-row, while also being beaten a couple of times on defence. Looked alright in close and kept trying until he was replaced at the 55 minute mark.
Liam Coltman 6.5/10: A little bit quiet compared to his normal standard but was still pretty good, making tackles and getting his hands on the ball a bit. Generally threw well into the lineout, which has been the big difference between his game this year and last year.
Craig Millar 5.5/10: Mobile around the field, supporting play well and making tackles, but like Manson he struggled in the scrums.
Sam Anderson-Heather (No rating): Got the final eight minutes and got stuck in to the tight stuff, didn't really have enough time to impose himself though.
Tama Tuirirangi 5/10: May have been slightly better than Manson at the scrum, but was still under all sorts of pressure. Added energy around the field, getting the rucks and making tackles.
Charlie O'Connell 6/10: Was on during a period where Otago were on defence most of the time, but he worked hard as always and didn't shy away.
TJ Ioane 6/10: Made a couple of runs but didn't see much ball and was mainly consigned to tackling, which he did so well.
Willis Scott (No rating): Got the final eight minutes and notably secured the breakdown penalty which put Otago in the position to get a bonus point.
Josh Renton (No rating): Provided good service with a crisp pass, tried to run once but was held up by the strong Canterbury forwards.
Michael Collins 6/10: Not much to do on attack but saw that the Canterbury backline didn't get through on defence and was part of a good defensive effort in the mid-late second half.
