Well, really enjoyable to watch from an All Blacks fan perspective. The first half was pretty awesome. I attribute the second half being less spectacular due to the substitutions, for the most part they were totally outperformed by the starters.
1. Tony Woodcock: Probably his best game in the last four years I think. The scrums went particularly well when he was in, in fact him and Franks certainly seemed to have the dominant scrum in the first 40. After the changes came we simply lost all dominance and in fact got hammered. He was also generally very tidy with his carries, and did good work at the breakdown. 8/10.
2. Dan Coles: Though he played better than Mealamu. Other than blowing the final pass, he showed good speed in making the break. Made plenty of tackles. For me he's probably our first choice hooker now. 7/10.
3. Owen Franks: Put him good hits on defense and again was part of a solid first half scrum, when he was replaced for Faumuina it really hurt our scrum. His carries were also tidy and helped secure great ball at the breakdown. 7.5/10
4. Retallick: A bit of a quieter game I felt. He cleaned out rucks reasonably well and our lineout was generally alright, but not a special game from him. 6.5/10
5. Sam Whitelock: Pretty much the same as Retallick, both made a relatively high number of tackles, hit the breakdowns etc, but nothing really note worthy. 6.5/10
6. Jerome Kaino: Great to see him back at 6! I felt our balance in the backrow felt right in the first half. Was very physical in the contact area, not sure I can think of many players who refuse to go down and muscle their way over the advantage line like him. Good game. 7.5/10.
7. Richie McCaw: I thought he had his best game of the series by far. Made the most number of tackles of any player on the field, and I felt he was pretty accurate in taking the ball before contact, which he seemed to have trouble with in previous tests. 7.5/10
8. Kieran Read: Great to see him back, I think he made a big difference just in terms of option taking. Not sure why he came of, maybe precautionary due to his fitness? Hope it was nothing more than that. 7/10
9. Aaron Smith: Not only two great tries, his option taking was right this game. Sure, we always expect him to provide great delivery, but it was nice to see his linking game and his option taking going so well. 8/10
10. Aaron Cruden: Best game since his return. He was spotting gaps and showing a bit of his speed to exploit them. He was quite luck he didn't blow Savea's second try with that big pass, but to be fair he wasn't bad at all. I love seeing him doing some more wrap-around plays as I think that's when he's near his best. 8/10.
11. Julian Savea: Well...three tries against England..23 tries in 22 tests...Every time he touched the ball he made good decisions, whether it meant passing it back infield or bumping off anyone who tried to tackle him. His tackle on Yarde to take him out was special. Surely the best finisher in the world as well, unstoppable near the line. 9/10
12. Ma'a Nonu: Another good game. One of his kicks was simply beautiful, though it means he'll continue to think he's a playmaking 12...That said no complaints really this game, he was busier, got some nice turnovers and was the All Blacks only distributing centre. 7.5/10
13. Malaki Fekitoa: My only real criticism of him before the game was that he rarely passed, instead taking it himself. In the first half he did exactly that and perhaps cost us some scoring opportunities. In the second half it seems he was told to pass more, which resulted in him taking all the wrong options of when to pass. Second test and first starting so it can be forgiven, and he was good as usual in defense, and showed glimpses of what he can do ball in hand. With that said, plenty to improve on. 6/10.
14. Cory Jane: He needed a good game, and he had a pretty good one. His fend seemed to be working again and was a bit better under the high ball. Not sure if it's enough to keep Piatau out, but was certainly an improvement. 7.5/10
15. Ben Smith: Another very good game from Ben Smith. The guy has a huge work-rate for a fullback, and reads where space is very well. Hopefully this will convince the coaches that he's better than Dagg! 8/10
16. Keven Mealamu: Don't recall him doing anything special at all, and our scrum was suffering when he came on. 6/10.
17. Charlie Faumuina: I don't rate his scrummaging at all. England admittedly replaced their front row and both Brookes and Mullan seemed to provide impact, but Faumuina was pretty pants. 4.5/10.
18. Wyatt Crockett: Well, he got a yellow card and remains a penalty machine. He joined a losing scrum so can't really criticize his scrummaging too much. Still, not a positive impact. 5.5/10
19. Patrick Tuipolotu: Really got a bit of a token sub in the last few minutes. For the short time he was on he looked reasonably good. 6.5/10.
20. Liam Messam: Offered no impact in my opinion. He did what he does, and he made a reasonable number of tackles when he was on, but none of them stopped England making 3-4m past the advantage line. He got a lot of credit for a turnover which was really him catching a ball and passing it, as someone else (Woodcock?) ripped the ball out. Either way, we seemed to lack physicality when he came on and I think if we were to replace Read at halftime, Vito would have done a much better job. 5.5/10
21. TJ Peranara: I like him, but he slowed the game down too much, and he still takes that half step before he passes. His option taking wasn't amazing either, yes we scored a try eventually by just constantly hitting the blindside, but it was really just through magic by Cory Jane. Felt his decision making wasn't great and his delivery was a step down from Smith. 6.5/10
22. Beuden Barrett: Again was probably a small step down from Cruden. His running game was pretty decent but some of his kicks were pretty uninspired. His defense wasn't bad though. 7/10
23. Ryan Crotty: Ironically probably made the most impact of the subs in his short time on. Great defensive work, especially that textbook hit on Yarde. 7.5/10
