We take a look at five players who flopped during todays Autumn Nations Series action, which includes two underperforming England stars.
#1. Jack van Poortvliet (England)
Jack van Poortvliet of England is tackled by Richie Mo’unga of New Zealand during the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
Telegraph 3/10: "His worst game in an England shirt. His loose pass got intercepted by Dalton Papali’i while he got exposed by Ardie Savea at the base of the ruck. "
Planet Rugby 3/10: "Dreadful day for the young scrum-half. Bad error for the intercept and then got caught a couple of times."
Mail Online 3/10: "Nightmare third start for youngster and interception pass on four minutes put England on back foot."
Rugby Pass 6/10: "A kicking error soon followed, as did the horribly intercepted pass for the opening Dalton Papali’i try, and it didn’t get better, a soft ruck knock-on and a blocked kick by Scott Barrett further blotting his report card. Gone on 53 minutes."
#2. Alex Cuthbert (Wales)
Wales Online 3/10: "Closed down wide out but it was from a Cuthbert carry that Jac Morgan went over for his second try. While the Ospreys man looked for work, he missed a couple of tackles, never really threatened and a yellow card was a blot on his copybook. He's better than this."
Rugby Pass 3/10: "Got shepherded into touch by Niniashvili early on and received a yellow card. Didn’t manage to make much of a positive impact."
#3.Jonny Hill (England)
Tele
Telegraph 5/10: "England’s main source of line-out ball but failed to impose himself physically and got bullied by the New Zealand pack."
Mail Online 5/10: "Tougher day than against Japan last week and outplayed by two greats in Retallick and Whitelock"
Planet Rugby 5/10: "Really struggled to make an impact in the loose. Stole a couple of lineouts but looked unsure of himself in the other areas of the game."
Jonny Hill of England is tackled by Rieko Ioane of New Zealand during the Autumn International Series match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham, London on 19 November 2022 (Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK)
#4. Fraser Brown (Scotland)
Rugby Pass 6/10: "The 33-year-old was excellent last week but didn’t have the same impact here. Will be disappointed with a couple of underthrown lineouts early in the second half. Off with a quarter of the game to go."
#5. Louis Rees-Zammit (Wales)
Wales Online 4/10:"Not his best day, not by a long chalk. He kicked well but spilled a high ball and the Georgians had him under lock and key when he tried to take the ball forward. Rees-Zammit can run like the wind, but it was the brilliant opposition full-back Davit Niniashvilie who stole the show with ball in hand."
Rugby Pass 4.5/10: "Kicked well, didn’t get carried away with running everything, but struggled in the second half. Dropped a few crucial high balls. Outperformed by Niniashvili."
If Wales' best attacking game-plan is to have one of the worlds best wingers Louis Rees-Zammit play at fullback and punt all the possession away then I would suggest they go searching for some new coaches.