Australia has kicked off their Pacific Championships campaign with a comfortable 38-12 win against a brave Samoa in Townsville.
The Kangaroos, led by the fearsome front row duo of Payne Haas and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, got off to a red-hot start but Samoa hung tough as the Aussies kept them in the game with some simple errors.
A couple of test debutants in the centres also had outstanding nights and Australia proved too classy in the end.
Read on for foxsports.com.au’s Kangaroos player ratings.
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1. JAMES TEDESCO – 8
Broke the line with ease to go over for the game’s second try, embarrassing a classy Samoa right edge. Made seven tackle busts from just 10 runs, recorded two line breaks and ran for 142 metres. A good night out for the skipper.
2. DYLAN EDWARDS – 7
Other than a simple error in the first half, he didn’t look out of place in his representative debut in a position somewhat foreign to him. Even on the wing, his metre-eating ways didn’t fall by the wayside, as he ran for the second-most metres of any Kangaroo (144).
3. HAMISO TABUAI-FIDOW – 9.5
Impressive test debut. Showed the turn of foot of an Everest-winner when scoring his first try from deep inside Australia’s end, making something out of nothing. “That is a side of sensational,” Andrew Voss said on Fox League. Crossed from short range to score his second try, which broke a second half stalemate. Laid a bone-crunching hit on Brian To’o late in the game.
4. KOTONI STAGGS – 9
Thought he was exceptional in his international debut. Opened up the defence early in the game but couldn’t hit the pass back inside, which would have resulted in a try. Looked threatening all night and wasn’t afraid to hit hard in defence. Scored the try he deserved with five seconds left, chasing down a lovely grubber. Kicked goals as well, ending up with a personal haul of 14 points.
5. SELWYN COBBO – 6.5
Caught napping in defence a couple of times, one of those moments resulted in a Samoa try when Murray Taulagi got behind him to chase down a grubber. Apart from that, he made some tough runs out of his own end and seemed to make all of them count. Fox League’s Corey Parker said the winger’s spot may be under pressure with Val Holmes waiting in the wings and Staggs and Tabuai-Fidow impressing in the centres.
6. CAMERON MUNSTER – 8
Seemingly had his hands in everything in the first half, setting up two tries. Threatening with the ball but did miss a couple of key tackles. Pretty decent night.
7. DALY CHERRY-EVANS – 7
Led the team around the park well and did all that he had to in a team full of stars but didn’t shine. His best moment of the night came in the dying moments when putting in a pinpoint grubber to set up a Staggs try. Solid outing.
8. PAYNE HAAS – 9.5
Played just 44 minutes but he made all of them count. Committed an early knock on but quickly put it out of his mind as soon after he barged over from ten meters out for the first try with four defenders draped over him. His first 15 minutes was sheer dominance (72 metres, four tackle busts, try), with he and front row partner Tino Fa’asuamaleaui moving the ball down the field with ease with Samoa always on the back foot during that span. Finished with 141 metres from 14 runs, six tackle busts and 13 tackles with no misses.
9. BEN HUNT – 6
Set up Tino’s first half try with some classy work from dummy-half. Wasn’t a threat running the ball, only carrying it once for four metres. Service was good but he didn’t impact the game heavily during his 41 minutes on the park.
Edwards among debutants for Kangaroos | 00:52
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10. TINO FA’ASUAMALEAUI – 9.5
He had an excellent first stint (26mins), which included a try from close range in addition to five tackle busts and 90 running metres. As mentioned, he and Payne Haas were the tone setters for the Kangaroos during their dominant first 20 minutes which saw Australia open up to a 22-0 lead. The only critique was letting a late consolation try go begging after dropping a sitter when a gaping hole opened up.
11. CAMERON MURRAY – 7
Pinned the ears back and backed himself when scoring his first half try, seeing the gap on the left edge. Worked hard all night.
12. LIAM MARTIN – 6.5
Injected himself into the game with plenty of venom in defence. Tried hard as always but others were better.
13. ISAAH YEO – 8
Gave off a lovely short ball to Payne Haas to set up the first try. Did some good things in attack and was flawless in defence, recording 27 tackles with zero misses.
INTERCHANGE BENCH:
14. HARRY GRANT – 6
Split the load with Ben Hunt, playing the middle 40 minutes. Worked hard in defence as the game came to a bit of a standstill.
15. LINDSAY COLLINS – 7.5
He may not have had the impact with ball in hand as the starting front row of Haas and Tino but the Roosters big man should be pretty happy with his body of work. In just 37 minutes off the bench, he had 34 tackles. Quite the effort.
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16. PAT CARRIGAN – 7
Strong impact off the bench, running for just under 100 metres (95) from eight runs.
17. REUBEN COTTER – 7
Seldom lets his team down and just thrives at representative level. Played 30 high-impact minutes off the bench, running for 78 metres from seven hit-ups.
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