Wallabies player ratings: How the men in gold performed against Japan

How Australia’s players performed in Saturday’s 56-17 win over Japan in Townsville.Tom Wright – 6Had a first half to mostly forget, with decent attacking involvements offset by some clunky ones, and an ill-judged decision to run from his own half which saw him get isolated and give Japan entry, which they turned into a try. Easily the most instinctive of all Wallabies attackers but that can be a double-edged sword.Max Jorgensen – 7.5A nice run lead to Australia’s first try, and some superb aerial work from Jorgensen in the middle of the game was one of the big reasons why the Wallabies started to get on top. Such a dangerous runner when given a sniff of space. More please.Isaac Henry – 7.5Ewen McKenzie described Henry as Jesse Kriel-like during the week, and that’s a good call. Henry is a ball of muscle who is not only hard to bring down, he’s a solid hitter in defence, too. His hole run for Ryan Lonergan’s disallowed try was ‘chef’s kiss’. Backing Henry is one of Les Kiss’ best calls so far.Hunter Paisami – 8Paisami is making the most of these rare starts for the Wallabies, and he’s given Kiss a headache, with Len Ikitau due back for the next Tests against Argentina. Powerful, skilful and smart – on both sides of the ball – Paisami set the tone for the whole Wallabies side, as far as the direct footy required to punch through Japan.Hunter Paisami runs the ball in Townsville.Getty ImagesHarry Potter – 6It wasn’t really a day to be a winger, given the Wallabies learned their best way to score was using the big boys at the other end of the team sheet. Potter was busy, as ever, but didn’t make a huge impact; his one long run across the field, that avoided six defenders but didn’t make a metre, probably summed things up.Carter Gordon – 7There was inevitable rustiness from Carter, who hasn’t played in several weeks. And the Wallabies’ flow and confused attack in the first half probably suffered from that. But Gordon was solid and grew into the game. He was one of the stronger defenders, too.Carter Gordon runs the ball during the match against JapanGetty ImagesRyan Lonergan – 7Marshalled the Wallaby forward runners nicely and kept the home team’s attack on top of Japan when they had the pill. Also kicked all his goals – have Australia finally found a reliable goalkicker? Marks off for conceding a try when he kicked a clearance straight into the Japanese eclipse – 206cm lock Harry Hockings.Harry Wilson (c) – 6.5Industrious performance, as usual, that saw the skipper stick his hand up for some tough carries. Rewarded with a late try.Carlo Tizzano was superb in Townsville.Getty ImagesCarlo Tizzano – 9Yet again the Wallabies are blessed with two world-class opensides at the same time. Can we toss a bit of that magic flanker water over the five-eighths when they stand together please? Tizzano was simply outstanding, and his three steals in the second half all but snuffed out any hope of Japan staying in this game.Charlie Cale – 7Cale produces his fair share of highlight-reel moments but you can be sure coaches love seeing head-down, bum-up efforts like this just as much. Not flashy but plenty productive. Equal top tackler for the Wallabies, and equal second-highest carrier. Grabbed some lineout steals, too.Lukhan Salakaia-Loto – 6.5Has embraced being a big enforcer and we saw that in his return to the Test team. Charged into the defence several times. Looked a bit cooked towards the end of his stint but that’s probably understandableLachlan Shaw – 6.5Had a bumpy entry into Test rugby off the bench in July but this was a much steadier day out for Shaw, in the starting pack. Contributed across the park with his trademark high workrate, and threw himself into defence.Taniela Tupou – 8.5There are days when Taniela seems like he is everywhere, and on those days, the Wallabies rarely lose. Charged like a rhino near the line and scored two unstoppable tries, defended with starch and (mostly) handled the ball with aplomb. Confidence is sky-high.Josh Nasser – 6.5Scored a nice try after a supporting chase, and threw well at the lineout again. But also seemed hampered with a leg injury in the first half, and was replaced by Brandon Paenga-Amosa at half-time.Angus Bell – 8When it comes to ratings, Bell can suffer from the same problem as a Michael Hooper or a Rob Valetini. Their bar is so consistently high, you can overlook how good an “average” night at the office is. The Waratahs prop topped the tackle count, scored a try, hit bulk rucks, carried powerfully and was part of a dominant scrum.Angus Bell of the Wallabies scores a try.Getty ImagesRESERVESBrandon Paenga-Amosa – 8Having missed the team in Osaka, BPA looked keen to make an impression on Les Kiss. And boy oh boy, did he make an impression. Outstanding and energetic 40-minute effort from the bench hooker, who seemed almost magnetically connected to the ball.Aidan Ross – 6Tidy cameo from the bench was part of the Wallabies’ pushover try in the second half.Massimo De Lutiis – 7Some Wallabies debutants get minutes at the end of a thrashing, and carry a dusty memory. Not Wallaby No.1000, who scored a try within minutes of getting on, was part of a pushover and saw his side post 50 points. Not bad.Jeremy Williams – 7High quality from the bench, and you do wonder if Kiss will bring Williams back into the starting side when the dust has settled.Fraser McReight – 6.5Limited minutes – Kiss said they’d planned to bring him on earlier – but McReight still did his thing, grabbing one steal and attacking in open space. Interesting question: will the Wallabies play McReight and Tizzano together against a bigger opponent?Tate McDermott – 6.5Probably the smoothest performance from McDermott off the bench this year. Starting to get that deadly attacking threat back, after a long layoff.Ben Donaldson – 6Solid effort from the bench, with some nice kicking and awareness of space out wide.Filipo Daugunu – 6Looked like he wanted to get 30 touches with his limited game time, and may have got close.Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners