All Blacks player ratings: Debutants Josh Moorby and Anton Segner shine off the pine in Italy romp
Saturday, 11 July 2026
ANALYSIS: They took some time to warm into their work, but the All Blacks eventually made comfortable work of Italy in their second Nations Championship test.
Dave Rennie is now two from two as coach, after his side ran away to a 47-17 victory in Wellington on Saturday evening.
Here are The Post’s All Blacks player ratings from their bonus-point win at a freezing-cold Cake Tin.
15. Damian McKenzie: Dropped an early high ball but otherwise limited the errors from last week and was always a willing, threatening carrier from the backfield. 7
14. Will Jordan: Coughed up a ball which led to the Italians’ game-opening try, and sent a wide pass forward, but they were blips on an otherwise memorable history-making night, as the fantastic flyer scored a hat-trick to break Doug Howlett’s record and become the highest try-scorer in All Blacks’ history, with 50. Logged a game-high 92 metres, was equal with McKenzie for defenders beaten (5), won a ruck turnover and then even took the captaincy late-on. 9
13. Billy Proctor: Early black mark for getting powered past by Menoncello for that early Italy five-pointer, but then got busy with ball in hand late in the first half. Also won a key turnover early in the second when diving on loose ball near his line. 7
12. Jordie Barrett: Didn’t show off his running game, but showed nice touch with his grubber-kicking, with one leading to a try, while his beautiful wide pass proved the catalyst for Jordan’s record-breaker. 7
11. Leroy Carter: Big chance unfortunately ended after just half-hour due to shoulder injury. A couple of nice runs before that, highlighted by silky chase, regather and offload for Jordan’s first try. 7
10. Ruben Love: Another composed display in second start in the driver’s seat, not overplaying his hand or trying anything outrageous. His first kick in general play didn’t come till the 50th minute, with his second being a 50-22, while he also nailed 6/7 off the tee. 7
9. Cam Roigard: Another test, another try for the brilliant halfback, who was yet again running a fine follow-up line. Showed his good dancing feet from the base to evade white shirts. 7
8. Ardie Savea: Fine knock from the skipper as usual. No classic turnover wins, but plenty of venom in his 16 carries (for 59 metres), while he also logged 10 tackles without a miss. 7
7. Luke Jacobson: Followed up last week’s stand-out showing with another fine effort, including one great burst and a nice offload, without having to do too much defensively, before being a surprise halftime substitution. 6
6. Wallace Sititi: Ended the game as the All Blacks’ highest carrier (18) and tackle-maker (13), and was also top for offloads (4) but it was an uncharacteristically error-prone one where his hands let him down on numerous occasions and he copped a game-high two penalties. 5
5. Tupou Vaa’i: Solid if not spectacular return to the side. Just the one lineout ball his way, while he helped to dive in and stop Menoncello on the tryline, then crashed over to score himself at the end. 6
4. Sam Darry: Followed up last week’s starring effort by burrowing over for opening All Blacks try (his second in test footy, both coming in Wellington). Got stuck into his work well, but did send one bad pass to touch. 6
3. Tyrel Lomax: Copped one tough-looking penalty at scrum-time, but otherwise a good display as he continues his run back to full fitness. One nice full 360 pirouette on attack where he then tucked and ran. 6
2. Codie Taylor: An ill-disciplined display from the veteran, who was free-kicked at a scrum for no brake foot, produced a cardinal sin in-front-of-kicker infringement at a restart, and was also pinged for a neck roll. 4
1. Ethan de Groot: Laid a solid scrum platform, barged over for a fifth career try, and even produced a nice between-the-legs pass to continue his improving silky handling play. 7
RESERVES
16. Samisoni Taukei’aho (Taylor, 49min): Powerful and impactful half-hour, with plenty of renowned hard carries. Could he and Aumua potentially be used together? 7
17. George Bower (de Groot, 49min): Scrum stayed true enough in his time on the park. Showed nice hands on one low pass, then dropped another ball. 6
18. Pasilio Tosi (Lomax, 49min): The 140kg heavyweight packs a real ball-carrying punch, and showed some good signs. 6
19. Josh Lord (Savea, 66min): Dropped his first lineout take, then got into the thick of things. 5
20. Anton Segner (Jacobson, 41min): The first German-born All Black was thrust into the fray to start the second half and was immediately impressive with dynamic and strong carries, while also making some fine tackles. Really fine debut. 8
21. Cortez Ratima (Roigard, 58min): Had another heart-in-mouth box-kick charge-down on own line, before one nice run up the middle. 5
22. Anton Lienert-Brown (Barrett, 58min): Bit of a forgotten man gave a reminder of his class with a nice, involved cameo, including a lovely-weighted kick to pin Italy back. 7
23. Josh Moorby (Carter, 32min): Injected earlier than expected due to Carter’s misfortune, and produced a brilliant debut display, on his 28th birthday no less. First touch was magnificent, carrying in two hands and unselfishly sent Roigard over to score, while also stayed composed after being brought down just short on another fine break. Ended with 86 metres off eight carries, with a game-high four linebreaks, and also made a very good tackle out wide on his own line. 9