Rogues gallery

Monday 23 November 2009
Published By: Ben Welch
International Rugby > Australia

Last week we took a look at the best players in each position from the full programme of autumn internationals, but this weekend brought us a number of under-par performances from big names, as well as shock defeats and inexcusable errors. So who were the villains of the week?

Mauro Comuzzi (Argentina)

You could blame the whole Argentinean pack for Wales' first try, when Stephen Jones took a tap-and-go penalty to sprint into the corner. But the referee had just told the captain to have a word with his forwards, so they can just about be forgiven for not paying attention. Comuzzi, however, was simply caught napping and hadn't even noticed Jones until the fly-half was halfway to the line. Such a mistake wouldn't even be acceptable at schoolboy level. The conversion gave Wales a 10-0 lead and thanks to a couple of vintage Shane Williams moments they hardly looked back.

Matt Giteau (Australia)

Scotland produced an impressive defensive performance to record a huge upset over Australia, but it so nearly slipped away at the end. Giteau had already missed a couple of kickable penalties and a drop goal, but had a chance to win it with the conversion attempt that was the last act of the match. The pressure took its toll on one of the game's great kickers, however, and it never looked like it was going over.

Dan Carter (New Zealand)

He may have been on the winning side, but on the day he became his country's all-time leading points scorer he made it much more difficult for them than it needed to be. The All Black missed some simple penalties and his kicking to touch was poor, while his handling was far from what you'd expect from the world's best fly-half.

Simone Favaro (Italy)

An awful late hit on Fourie du Preez saw him spend ten minutes on the sidelines, during which the Springboks managed to run in a pair of tries that set the tone for an easy victory.

Jamie Heaslip (Ireland)

His performance was perfectly fine, but the pencil-thin moustache he's growing to raise awareness for men's health barely worked for John Waters and certainly isn't becoming of an international number eight.