To put the finishing touches on the Eagles-Tonga match we have our player grades. As expected, these are our lowest grades of the year following the loss.
Mate Moeakiola, 47 minutes (5): Another so-so performance from Moeakiola. He's probably done enough to make the World Cup team but there could be improvement.
Phil Thiel, 40 minutes (5): He did a decent job as captain but the line out wasn't function well (a matter of timing) and there were a few other things that could have been cleaned up.
Chris Baumann, 80 minutes (4): Of all the players on the pitch Wednesday Baumann had the most to gain and lose from his performance. It looks like it's the latter as Baumann gave away a couple of costly penalties and wasn't as solid in the scrum as we would have liked to see. He may not get another crack at making the World Cup team.
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Lou Stanfill, 18 minutes (NA): Due to the nature of this match 18 minutes really isn't enough time to give Stanfill a grade.
Greg Peterson, 80 minutes (4.5): Another lackluster outing from Peterson. Again, he wasn't terrible but it still wasn't what you would expect from someone who had a cup of coffee in Super Rugby.
Cam Dolan, 59 minutes (5): Dolan's grade is all about expectations. In this particular line-up it was expected that LaValla would come in and make his mark on the match. While he played okay, it wasn't where it needed to be.
Scott LaValla, 80 minutes (5): See Dolan's grade.
Al McFarland, 80 minutes (6): Quietly McFarland did alright. He had a couple of strong carries and defensively was good. Still, like the rest of the team there weren't a lot of highlights.
Shalom Suniula, 80 minutes (5.5): This wasn't the same type of performance that Suniula had against Samoa. Not having a fly-half calling for the ball probably didn't help but at the same time Suniula needs to find a way to make an impact on the match.
Toby L'Estrange, 50 minutes (4): After spending some time out of the line-up with injury this was L'Estrange's time to shine. Unfortunately for him he delivered one of his poorest performances in an Eagles jersey. Right now he seems to be on the outside looking in for the World Cup.
Zack Test, 80 minutes (6.5): If it wasn't for Durutalo's last performance Test would have been our Man of the Match. For the better part of the match he looked like the only one with the desire to take it to Tonga. It wasn't a perfect match on his first start for the team but it was decent.
Andrew Suniula, 80 minutes (5): Another of the veterans that needed to step up and didn't. If Suniula doesn't look know he's going to be surpassed by Thretton Palamo permanently.
Folau Niua, 80 minutes (5.5): For us it was harder to grade Niua than most players. His kicking was decent despite a couple of missed attempts but his overall play wasn't where it needed to be. Maybe he just needed to get a match out of system before returning to his normal self.
Brett Thompson, 80 minutes (5.5): Thompson looked a little rusty having only played at the Pan-Am Games since returning from injury. That said, we thought he was one of the better players out there.
Troy Hall, 80 minutes (4.5): Hall is a very good club player. He's also a great player at the ARC level but there are questions whether he can hang at the top international level after his performance against Tonga.
Substitutes
Hayden Smith, 62 minutes (5): Pressed into duty with the injury to Lou Stanfill Smith could have done a better job of pushing the team forward. Instead, like the other veterans, he didn't seem to have enough gas.
Zach Fenoglio, 40 minutes (5): A decent outing as a substitute but the line out didn't really improve when he was on the pitch.
Eric Fry, 31 minutes (5): Didn't really make a lot of noise when he came on but did help settle the team down a bit. Like LaValla and Dolan above more was expected out of a veteran.
Mike Petri, 30 minutes (6.5): Petri deserves a lot of credit for the way he came into the match and tried to get the Eagles going. It's no coincidence that they started to find their rhythm once he came on. For all his detractors he's having a great tournament.
Andrew Durutalo, 21 minutes (6.5): Two tries as a substitute. Yep, that'll earn our Man of the Match. Durutalo has found ways to come on and be effective when asked. There isn't much more you can ask from a player.
Nick Wallace, 2 minutes (NA): Not enough time for Wallace to get a grade.
Thretton Palamo, 1 minute (NA): Not enough time for a grade.