Friday Top Performers

Rieko and Akira Ioane:

It has become the norm that whenever the Blues play that Ioane brothers put on a performance.

Rieko was brilliant at inside centre making over 100 running metres, scoring 1 try and assisted another.

His brother, Akira, continued his form as one of the best no.8s in the competition this year making 169 running metres from his 13 carries.

Akira also won 3 turnovers and made 6 tackles and has once again furthered his claim for a test debut having being involved with the All Blacks in November last year and earlier this month.

Jerome Kaino:

The man of the moment, Jerome Kaino, started the game poorly with an early knock on but recovered quickly to put in a performance that Eden Park faithful know all too well.

He carried the ball well, made some strong tackles and good at the breakdown. His leadership and decision making was brilliant throughout the game with the only other blemish on his performance was his missed conversion attempt on fulltime.

Kurtley Beale:

There is no doubting Beale's pedigree but he is in a rich vein of form and today was no exception. Coming off a series loss for the Wallabies against Ireland where he was a contender for Man of the Series he pulled the Waratahs jersey on and did it again. Billy Meakes, his opposite number, was a stand out against Beale but the Tah still managed to beat 5 defenders, running 75m off his 3 line breaks and having a hand in most of the big attacking plays for the visitors.

Amanaki Mafi:

The top tackler on the night for the home side with 12, Mafi had a mammoth 16 carries and was a thorn in the side of the Waratahs the entire match. He is a superb attacking weapon for the Rebels and he ran 97m with ball in hand against the Waratahs.