15. Ben Smith: 7
Accepted his yellow card with good grace, but he loses a full point as it could have ended up being crucial with the All Blacks conceding 14 points during his time off the pitch. Other than that he was solid, and put in an intelligent kick for Barrett’s game-clinching score late on.

14. Nehe Milner-Skudder: 8
Strolled in for his try after some dazzling build-up work, and generally looked a threat whenever he received the ball. Showed the versatility of his skills with some nice clearance kicks, too.

13. Conrad Smith: 7.5
Played a key role in the opening try, cutting a nice line before having the awareness to switch the ball back to his namesake Aaron who had seen space, rather than just putting his head down and ploughing towards the line.

12. Ma’a Nonu: 9
Showed that he is so much more than a wrecking ball with a weaving run to the line for his try, and also with a couple of well-placed kicks. Confirmed his place in the pantheon of all-time great centres.

11. Julian Savea: 5.5
For whatever reason, it just didn’t go Savea’s way this game. He made it over the gainline on occasion, but there was a lack of incisiveness to his carries – which is strange for someone of his stature.

10. Dan Carter: 9.5
A perfect end to the career of one of the all time greats. His kicking from tee and hand was flawless, including another snap drop goal at a time when the Australians were right back in the game, and his distribution brought the gamut of attacking weapons outside him into the game from the off. A stunning performance and a well-earned World Cup winners medal at last.

9. Aaron Smith: 7.5
Cut a glorious line back against the grain in the build-up to Milner-Skudder’s try, and his service was as snappy as usual. A couple of box kicks were a little wobbly, mind.

1. Joe Moody: 7.5
There were only eight scrums in the entire game, but when they did come about, there’s no doubt that the New Zealand pack had the upper hand. One occasion when the Wallabies were unceremoniously marched backwards will live long in the props’ memory.

2. Dane Coles: 8
A quieter game in the loose than we are used to seeing from him, but the lineout was flawless and in the heat of a World Cup final, you can’t really ask for more from your hooker.

3. Owen Franks: 7
He was pinged once at the scrum, but as mentioned above the set piece was in general solid. Little impact in the loose but it didn’t matter.

4. Brodie Retallick: 8.5
Weighed in with two turnovers at the breakdown, both in a first half period that saw possession changing hands regularly. Also stole some lineout ball and made 100% of his tackles – a fine end to a brilliant World Cup.

5. Sam Whitelock: 8
Showed a high work rate to make 12 tackles as well as crossing the gainline more often than not when carrying. Oversaw a flawless line-out.

6. Jerome Kaino: 8
Carried immensely strongly and was a key source of front foot ball for the All Blacks in the tight, making more metres than any other forward on the pitch.

7. Richie McCaw: 8
Like Kaino, McCaw had a fair amount of success carrying in the tight and while he didn’t affect as many turnovers as Pocock at the breakdown, he was certainly still influential there.

8. Kieran Read: 7
Any apparent singling-out from the restart was made a nonsense of, and Read was also a prominent part of a flawless lineout. Carried hard even if he didn’t always make eye-catching bursts.

Replacements: 7.5
Beauden Barrett and Sonny Bill Williams had the most obvious impacts from the bench, the former showing searing pace for the final try and the latter offloading twice in the same move to set up Ma’a Nonu’s score. But to a man, the men that came on kept the intensity high and showed no signs of the nerves that have dogged New Zealand on this stage in the past.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images