England Player Ratings - vs Wales
After showing signs of real promise in the opening two rounds of the championship, England left Cardiff with their Grand Slam hopes shattered, as they fell to a 21-13 loss to Wales.
England’s ultra-effective kicking game from the matches against Ireland and France was found out and off the mark, leaving the visitors looking relatively toothless at the Principality Stadium, where their go-to option was repeatedly dealt with.
We have rounded up the performances of England’s 23 in a disheartening 80-minute performance on Saturday afternoon.
- Elliot Daly – 5
The full-back was positionally solid for the most part in Cardiff, showing the benefits of playing the position for a few weeks in a row. He looked dangerous when he got his hands on the ball but did not create the scoring moments he did in the previous two matches of the championship. He was beaten in the air by Josh Adams for the pivotal, match-winning score.
- Jack Nowell – 6
Nowell didn’t see too much ball on the wing and did go looking for extra involvements, but given the closeness of the encounter, not with the abandon he has done in previous games. He marshalled Wales’ Josh Adams well in defence and read play well as to when and when not to shoot.
- Henry Slade – 7
A strong defensive showing from Slade, who was able to force knock-ons in the tackle with his clean technique, whilst a charge down, which he was able to recover in the same motion, was an example of his growing confidence in the jersey and his admirable ball-handling skills. As a carrier, he kept the ball in two hands and brought into play runners on both his inside and his outside.
- Manu Tuilagi – 5
After a first half with little-to-no involvement, Tuilagi managed to find some opportunities as a carrier in the second. He slalomed his way through the Welsh defence for one particularly dangerous carry, but wasn’t quite able to turn it into a scoring opportunity.
- Jonny May – 7
A quiet performance, by May’s standards, who was largely starved of ball out on the wing. He was effective in the air, winning all of his duels, but a lack of support meant that his tap-backs weren’t as influential as they’d proven to be in the first two games of the championship. He tackled and ushered Welsh players into touch well on the chase, which helped England develop some important momentum.
- Owen Farrell – 5
Farrell looked slightly off his best early in Cardiff, but grew into the game after giving up an early charge down and throwing a forward pass. His tactical kicking improved as the game went on, although a kick out on the full in the second half starved England of momentum. Wales’ sussed out England’s kicking game, but it was still the go-to tactic for Farrell and the England back line.
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As it stands…#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/CvLJ01RQmx
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 23, 2019
- Ben Youngs – 5
The scrum-half started slowly, but like Farrell, grew into the game somewhat. His early box-kicks were either too short or too long, but as he got into his groove, he began to find space with his kicking. He wasn’t able to generate tempo for England when they had front-foot ball, though.
- Ben Moon – 6
A quieter attacking performance from the loosehead, who, outside of the contact area, couldn’t quite match the usual impact of Mako Vunipola. He made a couple of big tackles in England’s strong first half defensive showing, though. Neither side was really able to exert dominance at the scrum.
- Jamie George – 6
A flawless performance at the lineout, with George nailing all four of his throws. He was a big contributor on defence, but wasn’t able to influence the game in attack as much, although that was in part due to Wales’ control of the possession.
- Kyle Sinckler – 7
Sinckler went looking for work in the loose, regularly leading England’s defensive line and making physically-dominant tacklers on any Welsh carriers opting to pick and go or stood as one-out options. He, like a number of English forwards, was able to force turnovers with the power of his tackle. He was guilty of overplaying slightly in the first half, gifting an intercept to Josh Navidi, but he emptied the tank, before being replaced in the 57th minute.
- Courtney Lawes – 7
The lock impressed, as usual, with the physicality he brought in the tackle. He made a number of dominant tackles, driving backs forwards and backs alike with his technique and ability to get low and drive through the carriers. He also forced the turnover that led to Tom Curry’s try and managed to cause disruption at the Welsh lineout.
- George Kruis – 7
Kruis managed to steal an early Welsh lineout and was frequently the go-to option for George on England’s throws. He gave away one penalty for interfering with the Welsh jumper, but was able to semi-consistently generate pressure on opposition throws, including forcing further errors from Wales at the set-piece. He was another to bring suffocating line-speed.
- Mark Wilson – 5
The flanker put in a shift clearing out at the contact area but in terms of overall impact, arguably fell short of the high standards he set in the first two games of the championship.
- Tom Curry – 8
A very prominent performance from Curry, who stepped up as one of England’s primary ball-carrier. He showed good awareness with his pick and go to catch the Welsh defence unprepared and managed to cruise over for a try. His speed in defence allowed England to keep their width and not face overlaps, as well as managing to force turnovers from Welsh carriers with the power of his tackles. He blotted his copybook somewhat with a couple of offside penalties, but more than made up for that on the turnover differential with his tackling and jackaling.
- Billy Vunipola – 6
Vunipola didn’t necessarily make the highlight reels, but again stood up with some of the less glamorous roles. He was a safe pair of hands fielding kicks, showed good line-speed stood further out from the rucks and picked up the slack with the pressure-relief carries when England were pinned back inside their own half.
Replacements
- Luke Cowan-Dickie – n/a
Unused replacement.
- Ellis Genge – n/a
Came on too late to have an impact.
- Harry Williams – 6
Williams helped deliver line-speed close to the ruck after replacing Sinckler. He made a number of efficient low chops in England’s second half defensive stands.
- Joe Launchbury – 6
He took an important late lineout and brought his usual work rate in defence.
- Brad Shields – n/a
Came on too late to have an impact.
- Dan Robson – n/a
Unused replacement.
- George Ford – n/a
Unused replacement.
- Joe Cokanasiga – n/a
Came on too late to have an impact.
Watch: RugbyPass’ in-depth preview of Sunday’s clash between Italy and Ireland
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As it stands…#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/CvLJ01RQmx
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 23, 2019
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments