England player ratings vs Wales | Six Nations 2022
England inflicted a fifth consecutive Six Nations defeat at Twickenham on fierce rivals Wales thanks to a gritty 23-19 success.
Eddie Jones’ team led 12-nil at the break through four Marcus Smith penalties.
Alex Dombrandt then took advantage of an overthrown Wales lineout to stretch the home side’s lead before tries from Josh Adams and Nick Tompkins brought the visitors roaring back.
Two further Smith penalties kept England’s noses in front despite Wales claiming a third try through replacement scrum half Kieran Hardy which took the contest to the wire.
Wales made two changes to the starting team that beat Scotland in Cardiff in round two. Josh Adams returned from a tight calf issue to replace Louis Rees-Zammit on the left wing, while Taulupe Faletau started at no.8 following seven months out with an ankle injury.
England boss Eddie Jones sprang a big surprise by naming exciting Bristol scrum half Harry Randall ahead of Ben Youngs who replaced World Cup winner Jason Leonard as his country’s most-capped player when he emerged from the bench in the second half.
In the front row hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and prop Kyle Sinckler swapped bench and starting roles with Jamie George and Will Stuart. Following Manu Tuilagi’s training injury, Elliot Daly was named at outside centre with Joe Marchant recalled to the bench.
15. Freddie Steward – 6.5
Solid as ever at the back, the Leicester no.15 produced one remarkable kick which travelled 70 metres from the narrowest of angles. Got drawn slightly infield to create the space from which Wales opened their account.
14. Max Malins – 6
Worked very hard off the ball and chasing kicks but found little space in which to threaten with ball in hand.
13. Elliot Daly – 6
Made a crucial defensive read to end Wales’ best first half attack with a big tackle. Twice had half chances but in truth posed little attacking threat.
12. Henry Slade – 7
Bounced off by former Exeter teammate Alex Cuthbert in the early stages but went on to show some nice touches including a kick which clinched a 50-22.
11. Jack Nowell – 6.5
Made the best possible start by pinching the opening kick off from Owen Watkin and went on to produce a typically industrious performance. Won’t enjoy seeing a replay of his missed tackle on Cuthbert but to balance this often out-jumped his much taller opponent under the high ball.
Smith slots to increase England's lead to 9-0 after 30. 🏴 #ENGvWAL #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/UZZGNrNbGl
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 26, 2022
10. Marcus Smith – 8.5
By getting very flat England’s new poster boy asked loads of questions of the visitors’ defence and regularly released his runners into gaps. Missed a simple penalty in the opening quarter but otherwise produced an immaculate display from the tee that delivered 18 match-clinching points.
9. Harry Randall – 8
Overcooked a couple of early box kicks but soon made amends with a superbly weighted chip which Malins’ chase turned into an attacking five-metre lineout. Put tempo on the game at every opportunity posing plenty of problems for the visitors’ fringe defence.
1. Ellis Genge – 6.5
Plenty of question marks surround Genge’s scrummaging and again he never looked comfortable against Tomos Francis. He did however get through plenty of work with ball in hand.
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie – 6
Carried hard and often and always in the thick of the breakdown action until he was forced from the field with a knee injury early in the second quarter.
3. Kyle Sinckler – 6
Found Wyn Jones a real handful on the Wales loose head. Worked hard in the loose but not as visible with ball in hand as usual.
4. Charlie Ewels – 6.5
Secure under Wales’ restarts, Ewels did a lot of the close-range carrying for his team and went very close to claiming the opening try midway through the first half.
5. Maro Itoje – 8
Made a highly visible start during which he twice made important interventions. Put the visitors’ lineout under tremendous pressure and worked hard in the loose as typified by the steal which finally allowed his team to clinch the spoils.
6. Courtney Lawes – 7
England’s returning skipper put in a typically hard-hitting display in both defence – where he was England’s top tackler with 14 – and attack.
7. Tom Curry – 6
Made a thumping hit on Basham to win his team a penalty which Smith translated into three points before leaving the fray at half-time.
https://twitter.com/ITVRugby/status/1497624239675166720
8. Alex Dombrandt – 8.5
Opened up by winning a penalty when he got over the ball at the breakdown – a feat which he repeated in the second half. Will be irritated to have lost the ball in contact to Taine Basham when England had a good opportunity to attack but claimed a first Twickenham try courtesy of Wales’ lineout horror show and was England’s stand-out performer.
Always alert 👀
@Alex_dombrandt flies in to collect the loose ball and score @EnglandRugby's opening try 🌹#ENGvWAL | @Harlequins https://t.co/KMvb5qJlav
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) February 26, 2022
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Jamie George – 6.5
Arrived in the 25th minute to put in a solid shift.
17. Joe Marler – 6
Saw ten minutes of action as Genge’s replacement during which he conceded a penalty in the tackle.
18. Will Stuart – 6.5
A second half replacement for Sinckler who helped his team win late scrum penalties.
19. Nick Isiekwe – 6
Took over from Ewels with 13 minutes remaining.
20. Sam Simmonds – 6
Played the second half as a replacement for Tom Curry and completed an impressive ten tackles.
21. Ben Youngs – 6.5
Moved ahead of Jason Leonard as England’s most-capped player when he arrived from the bench for his 115th cap in the 61st minute immediately after Wales’ second try.
𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥!@benyoungs09 becomes England men's most capped player! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ccKMISqevn
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 26, 2022
22. George Ford – Unused
23. Joe Marchant – 6
Replaced Daly six minutes from time.
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
26 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
26 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
48 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
26 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
26 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
26 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
26 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
26 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments