Ireland player ratings vs Wales - Autumn Nations Cup
Instead of hosting reigning world champions South Africa this weekend as was planned long ago, the second weekend of November 2020 for Ireland kicked off their campaign in the filler Autumn Nations Cup.
Struggling Wales were the visitors and while Ireland took an age to enjoy the scoreboard supremacy their dominance deserved, they will go away satisfied with the manner of their 32-9 victory against an opposition that didn’t ask many questions.
With Ireland bulling following their Six Nations title-ending defeat to France on October 31, they were intent on putting one over Wales and they eventually came away with a comfortable win, tries from Quinn Roux and James Lowe decorating a deluge of points from the kicking tee by Johnny Sexton, Billy Burns and Conor Murray.
But for the Welsh scramble defence, Ireland would have been out of sight at the interval instead of being just 16-6 ahead following an opening half where Sexton departed injured.
The Irish pack dominance, where breakdown and set-piece went their way, was less visible in the early stages of the second half and Wales managed to give themselves an unexpected sniff at getting in touch, cutting the margin at one stage to seven and then spurning another penalty to bring it down to seven on a second occasion.
All too easy in the end for Ireland #IREvWAL #AutumnNationsCup https://t.co/yDdnZcqUr6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2020
However, the hope was that the energy-sapping pressure Ireland had generally applied in the first half would take its toll in the long run and it did in the final flourish, 13 points scored to give the final result the reflection it deserved. Here is how the Ireland players rated in their round one Nations Cup win:
15. HUGO KEENAN – 6: Tricky evening for the newcomer. He was initially switched to the right wing pre-game following two outings on the left and was then shunted into an eleventh-hour start at full-back after Jacob Stockdale reported lame. Experienced an awkward period early in the second half, conceding two penalties, but he stuck at it.
14. ANDREW CONWAY – 6: A late call-up to start in place of Stockdale who had been hammered for his flakiness in the loss to France, Conway’s two October appearances had seen limited involvement as play usually occurred elsewhere. It started the same here but he worked his way into the action and would have had a pair of late first-half tries but for Josh Adams tackles. Showed his athleticism with his catch of a 64th-minute defensive bomb with the score poised at 19-9.
13. CHRIS FARRELL – 6: A first start since Ireland’s RWC horror versus the Japanese in Shizuoka, he will have enjoyed the opening half in particular as the variety in the backline play resulted in regular involvement. Was eager to carry and he combined well with Robbie Henshaw in a partnership we need to see more of.
12. ROBBIE HENSHAW – 7: A rare outing at No12 given how Kiwi Bundee Aki has owned the jersey since qualifying under residency in November 2017. He was excellently energetic and was good value for the 71 minutes he played before giving way to Keith Earls. Was at fault for the opening Wales points but illustrated how encouraging his performance was by soon earning three points back with another bruising tackle. Attacked the line well.
11. JAMES LOWE – 7: The eleventh foreigner to be capped by Ireland since 2012 under the controversial 36-month residency rule, he put his record of 33 tries in 49 Leinster matches to good use by rounding off a decent first showing with an 80th-minute Test try. Came in for some unruly treatment from the Welsh and suffered some early errors but he rebounded positively.
10. JOHNNY SEXTON – 6: His credibility as skipper took a serious dent in the wake of that infamous glare towards the coaches’ box in Paris, but he played well here for the 29 minutes he was on. There was the concession of an early penalty for going high but he ran his backline positively to help Ireland be 13-3 ahead when he left with a hamstring issue that will require a Saturday scan. Billy Burns took over for his debut but injury claimed him as well on 65 minutes.
9. JAMISON GIBSON-PARK – 7: A career sub who had started just eleven of 67 Super Rugby/Champions Cup games, it was a bold move from Andy Farrell to give the Kiwi a start after just two bench cameos. He began with two box kicks in the opening three minutes but we then saw the other aspects of his play. His passing was generally slick and he made an important break in the second half to ensure Ireland got three points from a period of pressure when the result was still uncertain.
That offload from Caelan! 🔥#IREvWAL #AutumnNationsCup https://t.co/By3lVVyuHJ
— Autumn Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 13, 2020
1. CIAN HEALY – 7: He will have enjoyed this, his pack enjoying dominance in contrast to how things evolved in Paris 13 days earlier. Played his part in the scrum dominance and was physical around the park. Held up over the line on 51 minutes and gave way to Ed Byrne eight minutes later.
2. RONAN KELLEHER – 7: Generally viewed as the better long term bet at hooker compared to Rob Herring, he snapped up an early Wales overthrow while loitering at the tail. There were a few issues with the Irish lineout but he was busy elsewhere, apparently topping the Irish tackle count and staying strong for 65 minutes before Dave Heffernan entered.
3. ANDREW PORTER – 8: Won a penalty at the first Wales scrum and repeated the dose quickly after to enable Sexton to put Ireland ahead on ten minutes. Gave up one scrum penalty but knew he had his job done with the sight of Rhys Carre being replaced for on 39 minutes before a scrum five metres out. Lasted 65 minutes before Finlay Bealham was introduced.
4. QUINN ROUX – 6: A late call up to start in place of Iain Henderson, you worried if he had brought the necessary level of physicality as he was driven back in the Welsh 22 on one occasion when he carried, but he stuck at it and finished his try chance excellently, dipping under Will Rowlands on 23 minutes.
THAT moment when Quinn Roux scored the first try of the #AutumnNationsCup 👏
Great sustained pressure from the @IrishRugby pack! ☘️
Second half INCOMING.#IREvWAL pic.twitter.com/DdQt2LRAUy
— Autumn Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 13, 2020
5. JAMES RYAN – 8: A bit of a mixed bag in the sense that he endured some deflating first-half errors, a no release when tackled and then a soft knock-on. But his physicality held sway and while there was a points-costing high tackle in the second half, he ensured Alun Wyn Jones wasn’t much of a factor.
6. PETER O’MAHONY – 8: Would have been foaming at the mouth at being only a sub for the recent two games and he quickly illustrated this by getting involved in handbags with Jones. There was an excellent lineout steal on 14 minutes and he continued on from there, his no-nonsense attitude ensuring the margin of victory became what it did.
7. JOSH VAN DER FLIER – 6: The chop tackling expert would have felt a bit of a spare part during the opening half with Ireland so dominant and owning the ball in a type of display that would have been more suited to the more ball-friendly Will Connors.
8. CAELAN DORIS – 8: Started well, deflecting a Wales lineout into Irish hands and then playing the perfect foil for Sexton to get away for the early try chance spoiled by Lowe’s fumble. His willingness to keep going at the Welsh and his durability at the breakdown was entertaining to see and he crowned his athleticism when he blocked a clearance kick on 51 minutes from Rhys Webb, raced after the ball and nearly put Healy in. Given the sponsor’s man of the match award.
PLAYER RATINGS
Here's how we rated the Welsh players after another worryingly flat performance. #IREvWAL #AutumnNationsCuphttps://t.co/40rcSXq9zS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments