Wales player ratings vs Australia | Autumn Nations Series
Wales player ratings: It’s a difficult time to back Wales. Their brilliant win over Argentina feels like a lifetime ago because, as Wayne Pivac says, seven days is a long time in rugby – let alone fourteen. On the back of a loss to Georgia, Wayne Pivac rolled in a handful of changes to take on a scratch Wallabies side.
In the end it was the most confusing test match ever. Wales delivered their best 60 minutes under Pivac, then imploded in the last 20. Australia were far from their best, and Wales clutched defeat from the jaws of victory.
15. Josh Adams – 7
Clobbered by Gleeson early on but responded brilliantly. Looked really sharp in attack and made a crucial turnover in the Welsh 22. Dropped a ball in the lead up to Nawaqanitawase’s try, and put a kick out on the full – these things are suddenly under the microscope when you lose.
14. Alex Cuthbert – 3.5
Pretty poor, didn’t do much with the ball. If you were being picky you could argue he should’ve put Nawaqanitawase into touch for his try, then was later put into touch himself.
13. George North – 5
Looked good on the ball and sorted out any defensive errors he made last week. Made a great read with 10 minutes to go. Generally quite quiet.
12. Joe Hawkins – 8
Had a few good touches early on and has an instinct to distribute. Looked calm on debut and gave Wales the variety they have lacked since Hadleigh Parkes retired from internationals.
11. Rio Dyer – 7
Dyer has shown his pace on the wing, but today he looked comfortable in midfield. His touch for Faletau’s try was exquisite. Nearly scored towards the end of the first half then got the goods in the second. Well deserved.
10. Gareth Anscombe – 6.5
Managed the attack well and kicked his goals. Pulled the strings superbly for Dyer’s try, throwing a beautiful miss-ball.
21. Kieran Hardy – 7
Came on for Williams early and put in a belting kick from a restart. Made the right calls and kicked when he needed to.
1. Gareth Thomas – 7.5
Had a difficult first scrum but dominated thereafter. Thomas is in a rich vein of form.
2. Ken Owens – 7
Typically brilliant in the carry and solid at set piece.
3. Dillon Lewis – 7
Won a few penalties at the end of the first half – nearly got Slipper binned, then gave Tom Robertson a sit down in the second half. Was substituted at the right time as Australia emptied the bench.
4. Adam Beard – 5.5
Started the game with a really poor knock-on. Was a nuisance in pressuring Tate McDermott in the second half and had a few nice touches.
5. Alun-Wyn Jones – 8
Made a huge difference. Made two fantastic offloads in the lead-up to Jac Morgan’s opening try, and one prior to Faletau’s. One of Wales’ best players before everything went out of the window.
Their third loss this series, not looking good for Wayne Pivac's men ? #WALvAUS pic.twitter.com/Muw196CUoh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 26, 2022
6. Jac Morgan – 8
Cannot be stopped. Showed great leg drive for both of his tries and looked brilliant in defence. Definitely someone Wales will see much more of in the future.
7. Justin Tipuric – 5
Led well from the front and made good decisions as captain with Wales on the front foot. But speaking of feet… his foot-trip on Samu was a professional foul and cost Wales. Ultimately, that gave Australia their “in” to the game and costs his score!
8. Taulupe Faletau – 7.5
The 100-cap legend marked his big day with a beautiful finish on an outstanding try. Faletau has been the most reliable player on at least 90 of his 100 caps. Perplexing as to why he was substituted.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Ryan Elias – 2
His sin-binning was equally as costly as Tipuric’s. Great player, but his action ultimately lost Wales the game.
17. Rhodri Jones – N/A
No significant impact.
18. Tom Francis – 3
Went backwards at scrum time.
19. Ben Carter – N/A
No significant impact.
20. Josh MacLeod – N/A
22. Rhys Priestland – 4
Made a couple of good decisions but ultimately lacked the instinct to close out the game from a favourable position.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments