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Wales player ratings vs Australia | July Series 2nd Test

Liam Williams of Wales celebrates with team mates after scoring a try during the International Test Match between Australia Wallabies and Wales at AAMI Park on July 13, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Wales player ratings: Joe Schmidt’s Australia delivered an all-action performance to edge out Wales 36-28 in a closely contested showdown at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

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It was a ninth straight defeat for Wales, who are without a win in Australia since 1969, but it was not all doom and gloom for Warren Gatland’s side.

Neil Fissler rates Warren Gatland’s Wales players:

15. Cameron Winnett – 5
Badly misjudged a kick in difficult conditions that gifted Jake Gordon Australia’s second try. But grew into the game the game the longer it went on, especially with the ball in his hands.

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      Andy Farrell on how Peter O’Mahony took the demotion

      14. Liam Williams – 5
      The experienced old head was literally up for the fight in every way and was always available to support the youngsters. He scored his first try against the Wallabies in 12 attempts, but his acrobatics backfired, costing a try.

      Fixture
      Internationals
      Australia
      36 - 28
      Full-time
      Wales
      All Stats and Data

      13. Owen Watkin – 5.5
      Handling was made difficult with a wet ball, but he made some good ground. He also pressured the Wallabies with kicks in behind, especially in the first half. Also did his fair share of defensive work.

      12. Mason Grady 5.5
      Earmarked for the Jamie Roberts role of punching holes and is very much a work in progress in the early days of his International career. But proved that he can be a real handful in the right conditions.

      11. Rio Dyer – 5.5
      Improves with every game, and he has played more minutes than any other Wales player this year and rounded it off with a brilliant finish in not a lot of space.

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      10. Ben Thomas – 5 
      Did his best to try to add some verity to his attacking but his kicking however, which Warren Gatland says is very much a work in progress, causes concern; especially when he fluffed his lines early on.

      9. Ellis Bevan – 5
      Showed some nice, safe hands early on but didn’t get the opportunity to run with the ball only made one carry in the game with limited success but was steady enough in most areas.

      Ruck Speed

      0-3 secs
      44%
      53%
      3-6 secs
      37%
      31%
      6+ secs
      19%
      16%
      95
      Rucks Won
      90

      1. Gareth Thomas – 5
      Came under pressure as the rain made scrummaging a nightmare, but he was much improved on his last performance and tackled like his life depended on it.

      2. Dewi Lake – 8
      The last British captain to cause more havoc in Australia was Douglas Jardine. A pest on the floor and benefitted with two tries from a powerful driving maul. The whole of Australia was pleased to see him replaced.

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      3. Archie Griffin – 5
      Took one on the chin from Lukhan Salakaia-Loto but stopped seeing stars in time to return to the action. But he does, however, need to show more discipline and stop giving away penalties.

      4. Christ Tshiunza – 5
      Quietly went about his business and completed his tackles when needed. He didn’t particularly catch the eye but didn’t do anything wrong in equal measure.

      Set Plays

      5
      Scrums
      4
      100%
      Scrum Win %
      100%
      11
      Lineout
      12
      82%
      Lineout Win %
      75%
      9
      Restarts Received
      6
      100%
      Restarts Received Win %
      100%

      5. Dafydd Jenkins – 6
      A proved himself to be a real nuisance in the line out, causing the Wallabies plenty of problems to rule the skies like a fighter pilot ace and was quite often the first line of defence without taking a backward step.

      6. James Botham – 6.5
      Clearly, something in the DNA that – like his grandfather playing against Australia – brings out the very best in a Botham. Needed to step up after the loss of Wainwright and was lively.

      7. Tommy Reffell – 6.5
      He was rock solid in an impressive back-row performance and put his body on the line after completing the most number of tackles of anyone on the pitch.

      8. Taine Plumtree – 6
      He was just inches from an early try and just got better and better the long the game went on, and he can have no complaints about his performance.

      Replacements

      16. Evan Lloyd – NA
      Came on for Lake after 68 minutes.

      17. Kemsley Mathias – Not used

      18. Harri O’Connor – NA
      Got the chance to stretch his leg when Griffin was being checked out but didn’t get back on.

      19. Cory Hill – 5
      Came on for Jenkins after 64 minutes.

      20. Mackenzie Martin – NA

      21. Kieran Hardy – 5
      Replaced Bevan after an hour.

      22. Sam Costelow – 5
      Replaced Thomas and got his name on the scoresheet.

      23. Nick Tompkins – NA
      Came on for Williams for the last 12 minutes.

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      Comments

      2 Comments
      B
      Bob Salad II 263 days ago

      Realistically, which Wales players are currently in contention for Lions selection?

      Perplexing that Italy were largely able to turn their 6N fortunes around after a pretty poor WC, but Wales over the same period seem to have gotten worse.

      Happy that Aus get a couple of wins - as lord knows they needed it too, but Welsh Rugby really is in a dark place atm.

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      J
      JW 3 hours ago
      Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

      It is now 22 years since Michael Lewis published his groundbreaking treatise on winning against the odds

      I’ve never bothered looking at it, though I have seen a move with Clint as a scout/producer. I’ve always just figured it was basic stuff for the age of statistics, is that right?

      Following the Moneyball credo, the tailor has to cut his cloth to the material available

      This is actually a great example of what I’m thinking of. This concept has abosolutely nothing to do with Moneyball, it is simple being able to realise how skillsets tie together and which ones are really revelant.


      It sounds to me now like “moneyball” was just a necessity, it was like scienctest needing to come up with some random experiment to make all the other world scholars believe that Earth was round. The American sporting scene is very unique, I can totally imagine one of it’s problems is rich old owners not wanting to move with the times and understand how the game has changed. Some sort of mesiah was needed to convert the faithful.


      While I’m at this point in the article I have to say, now the NRL is a sport were one would stand up and pay attention to the moneyball phenom. Like baseball, it’s a sport of hundreds of identical repetitions, and very easy to data point out.

      the tailor has to cut his cloth to the material available and look to get ahead of an unfair game in the areas it has always been strong: predictive intelligence and rugby ‘smarts’

      Actually while I’m still here, Opta Expected Points analysis is the one new tool I have found interesting in the age of data. Seen how the random plays out as either likely, or unlikely, in the data’s (and algorithms) has actually married very closely to how I saw a lot of contests pan out.


      Engaging return article Nick. I wonder, how much of money ball is about strategy as apposed to picks, those young fella’s got ahead originally because they were picking players that played their way right? Often all you here about is in regards to players, quick phase ruck ball, one out or straight up, would be were I’d imagine the best gains are going to be for a data driven leap using an AI model of how to structure your phases. Then moving to tactically for each opposition.

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