Wales player ratings vs Georgia - Autumn Nations Cup
WALES PLAYER RATINGS: A must-win Autumn Nations Cup match for Wayne Pivac and Wales, with the spectre of seven losses in a row too bleak to bear.
Wales named three uncapped players in their starting XV, with thirteen changes from the side that lost to Ireland. Conditions made this game a thankless task for the Welsh boys and they’ll be happy to exit with the ‘W’ and move on.
Individual performances would inevitably suffer at the hands of the inclement weather, so ratings must be taken with that sizeable caveat. Without any further ado, here are our Wales player ratings:
1. WYN JONES – 7
Went after the Georgians at their power source – the scrum – and won two early penalties off the massive unit that is Georgian tighthead Beka Gigashvili. At 28 years of age still has time to truly make the Welsh loosehead jersey his own.
2. ELLIOT DEE – 7.5
Seemed to score a try before the ball was recycled in the lead up to Rees-Zammit’s try, although Luke Pearce didn’t notice. A beastly king hit from the hooker saw giant Georgian lock Konstantin Mikautadze taken off with a shoulder injury. It summed up what was a powerful and pleasingly aggressive performance.
3. SAMSON LEE – 6
An immovable force in the scrums, so that was job done for Lee, who’s a scrummager first and, well… a scrummager second too.
4. JAKE BALL – 6
One of Wales’ go to carriers in the tight, it was largely a job of sneaking one or two-metre gains against what was a stoical Georgian defensive wall.
5. SEB DAVIES – 5
Failed to get any change out of the Georgians in his one on one collisions. A scrappy game that largely passed the young Cardiff Blues lock by.
6. JAMES BOTHAM – 6
Beefy’s grandson grabbed a lot headlines in the lead up today’s game, so maybe he’s debut was never going to quite match the hype. After a bright start, seemed to spend a lot of the first half straddling the sidelines when Wales had possession. Was a constant physical presence. At one stage was left with just a flyhalf between him and the try line but he ended up conceding a penalty, seemingly unaware of whether or not the referee had blown it up.
7. JUSTIN TIPURIC – 7
Excelled over the ball in the first half and was a persistent thorn in the Georgian side in both defence and attack. A needless swinging arm ended his afternoon.
8. AARON WAINWRIGHT – 7
Selected out of position at No.8, the Dragons forward was on a mission to impress with ball in hand, and was willing and available for work, even if he didn’t always get the returns he’d have liked. Tireless and deserved his Man of the Match award, even if it was largely by default.
9. KIERAN HARDY – 7.5
Hardy made his debut at his regional home ground and he looked sharp. He’s a fine, crisp passer of the ball and has a properly explosive break. One of half an of exciting halfback double act.
10. CALLUM SHEEDY – 8
An early penalty eased his nerves and it was clear that the highly-rated Bristol flyhalf looked comfortable bringing the ball to the line, something you don’t necessarily get with any great frequency from Rhys Patchell or Dan Biggar. The only criticism that the gameplan he executed didn’t quite match the conditions in front of him.
11. LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT – 7.5
A little eager to impress and early fumbles of an admittedly greasy ball will have annoyed the rising star. Desperately unlucky not to score twice in the first quarter, before eventually scoring with his third attempt. Opened up with a 35-metre run in the 55th minute, before nice hands put Rhys Webb away in the 75th.
12. JOHNNY WILLIAMS – 6
One of only a handful of players who can claim to have lined out for two different countries at senior level, the Scarlets centre made an impact from the off with some solid defensive tackles, but we didn’t get to see what he’s capable of with ball-in-hand, other than some fairly direct charges upfield that yielded 19 odd post-contact metres.
13. NICK TOMPKINS – 5.5
The Georgians were never going to pose a huge defensive threat with their backline, so it was an opportunity for Tompkins to lay down a marker at 13. Looked busy for spells and but was ultimately part of a Welsh backline that failed to create much as a unit – albeit in horrid conditions.
14. JOHNNY MCNICHOLL – 5
Back in a Welsh jersey after some time away due to injury, McNicholl was another man that will have wanted to put in a big performance against limited opposition. Made a few telling contributions in attack but hobbled off soon after halftime with a possible shoulder injury.
15. LIAM WILLIAMS – 5.5
Came in from the backfield looking for work, but didn’t have much to show for his industry. Unfailing under the high ball as you’d expect from the unflappable Lion.
REPLACEMENTS:
16. SAM PARRY – NA
17. NICKY SMITH – NA
18. LEON BROWN – 7
Won a scrum penalty within minutes of coming on. As Wales inevitably look to phase out Tomas Francis, they should make getting Brown more playing time a priority.
19. CORY HILL – NA
20. JAMES DAVIES – NA
21. RHYS WEBB – 7
Nearly created a try with an acrobatic offload, which was millimetres away from brilliance. Got on the end of a nice move from a clever support line.
22. IOAN LLOYD – NA
23. JONAH HOLMES – 6
Came on early in the second half for McNicholl. A couple of decent attacking contributions but he fell victim to the conditions like the rest of the Welsh backline brigade.
Too many 4s and 5s here with Ireland's attack toothless#ENGvIRE #AutumnNationsCuphttps://t.co/PaZldZEkAo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 21, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Very unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to commentsIt’s the massive value he brings with regard team culture/values, preparation, etc. Can’t buy that. I’m hoping to see the young locks get their chance in the big games though.
10 Go to commentsAll good, Gregor, except that you neglected to mention Sam Darry amongst that talented pool of locks. In fact, given Hannah’s inexperience and the fact that Holland won’t be eligible until next year, Lord and Darry might be the frontrunners this year, to join Barrett, Tuipoluto, Va’ii and possibly Whitelock. In fact there might be room for all of them if Barrett played 6 (like Ollie Chessum).
10 Go to comments