Wales player ratings vs Ireland | 2021 Six Nations
Wales player ratings: Both sides came into this fixture with plenty to prove, but the stakes were always going to higher for Wales and head coach Wayne Pivac.
A hard contest to rate given Wales were playing 14-men for most of the contest. A more confident team may well have put Ireland to the sword, but Pivac’s men made a real meal of it. But a win is a win, and Wales will take it.
Here’s our Wales player ratings:
1. WYN JONES – 8
Carried really well, making an impressive 44m from 10 carries with ball in hand and held his own against Porter. Deserved his MOTM award.
2. KEN OWENS – 6
A bombed lineout wasn’t the perfect opening for The Sheriff and it wouldn’t be the last. Tackled everything that moved.
3. TOMAS FRANCIS – 7
Alerting the officials to Peter O’Mahoney’s chicken-wing elbow to the head might well have been his biggest contribution. Tackled his heart out thereafter and was leading the tackle count before he was subbed off.
Ireland doing pretty well without him so far, scoring 13 unanswered points since his dismissal #WALvIRE #SixNations https://t.co/vCeY05bFXY
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 7, 2021
4. ADAM BEARD – 5
Along with Owens and Jones, shares some of the responsibility for a slightly misfiring lineout. Spent the rest of the game tackling and hitting rucks. Could maybe offer more around the pitch, although admittedly he’s a lineout specialist.
5. ALUN WYN JONES – 6
Started the game sporting a bruise from a training ground bust-up with Jake Ball. The old man of the Six Nations had plenty of spring in his step. Put in some show-stopping hits with the Irish hordes threatening the Welsh line in the final quarter. Made 25 tackles.
Things getting fired-up behind the scenes in Wales?https://t.co/uIFrx3HSy6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 7, 2021
6. DAN LYDIATE – NA
A lot of the pre-game talk was about the Osprey forward’s recall. His first action was to chop down CJ Stander with his trademark tackling before be forced off when his knee buckled beneath him. He tried to walk it off but couldn’t.
7. JUSTIN TIPURIC – 6.5
An uncharacteristic missed tackle on Robbie Henshaw was telling and left Wales open to a determined 14-man Ireland with their hackles up and within sight of the whitewash. Made an astonishing 29 tackles.
8. TAULUPE FALETAU – 5
Also missed a tackle on Henshaw in seconds preceding Tadhg Beirne’s try. A couple of uncharacteristic unforced errors and was flattened by a massive carry from Lions’ rival Stander.
9. TOMOS WILLIAMS – 5
Ireland seemed to have a good read on his early box kicks. Defended gamely before his hamstring let him down.
10. DAN BIGGAR – 6
Ireland may have edged the kick tennis in the first half. Marshaled the troops well as Wales came back into it.
11. HALLAM AMOS – 5
Had very little involvement outside of a few carries. Didn’t see much ball in his defence.
12. JOHNNY WILLIAMS – 5
Some aggressive carries in the opening quarter. Went off for a HIA and never returned after clumsily trying to put a big hit on Garry Ringrose and coming off the worse.
13. GEORGE NORTH – 8
His hands let him down at times, admittedly when dealing with a couple of pretty unsympathetic passes. Carried hard when asked but eventually cut loose for a brilliantly taken try in the 48th-minute.
An arm wrestle of a match in Cardiff! ? pic.twitter.com/E4oqXTdmXN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 7, 2021
14. LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT – 8
Wales again struggled to get the ball to the Gloucester winger, who has only seen the ball a handful of times in his fledgling Test career to date. When he did get it, he scored with a remarkable finish.
15. LEIGH HALFPENNY – 6
Kicked his early penalties and was reliable, as ever at the back. Perfect hands skills for Rees-Zammit’s try. A very safe pair of hands but Wales’ look a far less dangerous prospect without Liam Williams in the mix.
REPLACEMENTS:
Nick Tompkins – 6
Came on for Williams and was summarily stripped of the ball. A decent player but still has plenty to iron out at Test level. An important bit of pressure on Jordan Larmour may well have been crucial.
Josh Navidi – 7
Did a job for Wales and was instrumental in North’s try. Must start next week.
Comments on RugbyPass
Yip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
3 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
114 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
1 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
3 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
3 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
114 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to commentsShowed better basic skills than some nz Super sides, who probably would have botched some of those backline moves. This tournament really is too short though. Needs more teams, or have them play two rounds to properly prepare them for the near full-time NH U20 sides.
4 Go to commentsGood grief it’s only six months. Probably just upset it’s not an established kiwi entering their prime they can “project” into green to join the rest.
3 Go to commentsGood player but far from being best in the world. That's an exaggeration. Perhaps Best in world by Northern Hemisphere standards and biasis but certainly not Southern Hemi standards
4 Go to commentsWell one thing about World Cup knock out rounds and Ireland is very clear: they won’t be getting ahead of themselves in ‘27! Because making it beyond the QF is well and truly ‘IN THEIR HEADS’ now…😉
114 Go to comments