Wales player ratings vs Ireland
Wales player ratings vs Ireland: Wayne Pivac described this game as the toughest of his coaching career and it was certainly much more challenging than last week’s assignment against Italy.
Wales showed plenty of ambition in attack and there were some clever inside balls to combat Ireland’s line speed in defence but they were too narrow defensively and couldn’t cope with Ireland’s physicality.
Who stood out and who disappointed? We rate the full squad below.
15. Leigh Halfpenny – 5
After years of being Wales’ defensive stalwart, he is rediscovering his attacking and distribution game but didn’t show it much here.
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WATCH: Jim Hamilton is joined by good friend and England International Freddie Burns to discuss the selection issues England face and Andy Farrell’s slip up in a recent press conference.
14. George North – 3
Moved to his more usual position after last week’s experiment on the wing. Didn’t get a sniff of the ball for most of the first half until he came off his wing to look for work and should probably do that more often. Mostly anonymous.
13. Nick Tompkins – 4
It says something about his performance of the bench last week that this selection was no surprise but the step up from Italy to Ireland proved a tough one. Improved in the second half but was exposed defensively.
12. Hadleigh Parkes – 5
The glue of Wales’ backline but he struggled in the first half. Improved in the second and ran a lovely line for his disallowed try. Will be frustrated with himself.
11. Josh Adams – 4
The best finisher in the world right now struggled in after an early injury but had to go off on 25 minutes.
10. Dan Biggar – 6
Biggar 2.0 continues to be a revelation in attack but remains a cool operator, as he showed early on, backing himself to shepherd the ball. Made a few mistakes but generally strong. Went off earlier than he would have normally after failing an HIA.
9. Tomos Williams – 6
Picked to start despite Gareth Davies’ return to form and scored the try he missed out on last week. Taken off fairly early in the second half, however. The fight between him and Gareth Davies for the starting spot is fascinating.
1. Wyn Jones – 6
Wales’ best fit scrummager played a big role in improving the scrum after last week’s worrying performance. A crucial turnover early on and lots of grunt work. Substituted after Wales lost a key scrum on the Irish 5m line.
2. Ken Owens – 6
Lineout still needs work but Owens offers so much around the pitch that he won’t lose his place for it. A serious shift in defence.
3. Dillon Lewis – 5
Had some struggles in the scum against Italy but improved this week, albeit there is still much work to be done.
4. Jake Ball – 5
Picked to combat Ireland’s right five grunt work and carrying potential but didn’t make the impact required.
5. Alun-Wyn Jones (capt) – 6
Not quite up to his usual standards last week, having hardly played since the World Cup. Couldn’t drag his team to victory here but made 19 tackles in defence.
6. Aaron Wainwright – 5
Has rapidly becoming an integral part of this Wales side but had an unusually quiet game and was taken off early.
7. Justin Tipuric – 7
Another gritty performance by the flanker who used to be adored for his all-court game. Showed he can still play the distributor for Williams’ try but is now an integral dart of the dirty work and made 19 tackles. Didn’t deserve to lose.
8. Taulupe Faletau – 6
Not back to his old self yet although there is still no better No8 in the world to have behind a less than dominant scrum. Did some clever work to disrupt Ireland’s maul too.
Replacements
Ryan Elias – 5
Regular replacement hooker Elliot Dee is still injured but Elias didn’t let anyone down.
Rhys Carré – 5
Regained his spot on the bench after suspension. Remains promising and made 6 tackles in a short space of time.
Leon Brown – 5
Not enough time to make the impact he can.
Adam Beard – 5
Came into the 23 because Cory Hill wasn’t fit. Didn’t make much impact off the bench.
Ross Moriarty – 5
Has never quite cemented a spot in the starting lineup except in the case of injuries. The Lion Came on early in the second half but couldn’t turn the game.
Gareth Davies – 5
Came back into the 23 after an injury last week but couldn’t displace the in-form Williams. Was brought on early in the second half and couldn’t spark a revival.
Jarrod Evans – 6
Promoted to the bench at the last minute after Owen Williams picked up an injury and then brought on earlier than expected when Biggar failed an HIA. Showed no shortage of bravery in his attacking approach but couldn’t take Wales to victory.
Johnny McNichol – 5
Dropped to the bench after last week’s competent but unthrilling display but came on early for the injured Adams. Added a lot in attack but his defence for Ireland’s bonus point try left a lot to be desired.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 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.
30 Go to comments