Wales player ratings vs Scotland - 2021 Six Nations
Wales player ratings: You sensed Wales came to Scotland with their tails up but little did they know they would they once again benefit another red card dismissal.
But this Wales team is starting to fire up and do justice to its enviable talents.
WALES PLAYER RATINGS
1. WYN JONES – 7.5/10
A perfect set-piece start for Jones, who won an early penalty off Zander Fagerson and the pair traded penalties thereafter. Was delighted with his try which that pushed Wales ahead in the 56th minute.
2. KEN OWENS – 7
Owens claims for a Lions starting spot remains strong, with no obvious weakness to his game. A solid shift again.
3. TOMAS FRANCIS – 6
A typically industrious game for the big man, albeit with the sizeable caveat that Scotland did get the better of the scrums, with Sutherland nicking their personal battle.
4. ADAM BEARD – 7
A brilliant rip in defence in the opening quarter. Presented for carrying duty when needed even if significant meterage isn’t really his gig. A real handful for Scotland to deal with – all flailing arms and legs.
5. ALUN WYN JONES – 6
Gave away an early penalty to give Scotland their opening points. Took a heavy knock early in the second half and maybe didn’t quite recover.
6. AARON WAINWRIGHT – 5.5
Eager to impress in his first Test match of 2021, the flanker was let down by his handling skills on occasion. Put in some massive defensive hits on Wales’ line and go better as the game wore on.
7. JUSTIN TIPURIC – 7
Has a McCaw-like ability to be one step ahead of every other player on the field. With much more ball, he didn’t get into the 20s with his tackling like last week.
8. TAULUPE FALETAU – 6
After a mixed bag against Ireland, Faletau was everywhere early on for the Welsh. Provided some much needed go forward, making 63 metres with ball in hand.
9. GARETH DAVIES – 6
Barring one or two wayward passes, a solid shift for the Davies. Off after 49 minutes.
10. DAN BIGGAR – 6
His kick-compete game was on the money, although Russell maybe edged the kick tennis. Interestingly subbed off for young Turk Sheedy after just 48 minutes, which might suggest Pivac felt Biggar wasn’t being creative enough in attack. Wales immediately scored.
11. LIAM WILLIAMS – 7.5
A wily old fox, Williams presented his usual high level of pest factor. Was the easiest try he will ever score and his handling helped put LRZ away for his first try.
12. NICK TOMPKINS – 6.5
A typically busy performance from Tompkins on both sides of the ball, though at times maybe tried too hard to make things happen. A street-smart basketball pass put LRZ through in the 38th minute.
13. OWEN WATKIN – 5.5
A rare start for Watkin, the centre carried ably in opening exchanges and pulled off a brilliant possession strip. On the other side of the ledger struggled to contain beefy Scottish centre Harris and will have nightmares from his missed tackles on Hogg. His last play tap tackle, however, was worth his weight in gold, potentially saving the game for Wales.
14. LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT – 8.5
An awful miscommunication directly lead to Stuart Hogg’s try, with Rees-Zamitt’s field position forcing Halfpenny to cover him. Did his best to make up for it with a brilliant finished try in the first half, which was followed by a second-half solo effort was individual brilliance personified.
15. LEIGH HALFPENNY – 5
Punished Scottish profligacy with his famous siege gun boot. Caught out positionally by the brilliance of Ali Price’s kick for Graham’s try. A 25th-minute spill when covering Rees-Zammit gifted the Scots their opening try. Took a heavy knock in the 32nd minute and was removed, not to return.
REPLACEMENTS:
22. CALLUM SHEEDY – 8
Wales scored a minute after he came on and he had a hand in it. More Welsh tries followed there after, which reflected on a game that was loosening up, but also on Sheedy ability to take the ball to defenders.
23. UILISI HALAHOLO – 7
Great hands in the lead up to Williams’ try and also to out ‘Zammo’ into the dangerzone for his match-winning try.
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments