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Wales player ratings vs Australia | Autumn Nations Series

Elliot Dee and teammates congratulate Rhys Priestland of Wales after kicking the winning penalty during the Autumn Nations Series match between Wales and Australia (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Wales player ratings: Wayne Pivac blended the team that topped Fiji with the side who came second-best to the Springboks and All Blacks, including the replacement of Jonathan Davies as skipper, in favour of Ellis Jenkins.

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In order for this to be a successful Autumn campaign, Wales were tasked with getting at least one Southern Hemisphere scalp. Thanks to a late Rhys Priestland penalty, they just about managed that.

15. LIAM WILLIAMS – 8
Took his high balls well, put in a lovely chip for Josh Adams and rode some heavy hits. Made the key break to set up the winning kick.

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Guess the Olympic Gold medal hero | Sam Quek | England Rugby

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Guess the Olympic Gold medal hero | Sam Quek | England Rugby

14. LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT – 4
Also put in a lovely kick for Josh Adams to chase, but didn’t get much chance to handle the ball before hobbling off.

13. NICK TOMPKINS – 8
Tompins’ unconventional running style paid dividends for Wales, setting up the attacking opportunity that sent Kurtley Beale to the bin. Scored the world’s most unconventional try in the second half. It’s an unconventional 8.

12. UILISI HALAHOLO – 7
Made an excellent chop tackle on Len Ikitau and showed fleet-footed brilliance in attack. Gave away an early penalty and missed a tackle on Beale for Nic White’s try, but a solid performance.

11. JOSH ADAMS – 8
Not only did Adams negotiate nicely with Mike Adamson to penalise Andrew Kellaway, but he chased kicks masterfully. Didn’t make breaks, but did the hard graft of a world-class winger.

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10. DAN BIGGAR – 7
Biggar probably hit a stalemate in his referee chirp-off against Wallaby scrum-half Nic White. Kicked well and showed good physicality.

9. TOMOS WILLIAMS – 6
Made a great defensive read early on to prevent an Australia line break. Made a few nice runs, but played with fire in his own 22 a few times, and was probably substituted at the right time.

1. WYN JONES – 3
Struggled a bit at scrum time, but showed good feet when carrying, and threw a dummy like all props dream of.

2. RYAN ELIAS – 8
After a convincing David Campese impression in the first half, Elias has established himself as a try-scoring machine, somehow. Tackled superbly and defended a promising Australian maul with vigour.

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3. TOM FRANCIS – 3
Also struggled against Slipper and Tupou, but looked comfortable in contact and cleaned his rucks well.

19. BEN CARTER – 5
The youngster came on early to replace Adam Beard. Quiet in the loose, but took his line-outs well. Still in his first few caps, Carter did what was asked of him.

5. SEB DAVIES – 5
Resisted the contest of Rory Arnold at the maul on a few occasions. Didn’t see many opportunities to carry in the loose, but stole a key Wallaby line-out. Threw a loose offload towards the end, but a solid enough performance.

6. ELLIS JENKINS – 7
Taking on the nitty-gritty work on the floor, Jenkins looks a natural fit as Wales captain. Showed tremendous strength to hold up the Aussie maul and even threw in a dummy kick. Unfortunately was brought off early in the second half.

7. TAINE BASHAM – 8
Carried hard and made trademark heavy shots. Didn’t win clean turnovers, but did a fantastic job of slowing the Australian ball down.

8. AARON WAINWRIGHT – 7
Had an excellent game with ball in hand. Showed great footwork going into contact and was strong on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately gave away the near-match-deciding penalty, but was saved by Priestland at the death.

REPLACEMENTS
Gareth Thomas and Dillon Lewis shored up the scrum before Thomas saw a yellow card for a cheap shot on Allan Ala’alatoa. Johnny McNicholl took a few high balls nicely, and Priesltand deservedly scored the match-winning penalty under a lot of pressure.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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TRENDING Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea Marcus Smith on that substitution and his England plea
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