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Wales player ratings vs Canada | 2021 Summer Tests
By Ian Cameron
Wales player ratings: Anything other than a convincing victory for Wayne Pivac’s Wales against Canada was going he perceived as sub-par given the relatively callow side fielded by the North Americans.
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It was maybe the weakest Canadian performance in recent memory, and barring a few brighter moments, did little more than slow down the Welshmen for most of the eighty minutes.
WALES PLAYER RATINGS:
1 NICKY SMITH – 7.5
The emergence of Wyn Jones has come at a cost for the Osprey loosehead, who missed Guinness Six Nations selection this year. Scrummaged well against a relatively solid Canadian setpiece and bagged his third Test try.
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2 ELLIOT DEE – 7
Great lineout service and one of a number of forwards to barrel over as the game disintegrated into an all-you-can-eat buffet.
3 DILLON LEWIS – 7.5
Destructor in chief of the Canadian scrum when it did start to creak. A few nice carries in the loose and a jackal turnover to his name.
4 BEN CARTER – 8
One of a number of debutants that impressed. The 20-year-old excelled at the lineout and proved more than useful around the park.
5 WILL ROWLANDS – 7
The giant Wasp found himself in space inside the 22 and for a moment an unlikely try might have been on, until he hit the sinking sand. He’d get another go before halftime and picked a try-scoring line that would make Scott Gibbs proud. Very solid.
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6 ROSS MORIARTY – 7
A Lion in 2017, injury meant Moriarty didn’t feature in this year’s Guinness Six Nations, and he’ll be eager to climb back up Wales back row pecking order this summer. Made inroads around the ruck and had all his own way in contact.
7 JAMES BOTHAM – 7
One of the breakthrough players at the Autumn Nations Cup, Botham hardly featured in Pivac’s victorious Six Nations campaign. Rewarded for his supporting work with a 116h minute try to cap a robust performance for the Cardiff man.
8 AARON WAINWRIGHT – 7
Made the most of his early carries, regularly beating defenders as the game loosened up.
9 TOMOS WILLIAMS – 8
Mugged the visitors with a smart tap-and-go for the 5-pointer to scrub out Canada’s try-scoring start. Scored two tries and beat seven defenders inside 52 minutes in a performance that could very easily have won MOTM.
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10 CALLUM SHEEDY – 8
Building on an outstanding couple of season, both domestically and internationally, Sheedy was all pops, breaks and offloads. At times guilty of trying to play too much but it was clear that the Canadians were struggling with the tempo he was dictating.
11 TOM ROGERS – 7
He won the praise of fellow Scarlets’ teammate, Jonathan Davies, earlier this week, but it was a difficult start for the debutant, who was unable to stop his Canadian opposite number Kainoa Lloyd barging over, albeit on an unsympathetic covering angle. Ran the ball into touch a few moments later but grew into the game after that and exploded up the wing in the second-half to give fans a glimpse of his talents. Nearly caught napping for Lloyd’s second attempt at the line, though he was saved by a knock-on.
12 JONATHAN DAVIES – 7
Smarting from his Lions snub, ‘Foxy’ comes into the July Test window with a point to prove. Was a calm head in midfield and his uncompromisingly direct running lines were as much of a handful for the Canucks as the razzle-dazzle of his peers.
13 UILISI HALAHOLO – 7
Was moved to the wing when Halfpenny went off to make way for Tompkins. Looked to Test the Canadian tackles early and a beautiful cut-out pass nearly put Tom Rogers through. Strong over the ball and his stepping caused all sort of issues for the men in black.
14 JONAH HOLMES – 8
With a remarkable strike rate for Dragons in the PRO14, you’d have expected Holmes was eyeing the fixture as an opportunity to open his international try-scoring account and in the end it took just 20 minutes to come. His second took another 62 minutes but a strong performance in a position of real depth for Wales.
15 LEIGH HALFPENNY – NA
Halfpenny described the prospect of getting his 100th cap as a dream come true, but it ended up being a nightmare for the veteran. He suffered a game-ending injury after just 45 seconds. The sight of the 32-year-old sobbing on the ground was an awful vista.
REPLACEMENTS
20 TAINE BASHAM – 8
Scoring two tries on debut for your national team, regardless of the opposition, is a red letter day in anyone’s book. Lived up to the considerable hype he’s been generating in Newport over the last 36-months. More please Wayne!
23 NICK TOMPKINS – 7
The Saracens man was called into action with less than a minute on the clock and his industry on and off the ball was telling. Brought huge energy to proceedings, even if a few spills blotting his copybook.
