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Wales player ratings vs Scotland | 2023 Guinness Six Nations
By Will Owen
Wales player ratings: Wales’ first round performance didn’t go as planned, but Warren Gatland used his strong record against Scotland to his advantage and rang the changes in key positions.
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In the end it was a horrible loss for Wales and an all-timer in poor performances for a lot of experienced players. Scotland were better than Wales at literally everything – the only stat that Wales came out on top of was yellow cards.
15. Liam Williams – 2.5
Made a great tackle on Huw Jones but struggled to back it up. Shanked a couple of kicks and copped a deserved yellow card.
14. Josh Adams – 5.5
Put in a fantastic chip to pressurise Duhan van der Merwe. Typically worked hard in D but was substituted quite early on.
13. George North – 4
Had a handful of decent carries before going off for an HIA. Anonymous in the second half aside from a penalty conceded.
12. Joe Hawkins – 5.5
Had an alright first half but playing outside Biggar was a tough ask. Worked hard in defence and made a couple of good kicks.
11. Rio Dyer – 6
Started the game with a great read to shut down Kyle Steyn, but soon found himself on the wrong end of a Dan Biggar rollocking for a poor pass to put his 10 under pressure. Later made a fantastic try saver on Steyn.
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'Don't even look at me' ??#SCOvWAL #SixNations2023 pic.twitter.com/XMHMN7k1yH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 11, 2023
10. Dan Biggar – 2
Gave away a daft offside penalty, shanked a couple of kicks and flung a pass behind his back into touch on the stroke of half time. Looked frustrated all first half. Was far from his best last week, but was an active problem today.
9. Tomos Williams – 4
Had a really tough ride with his pack being dominated, and struggled to get Wales going forward.
1. Wyn Jones – 5
Worked overtime by covering an early Finn Russell cross kick to Kyle Steyn. Ironically did some of the backs’ work for them.
2. Ken Owens – 5.5
Wales’ captain started with a mixed bag of fired-up carries and a not straight throw. Finished Wales’ opening try.
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3. Dillon Lewis – 4
Had parity at scrum time, didn’t make much of an impact around the park.
4. Dafydd Jenkins – 4.5
Jenkins is promising but raw, and gave away a few penalties. One of those tough games (against the experienced Richie Gray) that may be a necessary learning curve inside his first five caps.
5. Adam Beard – 4
Had a quiet game. It’s easier to cut Jenkins some slack on his third cap than a test Lion in Beard.
6. Christ Tshiunza – 6.5
Wales relied on Tshiunza at the lineout and Scotland knew this. In a game where Wales fans are clutching at straws for positives, you could at least see that Tshiunza was trying to get Wales moving forward.
7. Tommy Reffell – 5.5
Gave away an early penalty which Russell converted, but soon responded by winning a jackal turnover on halfway. Generally though, he was outplayed by Jamie Ritchie.
8. Jac Morgan – 5
Came up with a crucial turnover and a few good carries, but was otherwise kept quiet by Scotland.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Scott Baldwin – N/A
No significant impact.
17. Rhys Carre – 5
Made two good carries after coming on then gave away two consecutive penalties. That averages out at a 5!
18. Leon Brown – 3
Dominated in his only scrum.
19. Rhys Davies – N/A
20. Taulupe Faletau – 5
Didn’t get much opportunity to change an abysmal game.
21. Rhys Webb – 2.5
It took some magic powder to make Wales’ ball even slower, but Webb brought his wand.
22. Rhys Patchell – 5
Possibly could have come on earlier, but unsurprisingly didn’t manage to get Wales moving.
23. Alex Cuthbert – 5
Ran a great line immediately after coming on, but that was more or less it.
Rio Dyer second best welsh player on the pitch? you must have been watching a different game to me!