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Wales player ratings vs Scotland - Six Nations Super Sunday

Alun Wyn Jones

Wales player ratings: Wales and Scotland played out a dour denouement to the truncated, pandemic afflicted 2020 Six Nations.

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With the wind whipping off the Irish Sea and squally showers, conditions were difficult for both sides with Scotland enjoying the more encouraging first half hour as Wales were repeatedly penalised, turned over and made handling errors, yet they inexplicable went into the sheds at half-time 7-6 up after 21st Rhys Carre powered over from a short distance, after an uncharacteristic chip from Taulupe Faletau gave them territory.

James Davies being penalised for being off his feet seconds from the break, gave Adam Hastings the chance to reduce the lead to one point after Russell, who went off with a groin strain, had opened the scoring.

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Andy Farrell talks to the press:

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Andy Farrell talks to the press:

The second-half was similarly uninspiring as both side’s sought to break the deadlock as both side’s benches tried to whip up some patriotic fervour. The game’s key moment came on 61 minutes as Stuart McInally emerged from a powerful Scottish driving maul with the ball and despite Halfpenny reducing the score to 11-10, a late penalty from Hogg on the final whistle – Wales’ 16th conceded – saw Scotland emerge triumphant to register their first win on Welsh soil since 2002 and leave Wayne Pivac with a far from satisfactory fifth-placed tournament finish.

Wales player ratings

Leigh Halfpenny – 6
Difficult conditions for a full-back, Halfpenny was quiet in the first-half compared to his opposite number, Stuart Hogg. Nearly knocked a high ball on in second half but showed his customary composure to drill the ball through the uprights on 66-minutes.

Liam Williams – 7
In only his third game back, Williams marshalled Kinghorn out wide with a series of powerful hits and made a brilliant take off a ricocheting ball to release pressure from Wales late on.

Jonathan Davies – 6
His comeback from nearly a year out continues. Used more for clearing lines with his cultured left-boot from the backfield than for offensive play. It was a muted afternoon for the double-Lion.

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Owen Watkin – 5
Worked hard to contain Chris Harris and James Lang in midfield but was unable to free himself of Scottish defenders. Still waiting for a breakthrough performance in a Welsh shirt.

Josh Adams – 7
Showed his appetite for work early on by yanking Graham into touch and was often heard shouting encouragement. He had a few probing breaks in his own half and always looks to do something positive but he didn’t have any field position to punish the Scots.

Dan Biggar – 5
Quiet as Wales failed to impose themselves in first half. Went off early in the second-half with a lower-leg injury, after pulling up after converting Wales’ only try.

Gareth Davies – 6
His game was a mixed bag. Showed enterprise with a little nudge down the left-wing for Adams inside his own-half, shot out of the line to make a few last-ditch ankle taps but was skittled by Hamish Watson and saw some box-kicks floating into touch and his service was patchy.

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Taulupe Faletau – 6
Rarely spotted in the first half but picked a ball off his feet to chip in behind the defence deep in Scottish territory, otherwise, couldn’t free himself from Scottish tacklers. Quiet for a player of his stature.

James Davies – 6
Struggled to impose himself on the game as Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie had the better of the backrow skirmishes. Penalised for a penalty early on, he cost Wales three points after being caught off his feet just before half time. His work rate couldn’t be faulted, but like his brother, he has had very little rugby in the last 12 months.

Shane Lewis-Hughes – 8
Rarely seen in the loose, he did show neat hands after taking a Russell chip kick but his strengths are in the tackle – where he made a creditable 21 tackles – and he was still showing fighting qualities in the game’s dying embers. One of Wales’ better performers.

Will Rowlands – 6
Hands let him down, few hard carries in the tight exchanges but improved as the game went on. Good footwork for a break-up midfield, tidy in the lineout.

Alun Wyn Jones – 7
Winning a record 149th appearance, Alun Wyn Jones was his customary all-action self and in a robust defensive performance, where he made 13 tackles, he put in a series of thumping hits on James Lang and Jamie Ritchie, showing he’s lost none of his edge. Will be hugely disappointed to be on the losing side.

Wales player ratings

Tomos Francis – 6
After playing second-fiddle to Alec Hepburn in Exeter’s double-winning heroics, it was somewhat surprising to see him still chugging away in the final minutes. A willing carrier in the tight, he wasn’t able to impose himself on Rory Sutherland.

Ryan Elias – 5
Endured a challenging opening 10 minutes, with an overthrow early on to Taulupe Faletau, a shipped penalty and a throw adjudged not straight. Will have better days in a Welsh shirt.

Rhys Carre – 5
Carre crashed over on half-hour for his first Wales try but he fell off a few tackles and wasn’t able to dominate his opposite number, Zander Fagerson. Still finding his feet at Test level, Wales would like to see more from him carrying.

Replacements
Wyn Jones – 7
Widely acknowledged to be a superior scrummager to Carre, the Scarlet won a scrum penalty just after coming on and was a willing runner in the loose. Expect to see him starting during the Nations Cup.

Rhys Patchell – 6
Tidy enough, he pushed the ball down the line without fuss, but another who has had little rugby and didn’t impose himself on the game.

Cory Hill – 5
Unable to stop the powerful Scottish rolling maul from rumbling over for the game’s winning try, he put himself about but had precious little time to make any sort of impression.

Aaron Wainwright – 5
Tried to add some ballast in defence, but another Welsh pack member who couldn’t bend the game Wales’ way.

Lloyd Williams – 6
His first Wales performance in nearly four years, Williams’ swift service couldn’t conspire to conjure up a late try.

Nick Tompkins – 5
Whipped the ball down the line in customary but too much on one pass to Jonathan Davies as Wales chased the game.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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