Player Ratings: Wales are their own worst enemy
OPINION: After finishing strongly in Twickenham, Wales came home to Cardiff with the smallest of targets on their back.
The trend is not to doubt Wales’ ability, but rather their capability of felling Fabien Galthié’s unbeaten France side.
Wales’ performance was strong, but they failed to score points. Despite playing in the right areas of the field, Wayne Pivac’s men were their own worst enemy.
Will Owen rates the Welsh players:
15. Liam Williams – 5
Took some tremendously difficult high balls and kicked decently. Didn’t get many opportunities in attack.
14. Alex Cuthbert – 6
Will take plenty of flak for the Jelonch try, but could do very little when his inside men weren’t drifting. Picked up from his Twickenham form with a fantastic early chip and chase. Otherwise solid.
13. Owen Watkin – 6
The Watkin experiment is paying off for Pivac. Makes increasingly wise defensive reads and is developing into an extra kicking option. A good shift by the Osprey.
12. Jonathan Davies – 7
A reliable presence in the Welsh midfield. Typically made the right calls and stopped a couple of promising French attacks. Dropped the ball in a try-scoring opportunity, which dampens his impact.
11. Josh Adams – 6
Adams always looks at home in the 11 jersey in the Principality Stadium. Always chases kicks well and tackles hard. Sadly got moved into the centre at a vital moment in the game.
10. Dan Biggar – 7.5
Kicked the world’s first 22:22, seemingly. Helped steer Wales into the right areas throughout the first half. Unfortunately failed to identify opportunities to take 3 points in the second.
21. Kieran Hardy – 7.5
Was introduced early due to an injury to Tomos Williams. Took Melvyn Jaminet’s Eiffel Tower-sized bomb brilliantly, and kicked well himself. Loved to get under the skin of an off-colour Dupont. Collected performance by the Scarlets scrum-half.
1. Gareth Thomas – 5
Thomas has looked hungry in his last two caps. Picked the wrong man ahead of Jelonch’s try, but scrummaged well.
2. Ryan Elias – 6.5
An “alright” game for Elias now is ten times better than what it was six months ago. Made an error by leaving Adam Beard isolated in the French 22, but was solid at set-piece and in defence.
3. Tom Francis – 5.5
Typically strong up front and an unsung cog in Wales’ structure.
4. Will Rowlands – 7.5
Rowlands continued his strong vein of form by giving Cameron Woki a hard time at set-piece. Loved to test France at ruck-time, which was invaluable.
5. Adam Beard – 6
Beard was huge at the line-out and technically fantastic in the tackle. Beard’s standards at international level are sky-high, but he had an okay outing today.
6. Seb Davies – 6.5
Davies’ selection at blindside raised a few eyebrows, but playing three locks is a powerful trend at the moment. Davies started strongly with his kick-chase and rucking efforts. Great game from the loose forward.
7. Josh Navidi – 7
Integral to the red defence and constantly held off multiple French forwards at ruck-time. Navidi is massive in Wales’ structure, even if less flashy than the likes of Basham. Great 75 minute shift after a long injury.
8. Taulupe Faletau – 8.5
There is no problem on earth that Taulupe Faletau can’t fix. Was dealt poor passes, difficult kicks and unlikely tackling positions, but always came out on top. World class.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Dewi Lake – 7
Made a heavy impact around the park and was solid at the lineout.
17. Wyn Jones – 6
Not a significant impact, but didn’t make any real errors.
18. Dillon Lewis – 5
Held his own at scrum time against the monstrous Gros, which deserves credit.
19. Ross Moriarty – 5.5
Made a couple of heavy tackles, but wasn’t on for long enough to make a big difference.
20. Jac Morgan – N/A
Wasn’t on for long enough to make an impact.
22. Gareth Anscombe – 5.5
It was the correct call for Pivac to put him on for Williams, but Wales arguably could’ve used him as more of a kicking option.
23. Louis Rees-Zammit – 6.5
A timely substitution to lift the crowd – Rees-Zammit made a lovely half-break at the end, but sadly didn’t get much chance to run in space.
By Will Owen, @RugbyPass
