Wales player ratings vs England | 2023 Summer Nations Series
Wales player ratings: England have beaten Wales 19-17 in their international match at Twickenham in what was a scrappy and at times chaotic affair in west London.
Here PA rate the Welsh players:
15. Liam Williams - 8/10
Provided a threat to England throughout the game. Elusive in attack and always looking for work.
14. Josh Adams - 6
Won his 50th cap and was denied a try by an illegal Freddie Steward tackle.
13. Joe Roberts - 8
An outstanding debut by the Scarlets centre, who ran and tackled strongly. Created a try for Tomos Williams and put himself firmly in the World Cup selection mix.
12. Nick Tompkin - 7
An accomplished performance in attack and defence from the Saracens centre. Showcased all his experience.
11. Tom Rogers - 5
A quiet game from the Scarlets wing, although he compiled one threatening attacking moment from limited opportunities.
10. Owen Williams - 6
Whether he did enough to make Wales’ final World Cup squad remains to be seen, but a solid contribution. 6
9. Tomos Williams - 8
Comfortably Wales’ first-choice number nine. Scored a try and was impressive in all areas.
1. Gareth Thomas - 6
Recovered well to lift Wales’ scrummaging effort following early England control.
2. Dewi Lake - 5
The hooker’s first game as Wales captain ended after just 26 minutes when he limped off, giving head coach Warren Gatland a major pre-World Cup scare.
3. Tomas Francis - 6
Did his job, but could come under pressure for a World Cup starting place.
4. Rhys Davies - 6
Offers Wales second-row and back-row options, which could serve him well in terms of World Cup selection.
5. Adam Beard - 5
Took over the captaincy after Lake went off, but blotted his copybook with a late yellow card that led to England’s match-winning penalty.
6. Dan Lydiate - 6
A solid defensive shift from the experienced flanker, who could find himself part of another World Cup squad.
7. Tommy Reffell - 6
Was yellow-carded for a technical offence, but also showed some impressive glimpses in attack and defence.
8. Taine Plumtree - 5
Another player whose evening ended early after he suffered what appeared an arm injury. It was a mixed-bag performance before then.
Replacements - 6
A big effort from the Wales replacements, but they could not offer a sufficient enough collective impact as England fought back.
Latest Comments
All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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