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Wales player ratings vs Italy | 2023 Guinness Six Nations
By Will Owen
Wales player ratings: Warren Gatland’s Wales have been under fire so far this tournament, not favoured to win a wooden spoon battle with Italy. Their performance against England was difficult to quantify, with Italy playing well but not winning - yet…
Wales responded with an excellent performance and an unexpected bonus point win. Italy were far from their best, but this was Wales’ best performance of the campaign by a stretch. Well done Cymru.
15. Liam Williams - 7.5
Was penalised for rolling on the floor early on but immediately bounced back with a fantastic finish for Wales’ second try and a big turnover in the Welsh 22. Williams needed a solid performance and he delivered.
14. Josh Adams - 6.5
Quietly excellent at what Adams does best - chasing kicks, aerial contests and making solid hits. Was held up brilliantly by Varney in the second half.
13. Mason Grady - 6.5
Defensively very solid against one of the fastest attacking teams in the tournament. Gave away a penalty late on but generally Grady didn’t get carried away shooting out of line. Promising.
12. Joe Hawkins - 8
Hawkins’ usual distribution role was substituted for hard yards today, and he was excellent. Made six or seven yards on every carry. Timed a pass to Adams beautifully for a second-half break.
11. Rio Dyer - 8
Poached the opening try superbly and chased Welsh kicks hard. Really answered Gatland’s call with a hugely promising performance.
10. Owen Williams - 7
Tested Allan early with a perfect bomb and often called the right plays. Contributed what turned out to be a try-saver on Brex. Managed the game well.
9. Rhys Webb - 8.5
Put in an inexplicably fantastic kick for Dyer’s try and set up Faletau later on. Nailed an awesome 50/22 at the end of the first half. Fantastic to see Webb have a good game.
1. Wyn Jones - 5
Quiet, but not bad at all.
2. Ken Owens - 5.5
Similar to Jones, didn’t make as many carries as previous games but also didn’t make errors.
3. Tom Francis - 6
Was absolutely melted by Fischetti on Italy’s first put-in but was solid thereafter. Put in the grubber kick of the century, which earns him a bonus point.
4. Dafydd Jenkins - 6.5
Jenkins’ best performance so far. He was impactful in clear-outs and solid at set-piece.
5. Adam Beard - 7.5
Started the game with a great steal and was a menace at the maul. Beard’s best performance for Wales in a while.
6. Jac Morgan - 5.5
Probably didn’t play as well as his opposite man Negri, but Morgan’s impacts at the breakdown were generally positive.]
7. Justin Tipuric - 7.5
Cleaned up a lot of mess brilliantly including a late Italian lineout. Won Wales an obstruction penalty in the first half. A sure improvement on his prior performances.
8. Taulupe Faletau - 6.5
Quieter than usual but made no real errors. Ran a nice support line for his try.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Scott Baldwin - N/A
No significant impact.
17. Gareth Thomas - 7
Won a scrum penalty for Wales. Weird feeling.
18. Dillon Lewis - 6.5
Scrum went forward with Lewis on.
19. Rhys Davies - N/A
20. Tommy Reffell - 6
Pounced on a loose ball nicely near Wales’ goal line.
21. Tomos Williams - 5
Williams was okay, but didn’t shine after replacing man-of-the-match Webb.
22. George North - N/A
23. Louis Rees-Zammit - 5
Made a nice break but was immediately turned over, so it balances out!
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Latest Comments
i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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