Wales player ratings: Centre has ‘day to forget’ while Lions star puts in ‘unbelievable effort’
Wales player ratings: Centre has 'day to forget' while Lions star puts in 'unbelievable effort'
Argentina defeated a valiant Wales 28-52 at the Principality Stadium on Sunday as the two sides kicked off their Autumn Nations Series campaigns.
Here is how we rated the Wales players.
Backs
15 Blair Murray: The Scarlets full-back showed good pace early on to chase down a loose ball in the Argentine half, but failed to make much of an impact on the game from then on – mainly due to a lack of ball. His day got even worse in the second half when he almost ran his side into trouble when dealing with an over-the-top kick. He did become a main attacking force in the latter stages of the match, however, showing real glimpses of quality as he jinked in and out of the Argentine defence, before later touching down thanks to a Tomos Williams bullet pass. 6
14 Tom Rogers: Another player to see very little of the ball, Rogers did, however, have a major impact on Wales’ first try, showing real pace to break the Pumas line before offloading to Jac Morgan. His defence, however, will need some major improvements moving forward after missing four tackles throughout the match. 4
13 Max Llewellyn: Barely noticeable in attack, but more than made up for it in defence as he completed 16 tackles to soak up the Argentine attack. 5
12 Ben Thomas: It was a day to forget for the Cardiff man. He threw a speculative forward pass under no pressure, early on. Then shortly afterwards, he lost his composure in the tackle, resulting in 10 minutes in the sin-bin. Later, he criminally gave away an interception try when trying to pop the ball out back in his own 22 metre area. Thomas did well to set Louis Rees-Zammit free down the right touchline towards the end of the match, but then aimlessly kicked the ball 20 metres into the Argentina defence’s hands just phases later. 2
11 Josh Adams: Besides a couple of important chases, it was a very quiet day for the former British and Irish Lion. He made just two tackles and missed one, meaning he had a 33% tackle success rate. 4
10 Dan Edwards: Barely involved. Just 10 passes in the first half, and only two tackles. In the second half, he still made only 19 passes and two more tackles, but he also missed a tackle. His kicking appeared aimless and half-baked, barely making 10 metres at a time and skewering off to the right of his boot. Admittedly, he almost scored the try of the year in the second half when he skated through the Pumas defence, before being taken down with a perfectly timed tap tackle. 3
9 Tomos Williams: He showed great composure when making an early break, then was rewarded 10 minutes later with a try to kick-start the Welsh scoring. His kicking game was on point, notably making the brilliant decision to drop kick the ball deep into the Pumas’ half when they had no defence back. A solid chase from Adams forced the opposition into a mistake that Wales eventually profited from. A couple of suspect decisions did dent his overall performance, but this game showed that even at 30 years old, he is still incredibly important to the future of Welsh rugby. He was sin-binned early into the second half for taking out a man without the ball – his one major blemish in an otherwise great game. 7
Forwards
8 Aaron Wainwright: It was a busy day for the giant Welsh number eight. He took his carries well, using his large frame to break the gainline on multiple occasions, and created a crater in any Argentine attacker that dared to bring the ball his way. 6
7 Jac Morgan: One of the stars of the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, Morgan was at his very best again. At times, it felt as though he was single-handedly dragging his side through the game. He performed a wonderful offload to set up Williams’ try under the posts. He made a brilliant turnover on the Welsh five-metre line as the Pumas were set to bundle over the try line. He made an unbelievable effort to repel an Argentinian maul almost on his own, and was later rewarded with a brilliantly taken try, solidifying the impact that he had had all game. Sadly, he was removed from the field with an injured arm as a result of diving for the try. 9
6 Alex Mann: Embarrassingly stepped by Bautista Delguy to such a point that he crumpled into a heap on the floor, but that was the only time he let himself be shown up. For the rest of the match, he put his body on the line, making an impressive 17 tackles and carrying the ball 11 times. 6
5 Adam Beard: Another monstrous defensive effort, particularly noted for his presence in the maul, causing that destructive chaos that stopped Simon Benitez Cruz from unleashing his men. In attack, besides in the lineout, he was nowhere to be seen. 5
4 Dafydd Jenkins: Gave away an early penalty, which allowed Pumas a five-metre lineout. This unnecessary early intensity started Los Pumas on a voyage that Wales struggled to keep up with. He survived the full 80 minutes on the field, which shouldn’t go unnoticed, making an impressive 16 tackles in the process. 5
3 Kieron Assiratti: It was a fine performance from the brave prop. His hits were huge, and his runs powerful as he put the visitors on the back foot with each passing touch. His 100% scrum performance speaks for itself as he helped provide the backs with a solid foundation. 6
2 Dewi Lake: He took his try well and looked powerful with ball in hand. A top-tier scrum and line-out performance was the cherry on top as he faced off against one of the greatest hookers in world rugby. 7
1 Rhys Carre: He struggled at the first scrum, giving away a free kick, but soon picked up the pace of the game, providing a very real ball-carrying option in the loose. 6
Replacements: The return of Rees-Zammit was met with huge excitement, and while he did provide a couple of thrilling moments, his overall impact failed to yield results. He conceded three turnovers during his 35 minutes on the field, as he got back used to playing in the red of Wales. The rest of the bench didn’t add too much to proceedings, other than a little added energy. 6