Wales player ratings: Test debutant and stand-in skipper best of a bad bunch against Springboks

After their 16-52 Rugby World Cup warm-up defeat against South Africa at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, here’s how the Wales squad performed on Saturday.

15 Cai Evans: The Test debutant was a late replacement for Liam Williams, but despite his inexperience, he put in a good performance, especially in the first half. Had some good attacking moments and was solid in defence but went quiet after the break. Eventually replaced by Louis Rees-Zammit in the 61st minute but came on again when Sam Costelow left the field shortly afterwards and got his name on the scoreboard with a conversion. 7

14 Tom Rogers: Not the best day at the office for the Scarlets flyer as he had few attacking opportunities and battled on defence. He was at fault for two of the Springboks’ tries and would want to forget this game in a hurry as he also conceded three penalties. 4

13 Mason Grady: Another one who will not have fond memories of this match, as little went right for him during his stint on the field. He gifted Jesse Kriel a try in the first half and made little impact on attack. Replaced by Max Llewellyn in the 53rd minute. 5

12 Johnny Williams: Restricted mostly to defensive duties, and although he did try to get some attacking momentum, he was kept in check by the Boks’ defence. Also had a pass intercepted by Canan Moodie, who cantered in for a try. 5

11 Rio Dyer: Like fellow wing Rogers, he had few attacking opportunities but the one time he received the ball in space, he set off on an exciting run, but nothing came from that effort. Earlier, the 23-year-old was yellow carded for a deliberate knock down behind his try-line, which also resulted in a penalty try for South Africa. 6

10 Sam Costelow: Like Evans, he was a late inclusion in the starting line-up as Dan Biggar’s replacement, but apart from his accurate goal-kicking, he did not make a big impact in other areas. Went off in the 68th minute. 5

9 Kieran Hardy: The Welsh forwards were on the back foot for most of the match, which meant he struggled to get his backline firing. Did not test his opponents’ defence and was replaced by Tomos Williams in the 53rd minute. 4

8 Aaron Wainwright: Nothing much to report here as the Dragons back-row could not give his side the necessary momentum on attack, although he did well in defence and finished with nine tackles made. 5

Stand-in skipper leads by example but to no avail

7 Jac Morgan (c): Wales’ skipper on the day toiled manfully for the full 80 minutes but had no reward for his efforts. He did his bit with ball in hand and finished with 21 metres gained and was a nuisance at the breakdowns, where he managed to win one turnover, while also shining on defence making 12 tackles. 7

6 Dan Lydiate: As expected, the veteran back-row put his boy on the line in the execution of his defensive duties, and he eventually finished with a match-high 13 hits, but not visible in other areas.6

5 Will Rowlands: The experienced did what was expected of him in the lineouts, where he won his fair share of balls, and was strong on defence as he made 12 tackles but was not prominent on attack. 6

4 Ben Carter: Like Rowlands, Carter was competitive in the lineouts, but that was the only facet of play where he made a real impact as he was quiet in other areas. 5

3 Keiron Assiratti: The Cardiff front-row battled in the scrums and conceded a penalty in that facet of play and was not visible in other departments before Henry Thomas replaced him early in the second half. 5

2 Elliot Dee: Wales’ lineouts were poor against England last week, and although it wasn’t perfect against the Boks, there was some improvement. Dee also impressed on defence with 11 hits completed before he was replaced by Sam Parry midway through the first half. 6

1 Corey Domachowski: Came off second best in his direct battle in the scrums against Frans Malherbe and was back-pedalling at a rate of knots at the first set-piece. Despite that, he toiled manfully and even won a penalty against his burly opponent on one occasion but was eventually replaced by Nicky Smith in the 49th minute. 5

15 Replacements: With World Cup places up for grabs, Wales head coach Warren Gatland rang the changes during the early stages of the second half. However, it did not have the desired effect, as they were blown away in most departments. 5

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