Wales player ratings v Fiji: Lions contender boosts tour chances with ‘epic captain’s knock’ despite gut-wrenching defeat
Dewi Lake was once again Wales' top performer in the defeat to Fiji.
Following their 24-19 defeat to Fiji at the Principality Stadium, here are our player ratings for Warren Gatland’s Wales side.
Wales player ratings v Fiji
15 Cameron Winnett: Continues to look comfortable at Test level, and was pretty silky for the most part in attack. Was also fairly solid under the high ball, despite the Fijian pressure. 6
14 Mason Grady: Looked much improved from the summer during his stint, but came off after 16 minutes with an injury. 5
13 Max Llewellyn: Made a bright start, but drifted out of the game slightly as it went on. Looked settled in midfield alongside Thomas, though, and that looks to be a decent partnership – something Wales have missed in recent Tests. 6
12 Ben Thomas: Shifted back into his preferred position at 12, and looked much better for it. Produced some classy touches to get their attack flowing early doors, and formed a nice partnership with Gareth Anscombe. Potentially cemented himself into that spot for the foreseeable. 7
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11 Blair Murray: Looked a consistent threat ball-in-hand and added some serious venom to their attack which has been lacking for a while. Grabbed a well-deserved try for his troubles as well and had a second cruelly chalked off. 7
10 Gareth Anscombe: Tidy return to the Test arena. Added a new fizz to the attack when given the opportunity, and you feel they could have done with his experience in the final exchanges. 6
9 Tomos Williams: Has been the form nine in the Premiership this season, and seemingly carried that into the Red jersey of Wales. He came up with clever box kicks to get his side precious territory and also combined well with clubmate Anscombe to get their attack ticking. 7
Forward pack
8 Aaron Wainwright: Powerful in the carry as always, and didn’t look like he’d only played one match all season. His abrasive nature is so vital to his side, and they really missed him in those latter stages. 6
7 Tommy Reffell: Copped an early yellow card, but otherwise fine. Got stuck into the breakdown, as you would expect from the Leicester man, and came up with some decent defensive efforts. 5
6 Taine Plumtree: Typically busy shift from the flanker. Solid as ever in defence – notching 13 tackles – and made a proper nuisance of himself in the breakdown. Overall just put on a good showing. 6
5 Adam Beard: Worked very hard for his side in defence, and added some stability to the lineout. 5
4 Will Rowlands: Industrious without being outstanding. Just got stuck into the hard graft. 5
3 Archie Griffin: Decent work around the park, especially in defence where he made 10 tackles, but got caught out a couple of times in the scrum. 4
2 Dewi Lake: Yet another epic captain’s knock from Lions hopeful Dewi Lake. The hooker made plenty of work for himself on both sides of the ball, and led the charge for both carries (12) and tackles (14) for his side whilst on the pitch. 8
1 Gareth Thomas: Fairly solid around the park during his shift, but like Griffin just couldn’t get the upper hand at scrum time. 5
Replacements: A tough one to sum up really. At times, the bench looked awesome, but yet they still couldn’t get Gatland’s men over the line. James Botham, Jac Morgan, Ryan Ellias and Christ Tshiunza all added some grunt up front, and Nicky Smith and Keiron Assiratti solidified the scrum on their arrival. Elsewhere, Sam Costelow deserves a mention for featuring on the wing for a large chunk of the game – a position he’s never played in – and also had some nice touches when deployed back at 10, and Ellis Bevan also scored with his first touch of the game. Despite this, the momentum had shifted towards Fiji during the second-half, and despite their best efforts just couldn’t claw their way back into the game. You would imagine a few players from this group will be pushing for starting spots next weekend. 6
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