WALES
15. Liam Williams: 6.5
One rare mistake in the second half, but otherwise his usual aggressive, assertive self. Wales do not miss Halfpenny at the moment.
14. George North: 8
Came into the game in the second half with a wonderful, weaving break. Superb angled run for his try, but Wales need to work more of those situations for him.
13. Jonathan Davies: 6
Few opportunities to attack, but, like so many of the Welsh team, proved himself a classy test match player with a temperament to match.
12. Jamie Roberts: 9
What has Jamie Roberts been eating? Or not eating? Looks so much lighter and is far more threatening for it, combining heavy defence with a hard running line for his try. Playing his best rugby since his early days as a winger and fullback at Cardiff.
11. Tom James: 6
Little opportunity with ball in hand, and failed to finish off his 80m break.
10. Dan Biggar: 7
Class as usual, but sometimes struggles for ideas within the Gatland system beyond five or six phases.
9. Gareth Davies: 8
Superb finish against Hogg and Seymour from 50 metres which gave Wales the early advantage. Even when he erred, his aggression often redeemed the situation.
1. Rob Evans: 6
Just about got the job done at scrum-time as he feels his way into the jersey long-term.
2. Scott Baldwin: 8
The Welsh line-out was immaculate all day. That solid set piece foundation was critical, compensating for issues in the scrum.
3. Samson Lee: 6
Won at couple of penalties at scrum time but conceded a few as well. As a unit, the Welsh front row does not offer a lot in the loose.
4. Alun Wyn Jones: 7
Huge contribution around the park with thirteen tackles from the second row.
5. Luke Charteris: 9
The game’s outstanding forward, despite being subbed early in the second half. His telescopic arms ruined the Scottish driving maul on several occasions.
6. Sam Warburton: 6
Less effective from the blindside than the open-side, but is noticeably doing Tipuric’s defensive work, allowing the latter a freer role in attack and defence.
7. Justin Tipuric: 7
Displayed an ability to read play and a range of skills far outside of the remit of modern forwards. Compare his first half kick through with that of John Barclay.
8. Toby Faletau: 6
Not his most conspicuous performance, but error-free as always.
Replacements: 7
The experienced Lydiate, Davies and Jenkins allowed Wales to push ahead between 60 and 70 minutes. The bulk and knowhow Wales have on the bench is of real benefit.
SCOTLAND
15. Stuart Hogg: 7.5
Until he left injured, he was the game’s outstanding attacking player by a distance. His departure after twenty-five minutes deprived Scotland of a counterattacking threat, a vital outlet in recent times.
14. Tommy Seymour: 8.5
Having looked a shadow of himself last week, this was so much better. Imperious under the high ball and finish his try coolly.
13. Mark Bennett: 6
His quick feet always made metres in attack, although he lacked space to cause real damage.
12. Duncan Taylor: 8.5
With this, Taylor threatened the sovereignty of the Dunbar-Bennett centre partnership. A deft kicking game, solid defence against Roberts, one of the great Six Nations try saving tackles on Tom James, and a well-finished try.
11. Sean Lamont: 6
He won’t light up a match, but for a 35 year old he does a very solid job, coping with North well.
10. Finn Russell: 6
Continues to mix errors with brilliance. A number of charge downs balanced by a delicate chip for Seymour’s try. Coped well with Roberts in defence.
9. Greig Laidlaw: 7.5
The first half was superb, with Laidlaw running from the base of the ruck to great effect. Why was such play completely absent in the second half?
1. Alasdair Dickinson: 6
Held his own in the scrum against Samson Lee for the most part, and allowed Nel to get an edge over Rob Evans.
2. Ross Ford: 5
The lineout was a complete disaster. That might not be the hooker’s fault, but it was a significant factor in Scotland’s unravelling.
3. WP Nel: 6
Shelled a couple of balls at a critical time, but a serious contributor in the set piece and loose.
4. Richie Gray: 4.5
Bettered by both Charteris and Alun Wyn Jones. Tapping the ball back to the scrum-half five yards out from your own line is never a good idea, and this error of judgment eventually lead to Roberts’ try.
5. Jonny Gray: 5.5
Unusually quiet game, and, for the first time in a long time, beaten to the top of the tackle count by John Barclay.
6. John Barclay: 6.5
Excellent at the breakdown in tandem with Hardie, but having broken through the Welsh defence in the first half he lacked the patience to see away an easy opportunity for a Scotland score.
7. John Hardie: 8
A better scavenging open-side than Tipuric and Warburton on the day, and won some big penalties. That said, his fumble gave James an 80 metres sprint up the touchline – the ill-timed mishaps which beset Scotland’s narrow defeats are beginning to appear in Hardie’s own play.
8. Dave Denton: 5
He was unable to make significant headway against sturdy Welsh defence. As his sole focus is on carrying, this limits his impact on the game as a whole.
Replacements: 5
Gordon Reid is not having the best time of it as a substitute prop. Stuart McInally was dynamic at hooker, and Ruaridh Jackson was a creative force as a makeshift replacement fullback – is there an argument for his greater involvement at 10?
By Charlie King (@charlescpking)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
10 replies on “Six Nations 2016: Wales vs Scotland Player Ratings”
Stuart Hogg is one of the most frustrating players to watch. Yes he may have been Scotland’s best attacking threat before going off, but he was also the most likely to throw the ball to no-one, and give away the 40 yards or so he’d just made!! Just go into touch or take the contact and wait for back up, but do not throw a pass hoping that another player has tracked you half way up the pitch!!!!
I have to say as a Sarries fan it was nice to see Taylor given a chance and staking a claim for the shirt. His form for Sarries has transferred to the international stage, and Scotland should keep him in.
Is that picture from The 2015 World Cup after Scotland were knocked out of the QF’s by Australia, just though I’d point that out as no Scotsman has mentioned that game for a while………
Bit lenient on Davies who has yet to find his world cup form. Electric when in the zone but service in the 1st two games has been off the pace and some of the passing has been wayward. Took his try very well (and yes, I know it was offside now).
Tom James isn’t fast enough to outrun Duncan Taylor. Harsh to criticise him on pure speed but understand it’s a desirable aspect for a winger. For the record I doubt North would have got any closer to the line.
Overall impressed with how Gats has taken advantage of the domestic sit. to improve a massive Welsh weakness in years past – depth. We’ve never had much beyond the XV but we’ve now got players beyond the 23. None of the weekends players looked out of their depth (cue Enoch and his blinkered approach to Tom James) yet we’ve still got Webb, Halfpenny and Scott Williams to return – at 10 we’ve yet to fully expose Sam Davies and Patchell. The U20s have a few gems in the forwards (great result from them on Fri night to nick it at the death) and an excellent pair of halfbacks.
Scotland’s first try? Tom James at fault
Overlap of several players ignored and Wales penalised at the ensuing ruck? Tom James at fault
Failure to score the sort of try the Cardiff Brigade crow that he can score? Tom James at fault
Just wait until we play England away or a French team that might just want to try hard enough to win in Cardiff. Then we’ll all see what that idiot on the wing is all about and it isn’t going to be pretty for Wales fans.
We’ve played Ireland’s 2nd team and Scotland to date and the harder games are up next.
None of your comments matter. You made it personal about James before he even took the field so you’ve instantly ruled yourself out from making any credible judgement on his rugby. You have nothing to say about rugby other than to infinitely repeat your prejudices about specific players, England, fans, etc. I don’t know why you sometimes forget and try and offer a rugby opinion, they carry no weight.
Why on earth was Charteris taken off so early? I thought he was brilliant
Also, Rob Evans did fantastically well against Nel who is a pretty damn good tighthead
Maybe to better implement plan ‘Bosh’ with BD?
Charteris is without doubt the only success story of the Welsh exodus to foreign lands to play club rugby. (With respect to it providing some gains for the National team).
Pablito,
I made that point about both those players yesterday on one of these pages. With the Welsh set-piece doing well it seemed a stupid choice of subs given that both these guys had served Wales so well for possession until they were removed.
Very impressed with Evans and our whole new front row. I understand the ratings comment about their work in the loose but for a pair of under 25s I think our props are outstanding finds given most props don’t really hit their stride until late 20s.
Agree Charteris was doing really well, can see why it looked odd to take him off – only mitigation is that he had gone through a ton of work so was probably knackered and on his best Bradley is a great replacement to make when you need to keep the intensity up towards the end. Bringing Gethin on was an attempt to freshen up the ruck and use his experience in the tight game.
I cringe a little saying that, no doubt here now comes little lord spoilt chippy to point out, in hilarious, dramatically overblown prejudices, why Gethin is awful….
Interesting point about Jackson at the end there. I think there is an argument that the bench doesn’t require both him and Weir. Depth and strength of the bench is a big issue, but once either of Visser or Maitland are fit (or bring in Brown or Hoyland from Edinburgh) it would make sense to have a bit more firepower from the back three, with Jackson covering 10. Weir can bring a territory game, useful for protecting a healthy lead, but that is a rare scenario for Scotland. What is really needed are impact players to up the pace for the last 20.