Zippy's Player Ratings - Wales vs Australia
By Zippy
November 27 2005
Player ratings for the Wales 24-22 win over Australia at the Millennium Stadium last night, the first Welsh win over Aus since 1987, for full details read on
15. G Thomas (capt) (7) – Enhanced his reputation further during these internationals and among the top players in the world, some great attacks set the tone for Wales. Marked down for silly pass to Shane Williams for Aus 2nd try.
14. D James (8) – What a comeback he has enjoyed, completely dominant in defence and a few strong runs means that if his form for Llanelli is good he will hold onto the shirt.
13. MJ Watkins (5) – Looked good with ball in hand and could be a danger, missed far too many tackles which ruined his performance.
12. S Parker (4) – Didn’t look a danger in attack and had a howler in defence, Gav Henson won’t be too worried about his place.
11. S Williams (9) – Flattened all series and the usual comments about his size etc came out, I even called for him to be dropped and have proven wrong over the past 2 games, raised the roof with the try and had the crowd on their toes all afternoon.
10. S Jones (8) – Wales top tackler, and solid as a rock and kicked the points, underrated and vital to Wales.
9. G Cooper (7) – Best game of the series, still doesn’t look on top of his game but distribution from the base was much quicker and accurate.
8. M Owen (8) – Did a lot of work and linked well as per usual, still to hit top form but played an important role.
7. M Williams (8) – Great run in the first half that almost resulted in a try and work rate was high all evening.
6. C Charvis (8) – Given MOTM by the BBC, stole some ball and ran strongly and gave the performance he’s owed us all series.
5. R Sidoli (9) – Showed up well in the loose and lineout was much improved, made one thumping tackle and best performance for Wales in some time.
4. I Gough (8) – Has come into the side and not let anyone down, good lineout option and gets through a lot of work.
3. C Horsman (9) – My MOTM, completely dominant in the scrum which eventually helped us to win the game, doubters will pinpoint his errors and penalty count but in the past 2 games he has established himself as one of the top tight heads on the world scene.
2. R Thomas (8) – A much improved performance, line out solid and adds his weight to the scrum in addition to a lot of carries from the base of the ruck, perhaps out hooking solution?
1. D Jones (8) – Best game of the series, Dunc was everywhere and gave the Aussie scrum a battering.
Subs of Note:
M Davies – Carried on the good work in the lineout
A Jones – Kept up the scrummage supremacy
Aus Stars:
Lote Tiquiri – Ran Wales ragged with some scintillating breaks, looks the part at no13
Overall Comments:
They played “Save the best till last” at the end of Scrum V and that’s what Wales did.
Wales did a lot of things well, the forwards were awesome and we played great rugby at times, there has to be a worry that despite the forward dominance we only just managed to win but that worry is for another day.
Wales will have learnt a lot from this Autumn and it stands us in good stead for the 6 Nations, depth is a must in international rugby these days and Wales could have unearthed a few gems.
Bring on February 6th!
Match Summary:
Wales (6) 24
Tries: Pen, S Williams
Con: S Jones
Pens: S Jones (4)
Australia (7) 22
Tries: Tuqiri, Sharpe, Latham
Cons: Rogers (2)
Pen: Rogers
Att: 74,721
Wales: G. Thomas, James, Watkins, Parker, S. Williams, S. Jones, Cooper, D. Jones, R. Thomas, Horsman, Gough, Sidoli, Charvis, M. Williams, Owen.
Replacements: Sweeney for S. Jones (80), Davies for R. Thomas (34), A. Jones for Horsman (49). Not Used: Evans, J. Thomas, Phillips, Byrne.
Australia: Latham, Gerrard, Tuqiri, Turinui, Mitchell, Rogers, Gregan, Dunning, Cannon, Fitter, McMeniman, Sharpe, Roe, Waugh, Smith.
Replacements: Sailor for Gerrard (64), Whitaker for Gregan (56), Baxter for Fitter (51), Chisholm for McMeniman (70). Not Used: Polota-Nau, Fava, Johansson.
And finally well done to BurtonTiger for winning the Autumn International prediction league, he takes home the Welsh Grand Slam mousemat and mug courtesy of Jacqueline Myrtle Designs - http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s193/st84598.htm
| Prediction League Standings 27 Nov 2005 | ||||||||||
| Pos | User Name | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | burtontiger | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 121 | 81 | 40 | 24 | |
| 2 | KFA | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 114 | 77 | 37 | 22 | |
| 3 | Isaac Dix | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 91 | 89 | 2 | 21 | |
| 4 | Annie Wannenburg | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 83 | 88 | -5 | 21 | |
| 5 | Tyke Steve | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 104 | 86 | 18 | 18 | |
| 6 | Kath. | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 57 | 69 | -12 | 18 | |
| 7 | brummy tyke or taff | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 58 | 102 | -44 | 15 | |
| 8 | Zippy | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 58 | 110 | -52 | 14 | |
| 9 | Lestyn | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 117 | -67 | 14 | |
| 10 | Pross | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 56 | 125 | -69 | 14 | |
| 11 | Exile~ | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 48 | 101 | -53 | 13 | |