Zippy's Player Ratings - France vs Wales

By Zippy
February 26 2007

Player ratings for the Wales 32 - 21 defeat against France at the Stade de France on Saturday in the third of this seasons RBS 6 nations games, for details read on.

15. L Byrne (4) - Bigged himself up before the game and didn't live up to it, will be replaced by Alfie or Kev Morgan.

14. M Jones (5) - Had one break all afternoon, he is devastating with ball in hand you have to think he should look for work more often.

13. T Shanklin (6) - First full game back from injury and didn't let Wales down, might be a good idea to let him play for Cardiff this weekend to get his fitness up.

12. J Hook (6) - Dangerous in attack and probed all the time, will grow as time goes on. A pound or two in weight would be useful for him as well.

11. S Williams (5) - Didn't get much ball but he tried to find an opening, have to think he is key against Italy.

10. S Jones (4) - Kicked poorly both out of hand and at goal, this cost Wales any chance they had at the upset. Obviously feeling the pressure.

9. D Peel (5) - Another performance without a real spark, the calls for Phillips grow stronger.

8. R Jones (3) - As with the game against Scotland our top ball carrier was nowhere to be seen, has to be dropped. Popham at 8 and bring in Charv.

7. M Williams (7) - Wales player of the season already, worked on the floor all day and still hasn't had chance to show his support running.

6. A Popham (6) - Good try went forward with the ball and tackled well, I'd give him a go in his natural position against the Italians.

5, AW Jones (6) - Stole some good lineout ball, really impressed me so far in this championship, needs to do more carrying.

4. I Gough (7) - One thing you get with Gough is committment and he put in so many big hits to raise Wales.

3. C Horsman (5) - Outside of the scrum which was solid he did little but give away penalties.

2. M Rees (6) - Shaky start in the lineout, recovered well enough to hold onto the jersey.

1. G Jenkins (6) -We cannot play him at tight head in test rugby any more, when he played in his position he scrummaged well.

Subs of note:

Jamie Robinson - Took his try well, if he is to play then he needs a big 12 inside him.

France Stars:

D Skrela - Showed that even without playing that well they'll win games through his boot.

Overall Comments:

What a difference a week makes, Wales went out on the field with intent and took the game to France and had plenty of ideas of how to break France down.

The difference between the sides was possession and the boot of Skrela, he kicked well and Wales didn't. As for possession we need to win our set piece and not kick ball away cheaply.

As was highlighted on Scrum V we need to use the big ball carriers more to give the backline more space and we're not a long way off being a decent side.

If we sort that out there is no reason why we can't win our last 2 games, if we think that a decent performance in Paris will get us a result in Rome then its the wooden spoon.

I'll wait and see.

Match Summary:

France: (23) 32
Tries: Dominici, Nallet
Cons: Skrela (2)
Pens: Skrela (5), Beauxis

Wales: (14) 21
Tries: Popham, Shanklin, Robinson
Cons: Jones (3)

France: Poitrenaud, Clerc, Marty, Jauzion, Dominici, Skrela, Mignoni, Milloud, Ibanez, Mas, Nallet, Thion, Betsen, Bonnaire, Vermeulen.
Replacements: Beauxis for Skrela (75), August for Ibanez (75), Marconnet for Mas (62), Harinordoquy for Vermeulen (67).
Not Used: Lamboley, Yachvili, Rougerie.

Wales: Byrne, S. Williams, Shanklin, Hook, M. Jones, S. Jones, Peel, Jenkins, Rees, Horsman, Gough, A. Jones, Popham, M. Williams, R. Jones.
Replacements: Robinson for M. Jones (46), Phillips for Peel (64), R. Thomas for Rees (72), D. Jones for Horsman (53), Cockbain for Gough (70), J. Thomas for Popham (66).
Not Used: Sweeney.