´óÏó´«Ã½

Wales player ratings (85)

• Ben Dirs
• 9 Sep 07, 03:52 PM

Nantes

Wales recovered from a half-time deficit to record a at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

I was at the stadium to see the match, and here's how I rated each individual player's performance. Let me know what you make of my marks and add your own thoughts.

Kevin Morgan One early bit of adventure after Shane Williams’s long spin pass, but hesitant at times both in defence and attack before being replaced by Gareth Thomas - 5

Mark Jones A quiet game in attack for the Scarlets wing and fumbled when he could have scored at the death, but sound in defence - 6

Tom Shanklin Took a while to stamp his authority on the match but became more and more of a handful for the Canadian defence as it wore on. Good pass for Shane Williams’ first try - 7

Sonny Parker The Ospreys centre was almost punished for a loose pass in the first half and looked laboured at times, but scored Wales’ first try - 6

Shane Williams Struggled to get into the game, but the Ospreys flyer became a factor as the Canadians started to wilt. A couple of glaring errors but bagged two cheap tries after the break - 6

James Hook Starting with Hook was a gamble which very nearly went disastrously wrong for coach Gareth Jenkins. Unable to get his backs going and had a pass intercepted for Canada’s second try - 5

Dwayne Peel Few examples of his trademark darting runs, but a solid enough display from the Scarlets scrum-half - 6

Gethin Jenkins The Cardiff loose-head was solid enough in the scrum but cumbersome at times in the loose and failed to make much of an impression - 5

Matthew Rees Some good bursts from the Scarlets hooker, who also provided accurate ball in the line-out and won a scrum against the head - 7

Adam Jones Like Gethin Jenkins, did not catch the eye in open play but did a decent enough job against Canada’s monster pack - 6

Ian Gough Put in some big hits, including one fine try-saving tackle, and showed some nice skills with the ball in hand. Solid in the line-out - 7

Alun Wyn Jones Scored scrappy try to see that Wales regained the lead and did the bread and butter jobs well - 7

Jonathan Thomas Wales’ back-row will have better days than this and Thomas was never able to get a handle on the game - 6

Martyn Williams A quiet outing from the Cardiff man. Wales will need him in more boisterous form against the Wallabies next Saturday - 6

Alix Popham Like some of his team-mates, hit his straps after the break with some bullocking runs and big hits. Not one of his best days, however - 6

Replacements:

Gareth Thomas Along with Stephen Jones, Thomas’ introduction was like a shot in the arm for Wales. Plenty of dog in defence and added a cutting edge in attack - 8

Stephen Jones Made sure of a starting spot against Australia next Saturday with a virtuoso performance from the bench. Sharp in attack, solid in defence and unerring with the boot - 8

Colin Charvis Latched onto Stephen Jones’ shoulder for a try and looked effective against a tiring Canadian team - 7

Duncan Jones Not much chance to make an impact.

Michael Philips Again, not much time to assert himself, but looked sharp.

Rhys Thomas Only 15 minutes to shine and put himself about as much as he could.

Ben Dirs is a ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport journalist travelling around France in a camper van with Tom Fordyce.

• Permalink