7. Tommy Reffell – 7.5
Excellent work around the park all of the first half. Provided the key break and offload to send Tomos Williams through the gap for Mann’s try. Arguably was Wales’ best player today, and builds on his outstanding performances for Leicester and last week against Scotland.
8. Aaron Wainwright – 6
A slower first half from the hard hitting Wales number eight. He restarted his second half by spilling the ball in the early goings and was not as physically dominant in comparison to last week’s match against Scotland.
Replacements:
16. Ryan Elias – 5.5
Struggled in the early scrums, but regathered his composure as Wales fought to the finish. Tried to rally his side by orchestrating the mauls, yet England were comfortable to halt the pack drive,
17. Corey Domachowski – 6
Penalised at his first scrum, with his opening involvement seeing Wales unable to hold their weight. Joe Marler was animated on the touchline due to Wales’ instability. Provided a safe option to trundle up the hard yards when Wales needed to go through the phases.
18. Archie Griffin – 5
The Bath prospect made his Wales debut, and was just a matter of minutes away from taking on his club teammate Will Stuart at scrum-time. Given a baptism of fire in the front row, as he buckled under the veteran combination of Dan Cole and Ellis Genge. Tried to assert himself in the carry, but would have hoped for more on his test debut.
19. Will Rowlands – 6
Not a great deal of stand out moments from the lock, who replaced Adam Beard for a 12 minute run-out. Made his minutes count with a strong work rate to hit the breakdowns, and was eager to carry against the tired England opponents.
20. Taine Basham – 6
Similar to Rowlands, Basham’s 12 minute involvement didn’t bring a host of highlights. However the back-row stepped up in the place of Mann, and brought a tempo lift to the tiring back rowers Reffell and Wainwright.
21. Kieran Hardy – 5
Given just eight minutes to make an impact, as England had just etched themselves ahead on the scoreboard. Distributed the ball well on a handful of involvements, but was unable to execute a dramatic late winner to silence Twickenham.
22. Cai Evans – N/A
Given less than a minute of play against England.
23. Mason Grady – 5
The difference making decision on the day, saw Mason Grady attempt an intercept but instead give away a deliberate knock on. George Ford nailed the penalty with Grady sent to the sin bin after just 10 minutes on the pitch. Not his best outing despite showing glimpses of his pace with the ball.
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