{"id":19415,"date":"2017-03-21T12:37:55","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T12:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=19415"},"modified":"2017-03-21T12:37:55","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T12:37:55","slug":"wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/","title":{"rendered":"How did Wales&#039; players rate in the 2017 Six Nations?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">AFTER a campaign which contained one stunning victory, two near misses and plenty of profligacy in front of the try line, Wales finished the 2017 Six Nations in fifth place, with only Italy below them in the table. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Interim coach Rob Howley\u2019s point blank refusal to tweak the starting XV raised eyebrows throughout the championships and the lack of experimentation now looks like a very poor decision.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were a few bright sparks on the pitch and some of the team really enhanced their cases to be Lions players this summer, but on the whole, the campaign was let down by too many poor performers. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here is how each player rated after the championships: <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Leigh Halfpenny &#8211; 6<\/b><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15268\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15268\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15268\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"Leigh Halfpenny has been linked with a return to Blues Jumpy News\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-770x576.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-500x374.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-293x219.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny.jpg 1027w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15268\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15268\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"Leigh Halfpenny has been linked with a return to Blues Jumpy News\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-770x576.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-500x374.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny-293x219.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2016\/11\/Leigh-Halfpenny.jpg 1027w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript> Leigh Halfpenny has not scored a try for four years for Wales. Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/137439807@N03\/\">Jumpy News<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saved himself a couple of marks thanks to his metronomic place-kicking abilities (he kicked 62 points for Wales) but his lack of attacking flair from full-back is letting the team down. He has not scored a try for his country in four years and that never looked like changing. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>George North &#8211; 7<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A mixed tournament for Wales\u2019 star winger. He scored a phenomenal 60m try against Italy, and a superb double against Ireland where he looked more like his old self, but was poor against Scotland and his defence was not as solid as it should have been. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Jonathan Davies &#8211; 5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scored in the opening game against Italy, but had a very poor tournament on the whole. His poor kick to George Ford which resulted in England\u2019s winning try in Cardiff aside, Davies offered almost nothing in attack as Wales struggled to score tries. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Scott Williams &#8211; 6<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like his centre partner Davies, Williams failed to really get into the tournament, although there were glimpses of his talent. His work mainly involved getting tackled as he ran the attack\u2019s shallow lines, but his break through the Irish defence for North\u2019s first try in that game was telling. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Liam Williams &#8211; 7<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wales\u2019 top try scorer with three, all of which came in the first three matches, Liam Williams can be pleased with his tournament contribution. He showed his rugby intelligence to peel of the wing for his try against England, but would have been more of an influence playing at full-back. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Dan Biggar &#8211; 5.5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A disappointing campaign for Biggar on the whole, who showed glimpses of what he could do but did very little to calm the talk of Sam Davies taking over at 10. He had a good game against England, but was far too pumped up and never seemed to be playing with a clear head. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Rhys Webb &#8211; 8<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He was injured before the tournament, but returned to be one of Wales\u2019 outstanding players. His sniping at the base of rucks and scrums set a strong tempo for his team which should have led to more than the measly eight tries they managed by the team. Could be a Lions starter.<\/span><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_19178\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19178\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-19178\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"Rhys Webb has put himself in contention to be a starter on the tour. Credit: Jumpy News\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-770x576.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-500x374.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-293x219.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb.jpg 1027w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-19178\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-19178\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"Rhys Webb has put himself in contention to be a starter on the tour. Credit: Jumpy News\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-770x576.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-500x374.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb-293x219.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Webb.jpg 1027w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript> Rhys Webb has put himself in contention to be a starter on the tour. Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/137439807@N03\/\">Jumpy News<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<b>Rob Evans &#8211; 6<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Didn\u2019t start against Italy but came into the team for the England game and kept his place. Wales\u2019 scrum mostly held up well, although France pummelled it in the last match. He didn\u2019t really do a lot wrong, but the front row was far from excellent. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Ken Owens &#8211; 8<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Owens had spent the vast majority of his 50-cap career on the bench before this year, but has truly taken his chance now given the chance to start. His line-out throwing and tireless work in the loose gave the team an extra dimension in what was an otherwise disappointing front row. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Tomas Francis &#8211; 5<\/b><br \/>\nLike Evans, Francis didn\u2019t start the opening game of the championship but came in for the final four rounds of the tournament. He still gives away too many penalties and he still doesn\u2019t offer enough in the loose. Wales are still yet to find a proper replacement for Adam Jones.<br \/>\n<b>Jake Ball &#8211; 6<\/b><br \/>\nHad strong games against Ireland and England where he carried well and was strong in the line out. Impressed enough to keep Luke Charteris out of the team when he returned from injury, but Wales\u2019 lack of mobility in the second row compared to England and Scotland was very apparent.<br \/>\n<b>Alun Wyn Jones (Captain) &#8211; 6.5<\/b><br \/>\nLed the team with aplomb and little fuss, barring a confusing penalty decision against Scotland when he was swayed. As a second row, he was committed as always and worked hard, winning plenty of turnovers, but his main contribution was removing the shackles from Sam Warburton.<br \/>\n<b>Sam Warburton &#8211; 8.5<\/b><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17205\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17205\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-17205\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"11.02.17 - Wales v England - RBS 6 Nations 2017 - Sam Warburton of Wales looks dejected at the end of the game. Credit: Huw Evans Picture Agency\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-770x576.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-500x374.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-293x219.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG.jpg 1027w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17205\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-17205\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"11.02.17 - Wales v England - RBS 6 Nations 2017 - Sam Warburton of Wales looks dejected at the end of the game. Credit: Huw Evans Picture Agency\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-770x576.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-500x374.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG-293x219.jpg 293w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/02\/Sam-Warburton-WALENG.jpg 1027w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript> Sam Warburton looks dejected at the end of the Wales v England game. Credit: Huw Evans Picture Agency<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Superb. Having relinquished captaincy and switched to blindside flanker, Warburton was reborn and was probably Wales\u2019 player of the tournament. His work at the breakdown alongside Justin Tipuric was relentless and he supported the team excellently on the attack. He\u2019s truly back. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Justin Tipuric &#8211; 8<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sadly, thanks to the way Wales were playing, we didn\u2019t get to see Justin Tipuric really flex his attacking muscles, but his defence was absolutely wonderful. His work at the breakdown was mostly supporting, winning few turnovers, but he made a mammoth 21 tackles against France. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Ross Moriarty &#8211; 7.5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is easy to forget Ross Moriarty is still only 22. He had a very, very good tournament filling in for Taulupe Faletau at number eight, keeping the Bath man out of the team. He was absolutely excellent against England, carried the ball well and has a very bright future for Wales. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Scott Baldwin &#8211; 5 <\/b><br \/>\nWales always looked worse off when Baldwin came on for Owens. The line out and the scrum both suffered when the Scarlets man was replaced. Baldwin didn\u2019t do anything awful, but the difference was marked. Filled in at second row at the end of the France game.<br \/>\n<b>Nicky Smith &#8211; 5.5 <\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Played okay against Italy before being dropped in favour of Rob Evans for the rest of the tournament. Has recovered well from a pectoral injury which plagued his early career and still has plenty of time to improve at 22. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Samson Lee &#8211; 5.5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After looking so solid for Wales in his early career and looking likely to be a long term replacement for Adam Jones at loosehead, it was a difficult tournament for Lee. It seemed he hasn\u2019t quite got over his achilles problems. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>James King &#8211; 5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Included in the injury hit first squad because of his ability to cover the second row and back row, but did very little to justify his inclusion. Versatile, but doesn\u2019t really add a lot to the squad. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Luke Charteris &#8211; 5.5<\/b><br \/>\nWas held back by Howley for the majority of the tournament after breaking his hand before it started, but did his job well when he returned towards the end of the campaign. At 34, he may be phased out before the next World Cup.<br \/>\n<b>Taulupe Faletau &#8211; 5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Came into the tournament in difficult circumstances thanks to his knee injury, but was clearly not ready to return to the cut and thrust of international rugby. For such a good player, he made very little impact from the bench. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Gareth Davies &#8211; 5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Scarlets man filled in admirably for Webb during the last World Cup and autumn, but had very little time to impact on the Six Nations. His role in passing the ball to Jonathan Davies before England\u2019s winning try led to questions over his game management. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Sam Davies &#8211; 6.5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If only he was given more time on the pitch. Sam Davies had to be content with spending the majority of his tournament watching from the sidelines, despite his brilliant form for Ospreys and changed the game against Italy when he came on. Still waiting for a real crack at 10. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Jamie Roberts &#8211; 5.5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Somehow still hanging onto his jersey despite age and injury. Roberts will still run hard lines and crash into defenders, but this is becoming an increasingly limited tactic in modern rugby. Took his try against Ireland well. <\/span><br \/>\n<b>Alex Cuthbert &#8211; 4.5<\/b><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Out of form and unfairly thrown in for George North against England, Cuthbert had a nightmare which didn\u2019t help his already shattered confidence. Missed a tackle on Daly for the decisive try and made just three metres with ball in hand. Needs a period away from the national team. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AFTER a campaign which contained one stunning victory, two near misses and plenty of profligacy in front of the try line, Wales finished the 2017 Six Nations in fifth place, with only Italy below them in the table. Interim coach Rob Howley\u2019s point blank refusal to tweak the starting XV raised eyebrows throughout the championships and the lack of experimentation now looks like a very poor decision. There were a few bright sparks on the pitch and some of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":19425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[4399,759,591,760,241,3431,4866,2663,3031,3432,4793,766,2889,3433,4867,153,3557,3008,4267,762,3924,1799,3009,4868,3010,328,3550,4837,339],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-19415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby","tag-alex-cuthbert","tag-alun-wyn-jones","tag-dan-biggar","tag-gareth-davies","tag-george-north","tag-jake-ball","tag-james-king","tag-jamie-roberts","tag-jonathan-davies","tag-justin-tipuric","tag-ken-owens","tag-leigh-halfpenny","tag-liam-williams","tag-luke-charteris","tag-nicky-smith","tag-rbs-six-nations","tag-rhys-webb","tag-rob-evans","tag-rob-howley","tag-ross-moriarty","tag-sam-davies","tag-sam-warburton","tag-samson-lee","tag-scott-baldwin","tag-scott-williams","tag-six-nations","tag-taulupe-faletau","tag-tomas-francis","tag-wales"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How did Wales&#039; players rate in the 2017 Six Nations? - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How did Wales&#039; players rate in the 2017 Six Nations? - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AFTER a campaign which contained one stunning victory, two near misses and plenty of profligacy in front of the try line, Wales finished the 2017 Six Nations in fifth place, with only Italy below them in the table. Interim coach Rob Howley\u2019s point blank refusal to tweak the starting XV raised eyebrows throughout the championships and the lack of experimentation now looks like a very poor decision. There were a few bright sparks on the pitch and some of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-21T12:37:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Howley.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1027\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/\",\"name\":\"How did Wales&#039; players rate in the 2017 Six Nations? - The Cardiffian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Howley.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T12:37:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2017\/03\/21\/wales-players-rate-2017-six-nations\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Howley.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/03\/Howley.jpg\",\"width\":1027,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"Rob Howley reflects on Wales' defeat to France. 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