Wales storm it with second-half blitz

Feb 25 2008 by Simon Thomas, Western Mail

HOW WALES RATED

STAR MAN - Lee Byrne - 9
A NEAR flawless display. Rock solid both under the high ball and as a last line of defence, stopping the hurtling Mirco Bergamasco dead in his tracks with one memorable tackle. His seige-gun left peg was a huge asset once again, while he showed his great strength with the hand-off on Gonzalo Canale for his second try.

Mark Jones - 7
DESPERATE to prove a point after being left out of the Scotland game and was clearly right up for the occasion. Showed he is getting to grips with his new defensive role by firing up into Canale’s face on one occasion and also showed a real thirst for work, carrying nine times, making some decent ground in the process, and chasing eagerly.

Tom Shanklin - 7
AFTER leading Wales out to mark his 50th cap, he had a quiet first-half, doing most of his work in defence. But started the second period with a bang, intercepting Masi’s long pass to gallop in from half-way. His hard-running also drew the sin-bin offence from Mirco Bergamasco that gave Wales a vital one-man advantage.

Gavin Henson - 7
FORCED an early converted penalty by showing good strength in collecting a chip over the top from Masi. Ready and willing to take contact to provide a target, while the high point of his day was the long, delightfully-floated try-scoring pass he delivered to Lee Byrne, missing out two men to put the full-back in at the right corner.

Shane Williams - 8
AS Shaun Edwards rightly says, what a player. Wales had been going from side to side a lot until he changed the complexion of their play with an injection of pace, a magical offload and a quick tap ahead of Byrne’s opener. Saved his best till last though, with a stunning second try as he skinned Sgarbi and outpaced the cover.

Stephen Jones - 8
KNEED in the head early on by Del Fava, but rose above that skullduggery as he did all he could in his bid to retain the outside-half berth for Dublin. Nailed all seven shots at goal, kicked well out of hand, showed a good range of passing and set up Shane Williams for his first try with a break and a perfectly timed delivery.

Dwayne Peel - 5
WAS lively in the opening quarter, but then took a heavy bang in a tackle from Castrogiovanni and his normally precise passing game fell apart as he delivered a series of balls down at Stephen Jones’ boot straps. Replaced just three minutes into the second-half by Mike Phillips who made an immediate impact.

Gethin Jenkins - 7
STUCK to his task manfully in the face of a stern scrummaging challenge from the mighty Castrogiovanni and again showed his versatility by switching to the tight-head for the final 10 minutes. Put in a load of work around the field, twice coming close to earning a charge down for his efforts. But has he done enough?

Matthew Rees - 5
ALWAYS shows up well in loose, as illustrated by the way he popped up to take Shane’s offload in the build-up to Byrne’s first try. But his primary job is hitting his targets at the lineout and here he was found wanting. Wales lost four balls on their own throw, with Rees gifting Castrogiovanni a try by overshooting the leaping Gough.

Rhys Thomas - 6
IN the end, all the talk about him being Wales’ Achilles heel proved unfounded, as much as anything because there were hardly any scrums in the game - and just five in the first 50 minutes when he was up against Toulouse strong man Perugini. Made some important hard yards ahead of the ball going out for Byrne to score his first try.

Ian Gough - 7
WALES’ main source of ball at the lineout and got through his usual graft at the coal-face, hitting rucks and mauls and driving powerfully. Put in some trademark big tackles, picking up a stinger for his troubles on one occasion. But shook it off and soldiered on for the full duration. Now just two caps short of his half-century.

Ian Evans - 7
HAS a real hunger to carry the ball and did it to excellent effect on a number of occasions, demonstrating his raw-boned, athletic talent. Discipline remains an issue, with one silly body check on Mirco Bergamasco gifting a penalty that should have been slotted. But was unfortunate to be pinged again when Masi just ran into him.

Jonathan Thomas - 8
THE pick of the Welsh back row. Gathered restarts, won a couple of line-outs and drove with real purpose, regularly getting over the gain-line to finish the match as second-top carrier with 10 charges. Also did more than his fair share of work at the breakdown to help give his team the edge in that all-important department.

Ryan Jones - 7
MADE more carries than anyone else on the field - 13 to be precise - as he led by example. Never seems to take a breather, with his work-rate being really outstanding. Drove strongly into the heart of the Italian defence and claimed three restarts to compliment Thomas’ work there. Growing into the captaincy more and more each game.

Martyn Williams - 7
HAD a battle royal with Mauro Bergamasco at the breakdown, gradually getting the better of the pumped-up Stade openside. Came more into the game as it opened up and handled twice in the build-up to Byrne’s second try. Some typically deft touches, including a couple of off-loads. Not for the first time, shed blood for his country.