Wales failed to confound expectations as they crashed 29-7 to Ireland in the Six Nations opener in Dublin.
It was a brutal afternoon at the office for Wayne Pivac's depleted side, who conceded four tries.
They replied with one from Taine Basham but found it hard to live with Ireland's physicality and had to defend grimly for long periods.
MARK ORDERS dishes out the player ratings.
Liam Williams 6
Some nice footwork at times, took a high ball and tried to make a mark. Spilled possession in the second half and couldn’t stop Ringrose scoring but saved try with last-ditch tackle on Beirne. A mixed bag, then.
Johnny McNicholl 4
One excellent restart take but all over the place in defence for Ireland’s second try, with Andrew Conway’s stop-start befuddling the Welsh rearguard. Few opportunities, whipped off on 62 minutes.
Josh Adams 4
Is he a Test-class centre? As Amy Winehouse might have said…no, no, no.
Ireland targeted him and the Cardiff wing didn’t seem to know how to respond. Some ground made in attack, but the defensive disciplines of his new role need to be brushed up on. Yellow card put tin hat on day of woe. Adams never hid, but Pivac should consider him as a wing. End of.
Nick Tompkins 7
Wales’ best back. Immense in defence, with 19 tackles, one of which saw him wrap up Bundee Aki and cling to him like lagging.
Unable to do anything to prevent Ringrose’s try.
But his defensive effort was good overall.
Louis Rees-Zammit 4
Not at the races after hurting an ankle during the warm-up.
Inauspicious start saw him shrugged off by Mack Hansen in early seconds. No attacking chances and also threw two forward passes. He’s better than this.
Dan Biggar 5
A couple of slide-rule restarts early doors and one lovely kick that lifted pressure on Wales. Tried to galvanise players during his first game as captain, but it was an impossible task and he had no platform.
Tomos Williams 5
Knocked on in a good attacking position but tackled well and one dink over the top might have caused Ireland problems. Made his tackles but had the very opposite of an armchair ride behind a pack that was second best by a long distance.
Wyn Jones 4
Coughed up possession near Ireland’s 22. Scrum largely held up against Tadhg Furlong until conceding a penalty just before break. There was the concession of a further penalty before Jones was withdrawn from fray on 53 minutes.
Ryan Elias 4
Good Elias secured a turnover by diving on loose ball and tackled well enough. The not-so-clever version saw a couple of important lineouts picked off.
Tomas Francis 5
Performed well enough in the scrums in the first 40 without being rewarded by referee Jaco Peyper. There were also 10 tackles from the tight-head.
Will Rowlands 7
Piled up 17 hits and packed a presence at the breakdown, where he did his best to slow Irish ball. Conceded a penalty in build-up to second Irish try, but Rowlands kept grafting and emerged in credit.
Adam Beard 5
Lots of effort and highlight on a day of few highlights for Wales was a maul turnover. Beard never gave up and did what he could to fight his corner, but the Welsh pack were routed.
Ellis Jenkins 4
Found it hard to put a major imprint on the game, with Ireland operating at pace and Wales seemingly powerless to do much about it. Jenkins usually packs a big breakdown presence but it didn’t happen here and he was subbed on 53 minutes. Could come under scrutiny for game with Scotland.
Taine Basham 8
On a day when Wales struggled, Basham sparkled.
Refused to bow to adversity and put in 20 tackles, 13 carries and made 28 metres.
It was an effort that underlined once again that Wales have a gem in the young Dragon.
A try crowned a valiant effort.
Aaron Wainwright 6
Conceded an early penalty at breakdown for not releasing.
But Wainwright defended gamely and tried to take the ball forward.
All things considered, at the base of a pack that was hammered, he didn’t do badly.
Replacements:
Dewi Lake 5
One rogue lineout throw, but there were some encouraging signs.
Gareth Thomas 6
Stripped of possession in run-up to try but showed up on radar.
Dillon Lewis 6
Excellent turnover from the Cardiff player but missed a tackle.
Ben Carter 4
Couldn’t impact the game.
Ross Moriarty 6
Wales could have done with his physicality from the start.
Gareth Davies 6
Steady on a day when not many in red were steady.
Callum Sheedy 5
A good tackle near end, but one kick out of hand was shocking.
Owen Watkin 5
No real opportunities, but the feeling persists he should have started.
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