How they rated
LEIGH HALFPENNY
Needed a big performance with Liam Williams expected to be available imminently and he duly came up with it, barely putting a foot wrong.
JOHNNY MCNICHOLL
Showed flashes of swash and buckle as he roamed infield looking for ball, chipping over the top and offloading. A bump cost him a spell on the sidelines, but he returned to continue his bright-spark ways.
GEORGE NORTH
Is he an outside centre, a wing, a bird or a plane? On this evidence we still can’t be sure. North couldn’t get into the game for a long time, but he stuck at it and deserved his try at the end.
HADLEIGH PARKES
The focus was everywhere bar on him during the build-up, with much attention paid to the likes of Tompkins, North, Rees-Zammit and Adams. But Parkes performed solidly.
JOSH ADAMS
Three tries hoisted his tally to 14 in 22 Tests, along the way passing JJ Williams in Wales’s all-time touchdown chart. Adams’s first against Italy needed a quality finish, too, with the Cardiff Blue flicking up his left leg to stay out of touch near the flag.
In scintillating form for Northampton, and not half bad in the first half here as he kicked accurately out of hand and set up Josh Adams’s second try with a wonderful through-his-legs pass. There was an assurance and quality about Biggar.
TOMOS WILLIAMS
Another being warmed by the heat of intense competition, and another who responded well. He was into everything as he tormented the Italian defence with his breaks, flicks, kicks and passes.
WYN JONES
A strong performer at the World Cup but he incurred the wrath of the referee in this game, with Luke Pearce penalising him four times. The Scarlet did his best to atone, tackling strongly around the field, but he will want to improve his discipline.
KEN OWENS
The Welsh line-up wasn’t without fault as a couple of Owens’s arrows went astray. On the plus side, the West Walian made ground with ball in hand and defended uncompromisingly.
DILLON LEWIS
He had a decent game in the loose, with a turnover and a number of emphatic tackles. But Wales’s scrum wasn’t anything to write home about and Lewis coughed up a couple of penalties.
JAKE BALL
Had a good World Cup that saw him perform strongly and consistently and built on that with this steady effort. He carried a few times and came up with some defensive interventions.
ALUN WYN JONES
The skipper grew into the game, making his tackles, nicking an opposition line-out and grafting tirelessly. It was his 35th win in the championship.
AARON WAINWRIGHT
One way of looking at it is to suggest Josh Navidi’s injury has eased the competition in the back row. There again, with Ross Moriarty and
Aaron Shingler, breathing down his collar, Wainwright won’t see it like that.
TAULUPE FALETAU
How would it be for a player who’d been out of this environment for close on two years? Well, Faletau looked to put his injury issues behind him as he was clean in defence and put in one strong charge forward.
JUSTIN TIPURIC
Trying to find a way past Tipuric is like searching for a way out of a maze at midnight. While wearing a blindfold. Didn’t miss a beat in defence, achieved a turnover and was a key influence in attack, making a number of important interventions. Just a superlative player.
SUBSTITUTES
Nick Tompkins 8; Cory Hill 7; Ross Moriarty 7; Rhys Webb 5; Rob Evans 6; Leon Brown 6; Jarrod Evans 6; Ryan Elias 6.