Rating every Wales player from their disastrous Six Nations campaign: ‘All-action hero’ a clear standout

Following the conclusion of the 2024 Six Nations, we rated all the players who featured in the Championship, starting with Wooden Spoon finishers, Warren Gatland’s Wales.

For the first time in 21 years, Wales finished bottom of the Six Nations table, with Gatland’s side failing to win a single match throughout their campaign.

We run through their team, rating each player out of a possible 10.

Outside backs

Rio Dyer scoring a try for Wales against France in the 2024 Six Nations.

Cameron Winnett: Showed huge promise and led several stat lines for the team. Excellent under the high ball and always a threat on the counter-attack. 7

Josh Adams: Very, very quiet on the pitch by his own high standards; being stepped with some ease by Lorenzo Pani in the last game sort of summed up his tournament – but it should also be noted that much has been made of his leadership and mentoring skills of the youngsters around him. 5

Rio Dyer: One of Wales‘ most threatening players with the ball in hand and has upped his work-rate off the ball, but still misses too many tackles. 6

Mason Grady: Gave the Welsh some much-needed go-forward ball against Italy (and others) and scored a fine solo try, but is still error-prone. 5

Tom Rogers: Did not feature.

Planet Rugby’s player rating key for the 2024 Six Nations

Centres

Nick Tompkins: As solid as ever, but rarely spectacular. 5

George North: In his final series, North left nothing out there; he was especially good earlier in the tournament but could not get a hold in the last match. 6

George North of Wales looks on. Guinness Six Nations championship 2024 match, England v Wales at Twickenham Stadium.

Owen Watkin: Took his starting chance against France well but faded and was second-best against Scotland. 5

Joe Roberts: Made a real impact against France, although some defensive errors belied his lack of experience, but this is a good prospect in Wales’ centre. 6

Fly-halves

Sam Costelow: Fades in and out of games too much at the moment and yet to steer a game for a full 80 consistently, but flashes of potential. 6

Ioan Lloyd: Not given much of a look-in so far, but that could change in the mid-year Tests. 4

Cai Evans: Did not feature.

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Scrum-halves

Wales scrum-half Tomos Willians feeds his backline against Italy.

Tomos Williams: An excellent tournament, accurate kicking game, good passing and constantly running and looking for offloads and passes. One of the few shining lights for Wales and is crucial to their short-term future. 8

Kieran Hardy: Able back-up to the above but didn’t really get enough of a look-in to make a big impression. 5

Gareth Davies: A disappointing opening day against Scotland cost Davies his starting spot and didn’t make much of an impact against France. 3

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Back-row

Wales star Tommy Reffell against Ireland.

Aaron Wainwright: One of the standout performers in the team with a huge work rate, big carries, big tackles. An excellent tournament from a personal performance point of view. 8

Tommy Reffell: Tournament stat leader in turnovers and among the top tacklers, and ruck cleaners. An all-action hero who barely put a foot wrong. 9

Alex Mann: Another gem from the Welsh back-row factory. Intense competition for his place meant he didn’t get as many minutes as he might have liked, but his brace of tries will remain long in the memory, and he should get more opportunities as time ticks on. 7

Mackenzie Martin: Stiff competition for places in this position and a high benchmark meant that a few errors were more glaring than they might otherwise have been. But there is no doubt that talent and age are on his side. 5

Taine Basham: Only featured briefly. 5

James Botham: His tournament was cut short after picking up a knee injury in the clash with Scotland, where he grabbed a try. 5

Locks

Wales second-row Adam Beard.

Dafydd Jenkins: Took the captain’s mantle onto his broad, young shoulders with significant aplomb, and his performance levels did not drop. He was never a spectacular player, but his huge numbers of tackles and rucks are a testament to his work rate and ability. 7

Adam Beard: Led the Welsh in line-out takes but was guilty of some silly penalties on occasion and didn’t make a huge physical impact. 5

Will Rowlands: Lots of unseen work, but like his co-lock Beard, didn’t ever really impose himself on the games he played in. 5

Teddy Williams: Only featured briefly off the bench against Scotland. 5

Props

Gareth Thomas: One of Wales’ most omnipresent ruckers and supporters but rarely came out consistently on top in the scrum. 6

Kieron Assiratti: Also struggled at scrum-time but showed glimpses of potential. 4

Dillon Lewis: Came into the squad for the final three rounds but did not look on form or completely fit. 3

Corey Domachowski: Only start was against Scotland when the Welsh scrum was given a hammering. Plenty of work around the park ensured he was used as an impact player thereafter, but he couldn’t shore up the creaky Welsh scrum. 4

Leon Brown: Also got his only start against Scotland but was given a tough day. 4

Archie Griffin: Only featured briefly. 5

Kemsley Mathias: Got just six minutes off the bench in the defeat to Scotland. 5

Harri O’Connor: A brief stint off the bench against Italy. 5

Hookers

Ryan Elias: Had a horror show against Scotland in both throwing and scrumming but improved against France while he was on the pitch. 5

Elliot Dee: Cemented himself as Wales’ starting hooker with some sterling work despite often being under heavy pressure. 6

Evan Lloyd: Only featured briefly. 5

READ MORE: ‘That’s the last thing I want’ – Warren Gatland in resignation offer after disastrous Six Nations