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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Nick Purewal

England player ratings vs Wales: Joe Cokanasiga struggles as errors strewn across the squad

England slipped to a two-try opening World Cup warm-up loss to Wales in Cardiff.

Gareth Davies and George North bagged the scores as Warren Gatland got the better of Steve Borthwick at the Principality Stadium

Nick Purewal looks at the England performances...

Freddie Steward 6

Imperious as ever under the high ball and cut some nice early lines but faded late on

Max Malins 5

Looked for work early on but ended up quiet and unable to influence proceedings

Joe Marchant 4

Completely outfoxed by Jac Morgan for the Gareth Davies try

(PA)

Guy Porter 5

Solid as ever but is yet to show the extra level required to thrive in the Test arena

Joe Cokanasiga 3

Spilled two high balls and was bamboozled all too easily by Morgan for the Davies score

Marcus Smith 6

Knows how to cut a line and give a pass but could not keep Wales quiet

Danny Care 6

Could not drive the zip into England that the visitors so badly craved

Ellis Genge (capt) 6

Scrummaged well and was menacing as ever but could not drive the pace

(PA)

Jamie Blamire 5

Faded after a good first-half as England slipped off markedly

Will Stuart 6

A real scrum presence but looked quiet around the park

Dave Ribbans 5

A lot of action but not high octane enough in truth

George Martin 6

A powerful and important scrummaging cog but will look to add impetus in the coming weeks

Lewis Ludlam 6

Struggled over the ball as the contest wore on

Tom Pearson 6

A solid debut but the ex-London Irish man would have wanted more for himself

Alex Dombrandt 5

Ingenious touches and breaks there again but he needs to boost his work rate and overall effectiveness

(Getty Images)

Replacements

Theo Dan (for Blamire, 59) 5

Endured a nightmare at the lineout with two botched efforts but looked pacy

Bevan Rodd (for Genge, 68) 5

Struggled to contain the resurgent Welsh scrum

Kyle Sinckler (for Stuart, 54) 6

Put himself about well in difficult circumstances

Jonny Hill (for Ribbans, 45) 5

Unable to stop Wales taking charge in all aspects

Tom Willis (for Dombrandt, 54) 5

A quiet debut from the highly regarded back-rower

Jack Van Poortvliet (for Care, 49) 5

Unable to put his foot on proceedings as the hosts took control

George Ford (for Smith, 59) 5

A low-key outing by his lofty standards

Henry Slade (for Malins, 68) 5

Struggled as England scrambled for balance behind the scrum

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