"Weak link" - Six Players who FLOPPED in the final round of the Autumn Internationals

JOE 2, Rugby Pass 4.5, Planet Rugby 3, BALLS 4

Porter was repeatedly dominated in the scrum by South Africa’s powerful front row, conceding multiple penalties and eventually a yellow card. While he remained active in open play, his struggles in set pieces were critical, contributing to his team’s disadvantage. His defensive work and loose play were mixed, but the front-row weaknesses were too prominent to ignore.

Planet Rugby: " Monstered in the scrums by Thomas du Toit and then Wilco Louw, conceding four first-half penalties, with the last of which earned him 10 minutes in the sin bin. Busy as ever around the park, but he is often shown up for his scrum illegalities when fronting up against powerful packs, and that was very much the case today. 

Rugby Pass: "Up against the formidable 136kg frame of Thomas du Toit, and he came off second best. Not much better in the loose, where he ceded a penalty after getting isolated by Bok jackallers in the 3rd minute. In his defence, he was less at fault than Furlong and Du Toit’s clear boring in went unpunished. Ironically, it was to be Porter who suffered the first front-row yellow."

JOE: "His scrum penalties firstly helped lead to a team yellow card, which sent S

BALLS: "Found himself on the wrong side of the referee (wasn’t the only one!!!). Struggled with the scrum power of South Africa and missed 10 minutes with a yellow card. 11 tackles/5 carries."

Solid in the scrum, some good carries, but missed key tackles and was penalized, leading to All Blacks’ tries.

Wales Online: "The Saracens prop put in 11 tackles and three carries. There was one big surge which very nearly yielded a try early in the first-half. Solid in the scrum but missed a tackle on All Blacks full-back Reuben Love for third All Blacks try."

RUCK: "It’s been an underwhelming three games for the Saracens player, but the looshead prop could’ve scored after 20 minutes from close range, and was penalised for not releasing.

He then missed a tackle on Ruben Love, which the fullback punished by racing over the whitewash. No shock that he was replaced by Gareth Thomas early in the second half."

Planet Rugby: ": Such a weapon with the ball in hand, and went agonisingly close to scoring in the first half before Pasilio Tosi pounced at the breakdown. However, defensively, it was a day to forget. Stood little chance against Love, who scorched past him to score in first half and probably could have done better to stop Tamaiti Williams for his try too."

Rugby Pass: "Missed a tackle on Ruben Love for the All Blacks’ second try. He did have a bit of space to cover, but he will be disappointed with the effort he put in. At fault for the All Blacks’ third try as well – this time he was just outmuscled by Tamaiti Williams."

Ratima showed flashes of control but lacked his usual running threat. Early in the match, his left-foot grubber was off-target, though he settled into a passing rhythm later. Box kicks were solid, and as Wales tired, his composure and distribution in the second half became increasingly important. A promising but inconsistent showing, with plenty to work on ahead of the season.

Planet Rugby: "Needs to improve several areas of his game if he is to stick around the All Blacks set-up. Ratima has a lovely pass, but he’s a bit too cumbersome, while his kicking game simply isn’t up to Test standard at the moment."

Rugby Pass: "Unfortunately was inaccurate at times with his left foot, especially in the opening ten minutes, where he decided to place a grubber kick in behind the defence just as the All Blacks looked to score their second. Lacked the lethal running game that All Blacks fans have been accustomed too with Cameron Roigard, but also looked more comfortable than he did at Twickenham."

STUFF: " Plenty of decent early box kicks, before settling into passing rhythm, but never got his running game going. Faces a big year ahead to stay in the mix."

RUCK: "Ratima struggled at times, but he found his rhythm in the second half. As Wales tired, his improved distribution became increasingly important. His growing composure and accuracy in the latter stages elevated his rating."

Mail Online: "First game of the season after recovering from broken arm on Lions duty. Quiet, but you could understand why."

RUCK: "Didn’t manage to get his hands on the ball as much as he might have liked in his first match since the Lions tour injury. Only real highlight was a pretty simple catch that was dropped. Not at his best."

Rugby Pass: "Looked like he was playing his first match in months, in all honesty. Did not pose the threat Tom Roebuck does in his kick chase, and wasn’t wholly secure under the high ball when receiving kicks. Elsewhere, he saw very little ball but was reliable enough in defence."

Top tackler with 22 tackles, showed effort and defensive work, but costly errors, a yellow card, and poor discipline hurt his side.

Planet Rugby: "A nuisance defensively and attempted to slow down the All Blacks at the ruck with little success. Plumtree’s afternoon was tarnished by his high tackle on Jordan with 12 minutes remaining. "

Wales Online: "Made far too many errors for this level and two proved very costly for his side.

They say you are most vulnerable straight after scoring and Plumtree gave away a penalty after Tom Rogers' first try then spilled the ball from the restart after his second which resulted in an All Blacks try.Also received a yellow card for a high tackle.

Finished as the game's top tackler with 22 but error rate and discipline needs to improve."

RUCK: "Supposedly, the 25-year-old was meant to be on the bench, but with Aaron Wainwright out due to a hip injury, he started for the first time since playing South Africa 2024. That day, he also wore the eight jersey.

The number eight was a little too eager in the opening exchanges, as he was penalised for being offside, which was the catalyst for the making of the All Blacks’ first try. And was sent off for a bunker review late in the contest."

Rugby Pass: "Plenty of effort but not much gainline success. Guilty of a few penalties when Wales were under duress, including a yellow card for a high tackle, but another big defensive shift otherwise."

Ryan had a disastrous outing. He was lucky not to receive a permanent red card after a reckless high tackle on Malcolm Marx, which left his team down a man and nullified a key try. His lineout timing and clearout work were ineffective, and he contributed minimally outside the incident, with only five tackles and one carry. Overall, a poor showing overshadowed by a costly and avoidable error.

Planet Rugby: "Lucky not to be permanently red-carded for what was a dirty, thug shot on Malcolm Marx. He tucked his arm before making contact and flew over the ruck before making head contact. Not only did his sending-off leave his team down a man for 20 minutes, but it scratched off his locking partner’s try that probably would have meant that Ireland led. Made five tackles and a carry before his brain explosion. "

Rugby Pass: "Unable to catch the first lineout throw from Sheehan and his yellow clearout on Malcolm Marx nullified Tadhg Beirne’s try moments later. Was replaced by Cian Prendergast. One turnover aside, a poor showing."

JOE: "On a day where Ireland didn’t need any unforced cards, Ryan gave away one of the most obvious and pointless red cards you will see. He would have been handy pushing in the scrum as well."