{"id":292308,"date":"2023-09-12T18:35:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T18:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=292308"},"modified":"2023-09-12T18:35:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T18:35:30","slug":"rowlands-plays-down-his-extraordinary-tackle-count-of-27-in-wales-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/rowlands-plays-down-his-extraordinary-tackle-count-of-27-in-wales-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Rowlands plays down his extraordinary tackle count of 27 in Wales win"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Will Rowlands plays down his extraordinary tackle count of 27 in Wales&#8217; Rugby World Cup victory over Fiji as lock insists &#8216;I&#8217;m just doing my job&#8217;<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wales made a World Cup record of 253 tackles during win over Fiji on Sunday<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Will Rowlands has played down his defensive heroics in Wales&#8217; victory over Fiji<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Head coach Gatland set to make sweeping changes for Portugal clash on Sunday<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Will Rowlands topped the leaderboard when it came to tackles in Wales\u2019 World Cup record tally of 253 as Warren Gatland\u2019s side started their tournament with a thrilling win over Fiji.<\/p>\n<p>But the lock brushed off his extraordinary individual tally of 27 \u2013 which came without a single miss \u2013 and then declared himself ready to back it up again against Portugal on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Rowlands played the full 80 minutes in Bordeaux as Wales beat Fiji 32-26. Questioned on his remarkable individual performance, the Racing 92 man provided a no-nonsense response.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I always find it a bit weird when the number of tackles becomes the headline because you defend in a system. Guys run at you and you tackle them,\u2019 Rowlands said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s nice people say nice things but I just see it as me doing my job for the team. I feel fine and trained as normal. It\u2019s all good. We\u2019d gone into the World Cup feeling pretty confident we\u2019d done some good work and were in a good place going into the games physically.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/18\/75345275-0-image-a-1_1694538756105.jpg\" height=\"430\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Will Rowlands has played down his defensive heroics in Wales&#8217; thrilling victory over Fiji<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/18\/75345565-0-image-a-4_1694539089135.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The lock brushed off his extraordinary individual tally of 27 \u2013 which came without a single miss<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/18\/75345583-0-image-a-5_1694539096982.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales made a World Cup record of 253 tackles in the epic encounter in Bordeaux on Sunday<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was a tough game but we\u2019ve recovered. We\u2019re well conditioned so ready to go again this week.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Wales impressed for long periods against Fiji to record a bonus-point win.<\/p>\n<p>It could all have been very different if referee Matthew Carley had punished Wales\u2019 poor discipline and if Fiji centre Semi Radrada had caught a pass with the line gaping and the clock in the red. But Gatland\u2019s side did just enough. Now, their attentions have turned to Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Wales have swapped Bordeaux for Nice ahead of facing the Pool C minnows here on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Gatland is set to make sweeping changes for his team\u2019s second match.<\/p>\n<p>Fly-half Dan Biggar, full-back Liam Williams and lock Adam Beard trained separately to the main group on Tuesday. All three are very unlikely to face Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Gareth Anscombe and Leigh Halfpenny are likely to step in for Biggar and Williams respectively, although Gatland could opt for Sam Costelow at No 10.<\/p>\n<p>Rowlands might not have been too keen to praise himself, but he was absolutely outstanding against Fiji and is set to stay in the side for Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Dafydd Jenkins is the leading contender to partner him in the second row.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018To get a win and five points is fantastic and now we focus on the next game with Portugal this weekend and we\u2019ll try and do the same again,\u2019 said Rowlands.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/18\/75345413-0-image-a-3_1694538833062.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales fly-half Dan Biggar is likely to be rested against Pool C minnows Portugal on Sunday<\/p>\n<p>The former Wasps forward turned his back on Welsh club rugby amid its financial crisis last season to sign for Racing. He is a vital figure for Gatland given his power and size.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve loved the first couple of weeks here. The excitement around the World Cup everywhere you go in France is amazing,\u2019 Rowlands said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s been a really great experience so far and made me very excited to play a bit more rugby in France in the next few years.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Wales name their team for Portugal on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12510079\/Will-Rowlands-plays-extraordinary-tackle-count-27-Wales-Rugby-World-Cup-victory-Fiji-lock-insists-Im-just-doing-job.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will Rowlands plays down his extraordinary tackle count of 27 in Wales&#8217; Rugby World Cup victory over Fiji as lock <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rowlands plays down his extraordinary tackle count of 27 in Wales win - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/rowlands-plays-down-his-extraordinary-tackle-count-of-27-in-wales-win\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rowlands plays down his extraordinary tackle count of 27 in Wales win - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will Rowlands plays down his extraordinary tackle count of 27 in Wales&#8217; 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