England player ratings vs Ireland: 4/10s appalling in brutal hammering | Rugby | Sport
Ireland were victors on Saturday as England were left to rue a poor first-half performance. (Image: Getty)
England’s Six Nations campaign is all but over after a brutal 42-21 hammering at the hands of Ireland. Back-to-back losses, following last week’s upset in Scotland, compounded the Red Roses’ fate in another miserable performance by Steve Borthwick’s side at Twickenham.
Ireland have never scored more points on English soil, with Jamison Gibson-Park, Robert Baloucoune, Tommy O’Brien, Dan Sheehan and Jamie Osborne running in the tries in a commanding victory that will live long in the Irish memory. Here, Express Sport rates both teams as Andy Farrell’s outfit stamped their authority as the leading challengers to France today…
STEWARD – Afternoon to forget for full-back with yellow card and then early exit. 4.
FREEMAN – Switched back to wing and couple of bursts but caught napping defensively. 5.
LAWRENCE – First game of the tournament and got hands on ball and decent impact late on. 5.
DINGWALL – Scored a try but one of the defensive organisers that went AWOL. 4.
ARUNDELL – Red card villain last week and did not get many chances to show his pace. 4.
FORD – Poor in Edinburgh, kicked two penalties straight out here and at risk. 4.
MITCHELL – Pulled up with leg injury after 29 minutes of England being battered. 4.
GENGE – Had the better of Furlong at the scrum and carried bravely once or twice. 6.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
COWAN-DICKIE – Part of a malfunctioning lineout before being replaced early on. 4.
HEYES – Won his personal battle at the scrum and got hands on ball in a long shift. 6.
ITOJE (CAPT) – 100 up for the skipper but replaced early for the second week in a row. 5.
CHESSUM – Obvious captain when Itoje calls it quits and sorted line out mess out. 6.
CURRY – Itching to start after six games on bench and put in trademark hits. 5.
EARL – Moved to 7 but was still England’s hardest carrier, putting in another Trojan effort. 7.
POLLOCK – First start for blonde bombshell, nearly scored and got a yellow card. Standard. 6.
Replacements: George 5 (for Cowan-Dickie 29), Rodd 5 (for Genge 51), Davison 4 (for Heyes 72), Coles 5 (for Itoje 54), Pepper 5 (for Curry 51), Underhill 5 (for Earl 70), Van Poortvliet 6 (for Mitchell 29), M.Smith 6 (for Steward 39)
England stars wrestling MOTM Stuart McCloskey. (Image: Getty)
OSBORNE – Made some huge dents in England, scored, but copped a second-half yellow card. 8.
BALOUCOUNE – Ulster man is a late bloomer at 28 but was too hot for England. 8.
RINGROSE – Brilliant defensive work kept England on back foot in the first half and beyond. 8.
MCCLOSKEY – Big hits in defence and big carries in attack – a real handful. 10.
LOWE – Back in favour and couple of touches but injured and replaced after 18 minutes. 7.
CROWLEY – Got the nod over Sam Prendergast and showed why with his control. 7.
GIBSON-PARK – Kept Mitchell out of Lions XV and still second-best 9 in Europe after Dupont. 9.
LOUGHMAN – Munster man was given a working over by Heyes at the scrum. 5.
SHEEHAN – Off colour this season since Lions heroics but dynamic here. 7.
FURLONG – Shunted by Italians last week and fought a losing battle with Genge at scrum. 5.
MCCARTHY – One first-half gallop had Twickenham roaring, but did the tough stuff well. 7.
RYAN – Decent at lineout and got around the park. Been quiet recently but back. 7.
BEIRNE – Lions star was at his best here, disrupting England at the lineout and on the floor. 8.
VAN DER FLIER – Back starting and made one rampaging run, but also good breakdown work. 8.
DORIS (CAPT) – The Irish skipper carried the fight to England and won the battle with Pollock. 7.
Replacements: Kelleher 6 (for Sheehan 55), O’Toole 5 (for Loughman 46), Bealham 6 (for Furlong 46), Timoney 5 (for Van der Flier 49), C.Prendergast 5 (for McCarthy 62), Casey 6 (for Gibson-Park 71), Frawley 5 (for Ringrose 54), O’Brien 6 (for Lowe 18)
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
