RED ROSE RATINGS - ENGLAND 15 - 24 IRELAND
RED ROSE RATINGS – ENGLAND 15 – 24 IRELAND
Date: 17th
March 2018
Location:
Twickenham Stadium, London, England
Referee:
Angus Gardner (Australia)
Attendance:
82,062
A third consecutive defeat meant England finished fifth,
their lowest finish in the tournament for 35 years, whilst Ireland completed a
historic Grand Slam. Eddie Jones will now have a lot of thinking to do as he and
his team were comprehensively schooled throughout this year’s competition. The World
Cup clock is ticking.
15 - Anthony Watson (Bath) – 4
Made a complete mess of Sexton’s
high kick early in the first half which allowed Ringrose to score the game’s opening
try. His day was cut short by a nasty looking injury, certainly one to forget
for Watson.
14 – Johnny May (Leicester Tigers) – 6
Grabbed a try in the dying stages
but it was too little too late as England faltered. Made one eye-catching break
but was mostly quiet and overlooked in a game that didn’t suit his style.
13 – Johnathan Joseph (Bath) – 5
A decent game in defence but produced
very little in attack and with ball in hand. It’s this kind of performance that
will cast shadows on his starting berth come next year.
12 – Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) – 5
The Irish nullified his threat
with ease at times and although he set up a consolation try he looked ineffective
for the majority of the encounter. Needs to find the strength and power that
was in abundance at the season’s start.
11 – Elliot Daly (Wasps) – 7
England’s best player and scorer
of two of their tries. Showed nimble feet and ingenuity in attack for the
duration of the fixture. Guilty of a neck roll on Kearney as he gave away one
of England’s many unnecessary penalties though.
10 – Owen Farrell (Saracens) – 5
Lovely grubber through for Daly’s
score but other than that a poor game from England’s talisman. His late hit on
Kearney built the platform for an Irish try and his goalkicking stats were dire.
The cutting edge and precision of his usual game just wasn’t there.
9 – Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens) – 6
A decent but ultimately forgettable
outing for the Saracens player whose kicking and playmaking was all to predictable
and pedestrian to trouble Ireland.
1 – Mako Vunipola (Saracens) – 6
Put in another good account of
himself in the scrums and continued to take on a lot of ball. Defended the
fringes well but the explosiveness he is capable of was nowhere to be seen.
2 – Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints) – 5
No sign of the leader and shining
light that England needed as the frustration began to grow around Twickenham. Failed
to land just one of his lineout throws but it was a massive one as he went long
with his side camped on the Irish line.
3 – Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins) – 5
It must be something about the
shirt as Sinckler took over from Dan Cole giving away penalties and free-kicks
for fun. Carried with real strength but like the majority of his colleagues he
couldn’t pierce the resolute green wall.
4 – Maro Itoje (Saracens) – 4
One of his worst performances in
an England shirt and its unsurprising with the lock looking more drained and
fatigued with each passing week. He topped off an unassuming defensive and offensive
display with needless penalties like taking Henderson out in the air.
5 – George Kruis (Saracens) – 5
Huge in defence as he worked relentlessly
in his Twickenham return. His efforts were equally as impressive in attack but
unfortunately the execution was left wanting, a couple of spills forward particular
lowlights.
6 – Chris Robshaw (Harlequins) – 5
Trapped Sinckler in the ruck to
give Ireland easy penalty ball and spent his entire time in Peter O’Mahony’s
and the Irish backrow’s pockets. Has to be more effective in test match rucks.
7 – James Haskell (Wasps) – 6
Stood out as far as effort was
concerned and caused the Irish some rare problems at times. Still not the openside
performance that is going to steer the ship to World Cup glory though.
8 – Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs) – 4
Invisible for the majority and
although there was little space to showcase his speed his job in the back-row
demanded more involvement. Had to stand up and be a powerhouse to help England
neutralise the threat of players like Stander.
SUBS:
Jamie George (Saracens) - 5
Joe Marler (Harlequins) - 6
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers) - 5
Joe Launchbury (Wasps) - 5
Don Armand (Exeter Chiefs) - 5
Danny Care (Harlequins) - 5
George Ford (Leicester Tigers) - 6
Mike Brown (Harlequins) - 7
Henry Justice
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