England player ratings vs France - Six Nations
England player ratings: Le Crunch found two teams on the opposite side of the Guinness Six Nations momentum charts. England played the party poopers in what was easily the most impressive game of their campaign to date.
ENGLAND PLAYER RATINGS:
15. MAX MALINS – 6.5
Antoine Dupont’s early try was the worst possible start for Malins and a desperately wonky pass to Watson a few minutes later won’t have helped his confidence, but he booted his way into the game. Was left in no man’s land for Penaud try thanks to May but a promising performance.
14. ANTHONY WATSON – 8
Looked fast, strong and eager for work. Broke tackles left, right and centre and has given his Lions chances a huge shot in the arm. A 50th cap to remember for the Bath strike runner.
13. HENRY SLADE – 6
A mixed bag for Slade, with question marks still lingering around his defense while on England duty. The Exeter centre fell off roughly 50 per cent of all his tackle attempts, a stat that doesn’t do justice to the numerous big defensive plays he was involved in but is unflattering nonetheless.
12. OWEN FARRELL – 7.5
Harried the French with a vigour not seen yet in this tournament. Having Ford inside him allowed him more freedom to press in defense and get in French faces. His critics will hate it but this was an impressive showing.
11. JONNY MAY – 5
Needlessly bit in for Penaud’s try when Farrell had Jailbert covered. The ‘head-less chicken’ broken field running that often works so well for May didn’t quite come off here.
10. GEORGE FORD – 7
England wanted to play with pace and Ford helped bring a manic pace to proceedings, in the first half especially.
9. BEN YOUNGS – 7
The centurion looked very sharp and was as compelling a force in England’s attack as any man in white.
1. MAKO VUNIPOLA – 5
Had his hands full with Montpellier tighthead Mohamed Haouas, with the pair trading penalties, although referee Andrew Brace started to favour the Englishman before Hauous got the shepherd’s crook. Uncharacteristically turned over on more than one occasion. A game to forget.
2. LUKE COWAN-DICKIE – 6
A rare start for LCD, the Exeter Chief will have been eager to put in a big performance off the back fine Premiership form. Threw a dodgy dart or two and conceded a couple of penalties, but carried competently when asked. Not great, not terrible.
3. KYLE SINCKLER – 7
The Bristol man got into France as the game wore on. Relatively well contained in the loose by the French, who remorselessly targetted England’s primary carriers.
4. MARO ITOJE – 8
Headlines around his discipline didn’t cost Itoje a thought – the second row was his usual, ebullient self and his match-winning try topped off a fine 80 minutes. Don’t care who you are, he’s a nightmare to play against.
5. CHARLIE EWELS – 6
He has his detractors and this performance won’t necessarily have quietened them. Did his job, but none of your fancy stuff.
6. MARK WILSON – 7
Like a grizzled old Cumbrian bouncer on a Saturday night, Wilson has the look of man who has seen it all before. The tonne of unglamourous work the Newcastle man gets through is lost on many, and this was a particular tireless shift.
7. TOM CURRY – 8
All guile and industry from the Sale Shark, who England are now heavily relying on for forward-based go-forward ball. England’s brightest loosie this campaign.
8. BILLY VUNIPOLA – 6.5
An improvement, but he’s still not quite right yet and it can’t all be put down to rustiness. Yes, he carried plenty of times, but he just isn’t quite winning the collisions with the same frequency we had come to expect from the hulking Saracen.
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments