England player ratings vs Ireland | 2024 Guinness Six Nations
England player ratings live from Twickenham: Incredible, simply incredible. England weren’t given a hope in hell of causing an upset and yet here we were, swept away by the raucous celebrations sparked by Marcus Smith landing the winning drop goal on penalty advantage with the clock in the red. Wow!
This was a fantastic all-round performance, England climbing off the canvas after their demoralising 21-30 loss in Scotland to wreck Ireland’s back-to-back Grand Slam hopes with a deserved 23-22, last-gasp victory that will surely now hugely fuel a bright future under Steve Borthwick.
Thirteen, 17 and 14 points had been the margin of defeats to the Irish in the past three tournaments and despite predictions of an even heavier defeat here, England defied all logic with a cracking, abrasive performance that left Twickenham shaking at the finish. Here are the England player ratings:
15. George Furbank – 8
His DNA is to make errors and there were more than a couple here such as him losing his bearings late in the first half when fielding a long James Lowe kick and giving up a soft touch, but he has got an attacking danger that Freddie Steward hasn’t had in a long while. Gave Ollie Lawrence the assist for the opening try and then galloped in to score himself on 48 minutes. Those quality interventions more than made up for his lapses.
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – 8
A first Test start following a try-scoring cameo off the round three bench, he looked the part, clattering into the action without inhibition. His power and pace had the Irish defence constantly on guard and it was his break late on that helped put them on the back foot in the lead-up to the Smith drop goal.
13. Henry Slade – 7.5
Wasn’t the worst in Scotland and he did well here as well. The highlight was a jaw-dropping, one-handed flick while lying on the floor after getting tackled on the hour, keeping alive the move for the Ben Earl try.
12. Ollie Lawrence – 9
Mr Explosive. Anonymous the last day due to the level of his team’s handling errors, he needed just four minutes to score with a lovely run from outside the 22 and would have had a second but for a Furbank spill. At fault for one of Ireland’s three-point kicks, but this was a coming-of-age performance. Class.
11. Tommy Freeman – 7
Switched to the left after spending February on the right wing, he crumpled Calvin Nash in the carry that ignited the opening try. Beaten in the air for the kick that led to the Ireland try early in the second half, but otherwise good value.
10. George Ford – 7
On a better wavelength with those around him than in Scotland, he did well in helping England wield good attacking shape and stern defence in the first half. Wide with seemed to be an important kick from the 10-metre line that would have pushed his team to 11-6, and then didn’t have the gas to catch the try-scoring Lowe shortly after the break. Exited on 59.
9. Alex Mitchell – 7.5
Back fit after missing the Scottish Gas Murrayfield debacle, he brought tempo and wasn’t at all daunted by the fast-track reputation of Jamison Gibson-Park. Would have rued a spill on 13 minutes in the 22 trying to find Ellis Genge, but that mishap didn’t matter in the end. Played very capably for 66 minutes.
1. Ellis Genge – 7
Needed breakdown authority and while he started slowly, infringing to give Ireland the opening points, it sparked him into life and he would have particularly enjoyed an opening half scrum penalty win.
2. Jamie George – 7.5
Insisted England would be up for the fight and they were. Two missed lineouts with England leading 5-3 were a concern, but the skipper valiantly brought the battle to the Irish, showing up excellently on the carry and asking questions of the visitors at the breakdown during his 54 minutes.
3. Dan Cole – 7.5
Exited Edinburgh with calls for him to be retired, but the veteran struck back here with a much-improved work rate that helped to ensure his team were far more competitive. Gave everything until pulled 14 minutes into the second half with the rest of the front row.
MARCUS SMIIIIITH!!!#Dropgoal #MarcusSmith #ENGvIRE #GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/xYArEc0E55
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 9, 2024
4. Maro Itoje – 7.5
Could have been accused of having a quiet game but he was quietly integral to England scrapping away and staying the course. His best moment, aside from giving Furbank a sweet try assist, was forcing Gibson-Park to knock on 15 minutes from the finish, resulting in Hugo Keenan getting called back when he thought he was about to score.
5. George Martin – 8.5
A rightful starter given his impact off the bench in Edinburgh, his action-man approach greatly helped to negate the much-hyped Irish lock partnership of Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne. Super.
6. Ollie Chessum – 8.5
Shifted to blindside to accommodate the returning Martin, the move resulted in England having a better balanced back row with the workload more evenly shared. Valiantly played through the pain barrier with an injury until exiting on 66.
7. Sam Underhill – 7.5
Struggled this past month to be at his nuisance best, but he was the business here in annoying Ireland and quietening their back row. Fantastic carry and offload in the tackle in the creation of the Furbank try.
8. Ben Earl – 9.5
Wonderful, simply wonderful. His footwork was immense the whole way through when carrying and he was rewarded with his try on the hour. Excellent in defence as well, epitomised by a breakdown poach 13 minutes from time.
? The ????? of Ben Earl ?#GuinnessM6N #ENGIRE pic.twitter.com/kCkGOLhuTe
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 9, 2024
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan – 7
Arrived on as part of the all-front row change on 54 minutes with England down 13-17, he didn’t see much of the ball but still gutted it out.
17. Joe Marler – 6.5
Had 26 minutes and revelled in a solo celebration of the winning Smith score.
18. Will Stuart – 6
Brought energy to help England hang on in there, but not as prominent as other subs.
19. Chandler Cunningham-South – 8
The second of the five-strong Harlequins bench, England had just gone 20-17 ahead when he was introduced. He was a fabulous addition and it was a shame to have it ended prematurely by injury.
20. Alex Dombrandt – 6
His first selection since the pre-World Cup away loss to Wales. Got the closing 14 minutes for Chessum and enjoyed a few carries.
21. Danny Care – 7.5
Won his 100th Test cap when sent on for Mitchell on 66 minutes. There were groans when he soon aimlessly box-kicked from the Irish 10-metre line into the 22, but he finished his cameo by memorably giving Smith the pass for the winning score.
22. Marcus Smith – 8
Back fit following his frustrating February lay-off, he was ushered on with England looking to take advantage of the Peter O’Mahony yellow card. Didn’t have the heft to stop Lowe from getting in for his second try in the corner but he wound up being a brilliant match-winner whose celebrations were lapped by the England fans.
23. Elliot Daly – 6
Lost his starting sport to Feyi-Waboso, he came on for Slade with 14 minutes left. Hit hard immediately by Bundee Aki and then wide with a penalty from just inside his half.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments