England player ratings vs Ireland | 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations

England player ratings: England arrived at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday desperate for a response from their chastening loss to Scotland last week, but it was much of the same as they fell to a heavy 42-21 loss to Ireland.

Three changes were made to the starting XV by Steve Borthwick – Tom Curry, Henry Pollock and Ollie Lawrence – as he searched for answers, but there weren’t any to be seen, and yet more changes seem likely for the final two rounds as England search for some pride.

Pitiful in Edinburgh, and in truth, they were probably worse at home, England are unravelling before everyone’s eyes. Here’s how the players rated:

15 Freddie Steward – 4
Steward’s distribution, particularly in the 15 metre channel, has come on immeasurably and the timing and crispness of his passes put his wingers in positions to profit from, but maybe lacked any cutting edge in his carrying. Fluffed a high ball, but had his blushes spared for being taken out in the air. Found himself needing to make some crucial one-on-one tackles as Ireland broke the line at will, but let himself down with a yellow card for diving through the ruck (in vain as well). Bold call by Borthwick taking him off before the break, but England needed the creativity and magic footwork of Marcus Smith.

14 Tommy Freeman – 5
Back on the wing this week, and posed a threat in contestables that isn’t there when he’s stationed in the midfield. Seldom got the ball in a promising position, though, and found himself defending some tricky areas as England’s narrow defence was brutally exposed. Came off his wing nicely to put Ollie Lawrence in for England’s second try and had a half-chance to score in the corner, but Ireland swarmed all over him, as they did all afternoon.

13 Ollie Lawrence – 4
Making his first appearance of the Championship and provided the kind of brute force that Freeman didn’t at No.13, breaking through tackles from basically a static start often and beating five defenders. Defence, however, was a serious issue – not only was he pinged for a high tackle at one stage, but he was brushed aside by Stuart McCloskey on the way to Ireland’s second try and couldn’t dive to stop Robert Baloucoune for Tommy O’Brien’s try.

12 Fraser Dingwall – 4
Reforming his partnership with Lawrence which has only really produced good things in the limited time they’ve had together, but in truth, did very little to light up Twickenham. Got his positioning all wrong when he burst out the line in the build-up to O’Brien’s try, and was betwixt and between, giving Baloucoune an easy break. Crashed over for England’s opening try, which was a positive but had nothing else to celebrate.

11 Henry Arundell – 4
Retained after his red card last week and tried to repay Borthwick’s loyalty. Didn’t enjoy a huge amount of success in the air, specifically chasing kicks, but looked England’s most threatening carrier. Just nowhere near enough to make a discernible impact, though.

10 George Ford – 3
Entered the match under a fair amount of pressure after failing to get England’s backline running in Edinburgh, and didn’t help himself when missing a penalty to touch, then kicking his next penalty dead – the huge sarcastic jeers said everything when he eventually kicked one to touch. Seemed nervy after a horror show at Murrayfield, and just appeared out of ideas as Ireland racked up the points and even ended up losing the ball in a position where England looked destined to score before the break. The sight of the Irish defence manhandling him on the hour mark to win a scrum encapsulated the whole match. He’s done so many great things for England over the past year, but he will come under some serious scrutiny now.

9 Alex Mitchell – 5
Passing choice from the base showed endeavour early on to play with width, but his execution wasn’t what it can be – shown by an inaccurate pass to Steward when England were in close range to the Irish line. Only managed 25 minutes before leaving the field injured, but struggled to unlock the Irish defence.

1 Ellis Genge – 5
Went after the Irish scrum, and although that resulted initially in a free kick, he got his rewards thereafter, crumpling the Irish pack the time they collided. This was a nine-cap British and Irish Lion Tadhg Furlong – and then Finlay Bealham – he had on a plate. Grunted and snarled with every carry and frequently sent the Irish defenders flying backwards. Then embellished his attacking display with some deft tip-ons. Seemed to lose confidence, understandably, and let Caelan Doris breeze through the English defence moments into the second half when his side needed a response.

2 Luke Cowan-Dickie – 2
Dreadful first lineout, although there appeared to be confusion in the ranks, and while the lineout tightened up, it wasn’t an area England looked completely secure in. Swarmed on by Joe McCarthy at the back of a maul in a match he struggled in. Borthwick had seen enough, and hooked him off after 29 minutes.

3 Joe Heyes – 6
Showed his skillset as a goalkeeper in a previous life when he leapt backwards to retrieve a small chip from Jamison Gibson-Park. Was left on his own to cover the Irish No.9 following his quick tap for the visitors’ opening try. Rock solid in the scrum again, and didn’t have any glaring faults with his game, which by England’s standards was a bonus. Twelve tackles during his 73 minutes on the field, the most by any England player.

4 Maro Itoje – 4
A horrendous way to mark your 100th England appearance. Perhaps guilty of being slow to react for Gibson-Park’s try, but he was never going to be able to cover the ground. England were bullied at the breakdown and beaten in the area of the game Itoje thrives in. Left the field after 55 minutes with his side in trouble.

5 Ollie Chessum – 4
Penalised to give Ireland the opening points of the match and had a number of sloppy errors in his game, which was a surprise. A loose pass from a maul resulted in a penalty to Ireland and bit in hard in defence at one stage to give Josh van der Flier a clean break when nothing was going well for England. Caught in a midfield mix-up with Genge as Doris walked through England’s defence early in the second half, as they eventually went on to score.

6 Tom Curry – 5
Making his first England start since the Lions tour, but came second best in the breakdown battle, with Ireland slowing the ball down and turning it over comfortably. Popped up in the wider channels with some bright flashes, but didn’t provide any convincing case to start.

7 Ben Earl – 5
England’s standout performer at Murrayfield, and while he carried frequently again, he couldn’t produce any game-changing moments. Twenty carries in 70 minutes was a similar effort to Edinburgh, but he cannot drag England out of the hole they find themselves in.

8 Henry Pollock – 5
Making his first start for England after a bright cameo against the Scots and proved he is far more than simply an impact sub in the closing quarters. Looked hungry to make an early impact, and an half break came after 10 minutes on the clock. Produced a turnover on the floor which England should have scored points from after 35 minutes. Yellow carded seconds into the second half as England needed a response for an infringement at the ruck and returned with the bit between his teeth with some offloads and great distribution in the wider channels. Would have had a higher rating, but for the yellow card. Maybe still better suited as an impact player from the bench?

Points Flow Chart

Ireland win +21

Time in lead

0

Mins in lead

73

0%

% Of Game In Lead

90%

62%

Possession Last 10 min

38%

7

Points Last 10 min

2

Replacements
16 Jamie George – 4
Came on in an emergency, with England 22-0 down after 30 minutes of play and though he was turned over just short of Ireland’s line, felt more secure. A croc roll killed any chance of England cutting down the deficit after 50 minutes.

17 Bevan Rodd – 4
Didn’t help his cause with a needless penalty which allowed Ireland to extend their lead, but was able to maintain a similar level of dominance in the scrum that Genge enjoyed.

18 Trevor Davison – N/A
Given seven minutes at the end, but the game was well and truly over by then.

19 Alex Coles – 5
Like many, entered with England battered and bruised, trailing 29-14 with 25 minutes left and couldn’t do anything to reverse his side’s fortunes.

20 Guy Pepper – 4
Entered the fray with England facing a Herculean task, trailing 29-7 with 30 minutes remaining, and battled hard at the breakdown, but to no avail, even being pinged at one point – although he was effectively wrestled into Gibson-Park. Tasted defeat for the first time in an England jersey and he’ll remember this game for a long time.

21 Sam Underhill – 6
Maybe not the style of player England needed on the bench with such a huge scoreline to overturn, which is perhaps why Borthwick was reluctant to turn to him, only giving him a 10-minute cameo. He did produce a consolation try, with that said. His side could have done with his defensive nous from the off, however.

22 Jack van Poortvliet – 5
Replaced Alex Mitchell after 20 minutes, but couldn’t do much to stem the tide. He grew into the game, however, and started to challenge the fringes.

23 Marcus Smith – 5.5
England needed a hero, and moments after coming on before the break, Smith was putting Dingwall in for England’s first try. Persistently probed the Irish defence and had England looking more threatening, but the job was too large for him.