England Player Ratings vs Italy
England got their 2018 Six Nations campaign underway with a resounding away win in Rome, although they were made to work hard for 60 minutes by an Italian side that was not afraid to play against the reining champions.
Anthony Watson and Sam Simmonds both bagged braces, playmaker duo George Ford and Owen Farrell also crossed the whitewash, as did replacement Jack Nowell, in a 46-15 victory over the Azzurri.
We’ve rated the 23 Englishman on show today, but do you agree?
- Mike Brown – 6
Not quite the ultra-reliable performance Brown would have wanted coming back from a slight injury. He bobbled a kick early on, committed a high tackle and isolated himself on one attack, gifting Italy a turnover. On the other hand, he did well to avoid being isolated on an Italian kick deep into English territory, as well as running a nice decoy to help set up England’s first try.
- Anthony Watson – 8
Showed good speed and footwork to finish two flowing moves with tries out wide and covered well in defence. Drifted out of the game a little in the second half, but he did the damage in the first 40 and looked safe defensively throughout, including at full-back, when Nowell replaced Brown for the final quarter.
- Ben Te’o – 7
Provided the England midfield with a go forward that it has lacked at times with Jonathan Joseph, running hard against the grain and drawing defenders in to stop him. It was pivotal in Watson’s first try, whilst his defence was also solid, making the right decisions and completing three important one-on-one tackles when he blitzed out of the line.
- Owen Farrell – 7
A couple of early missed kicks at goal – albeit from right out on the touchline – and an intercept pass mitigated an otherwise impressive performance. Made breaks, zipped passes to runners going through holes and defended well with an unfamiliar man outside of him.
- Jonny May – 6
An up and down game from May. The Leicester flyer found himself exposed for Tommaso Benvenuti’s try when he bit on a pass, not trusting his inside defender and then compounded the error immediately after, tackling a player in the air on the restart. He did look for plenty of work in the midfield, however, adding plenty to the England attack and setting up Watson’s second try.
- George Ford – 8
Looked in fine form in his first game of the championship, mixing up his passing on the gain-line and keeping an England back line ticking over that looked like a constant threat in Rome. Linked up excellently with Farrell and bagged a deserved try in the second half.
- Ben Youngs – n/a
Unfortunately, a nasty looking knee injury saw Youngs leave the field early, before he was able to really influence the game.
- Mako Vunipola – 7
Provided a solid anchor to the scrum as Dan Cole went to work on the opposite side and helped make up for his brother’s absence with strong carries around the fringe and good link play.
- Dylan Hartley – 7
The captain nailed all 11 of his lineout throws, laying a foundation which England were able to attack off and two of his side’s four tries whilst he was on the pitch resulted directly from the set-piece. Tackled and carried well, too.
- Dan Cole – 8
Scrummaged well in both halves and saw off Andrea Lovotti in the first, as well as proving energetic with the ball in the hand. Along with Vunipola, showed skilful hands and contributed to the high-tempo game England tried to play.
- Joe Launchbury – 6
Carried strongly early on and helped make up for England’s missing ball-carriers but did drift out of the game as it went on. It certainly wasn’t a substandard performance from Launchbury, but he didn’t quite match the impact that fellow rear five forwards Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes produced.
- Maro Itoje – 7
Didn’t quite influence the game as a carrier as much as he would have liked, but more than made up for that with his powerful defence and versatile work at the lineout. Began to float wider as the game went on and that should be something to watch as the tournament goes on.
- Courtney Lawes – 8
A busy, industrious performance from the Northampton man, with the flank impressing particularly with his defence on the gain-line and his high-flying lineout work. Consistently drew Italian defenders to him at the lineout and set up Sam Simmonds’ first try – and the bonus point for England – with a quick transfer at the set-piece.
- Chris Robshaw – 6
A solid, nuts and bolts performance from England’s elder statesman in the back-row. Tackled his guts out with Sam Simmonds in the first half and helped England weather the powerplays that Italy brought throughout the first 60 minutes.
- Sam Simmonds – 8
Soaked up pressure well in the first half, leading England’s tackle count and chopping down some of the more powerful Italian carriers with efficiency. Got more of an opportunity to show his carrying threat in the second half and took both his tries well, leaving the Italian defence for dead with his acceleration and leg drive through tackles.
Replacements
- Jamie George – 6
Underthrew one lineout, but otherwise beavered away industriously.
- Alec Hepburn – n/a
Came on for his debut with less than 10 minutes left to play and didn’t really have an opportunity to influence the match.
- Harry Williams – 6
Continued Cole’s scrummaging dominance and ran hard with ball-in-hand.
- George Kruis – 6
Continued from where Lawes left off, doing what was required of him without overplaying his hand.
- Sam Underhill – 6
Little time to impress after replacing Robshaw but made no noticeable errors.
- Danny Care – 7
Ran the show well after Youngs was forced from the field with a knee injury. Might be a little disappointed to not put a real marker down with the extended playing time but should still be England’s starter if the injury to Youngs is significant.
- Jonathan Joseph – 6
Looked dangerous after replacing Te’o and made a couple of jinking runs that almost ended in English tries. There was no lark of sharpness after sitting on the bench for 60 minutes.
- Jack Nowell – 7
Grabbed a late try but also looked threatening in two or three other occasions, where his fast footwork left Italian defenders grasping at thin air.
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Nick, and welcome back 😁 Vulavalu does look better this year, and about time. I suspect Schmidt will knock the hubris out of him. That one handed put down was so embarrassing. Mind you, I had thought Kiss would deal with that. Leaving aside the different games and skills, in NRL he had a very good (but no bullshit) type of coach in Bellamy, something he hasn't had in Union until this year. Bellamy would have roasted him unmercifully for an unprofessional put down.
11 Go to commentsYou’d think the first step would be taking responsibility for the stupid sh*t you did and to stop blaming other people. Does he seriously think that people believe him when he says it just magically got into his system without him knowing anything about it? You’re gonna notice if you’re on the juice, bruh.
2 Go to commentsI watch the Reds now, and many of their players, and think back to watching London Irish in their last two years under Michael Kiss. I recall Nick Phipps looking a very competent scrumhalf, Rob Simmons a lynch pin in the lineouts. Both men writen off by many on the rugby sites. There is no question in my mind that Kiss has a very different touch to any coach the Reds have had in years. It will take time, but this team could develop into a very good team, hard to beat by any one down here in the SH. You highlight two players especially, Nick. Vunivalu and Paisami are thriving this year, especially the latter. And so many others. The now heavier Fraser McReight, his great mate Harry Wilson, and the “Fardy” man, Liam Wright. That is only three, ut in reality every player is acroos the whole squad is the better for the new regime.
11 Go to commentsRecord Score Downloading…………..
1 Go to commentsWonderful insightful interview with Crusader Johnny McNicoll. He was exceptional in the wins over the Chiefs and Rebels and I am sure he will get a contract again for 2025. He was an excitement machine for Canterbury and the Crusaders in 2011-16 and he still is. He has added to the attack particularly. Had a fine career with Wales in the intervening years.
1 Go to commentsAmazing what decent coaching can do! I always felt Folau never improved much as a player and never had a great coach using his talents. Suli seems different at qld this year.
11 Go to commentsI’m sick to death of waiting 3 years for league players to become half decent. It cripples Australian rugby in the meantime. The Reds actually looked half competent without Vunivalu not starting last week. He’s just a liability of errors. Paisami is looking better than he has in previous years but I’d have Kerevi back in a flash. A kiwi wont tho …...
11 Go to commentsExcellent analysis Nick as we have come to expect. I was not really aware that NFL strategies have been adopted by rugby teams, especially in defence. One point I would make is that the Northhampton attacking player on the end of the chain in the video examples has not maintained the correct depth to be effective. In the footage shown the outside player is too flat to make the best of the opportunity his inside players have provided. In each case they have to reduce speed and turn their body backwards to secure the ball, losing all momentum and giving the impressive scrambling defence the chance to shut down the threat.
1 Go to commentsMorning, John. Do you think that it may be a good idea to rest both teams from the Madrid comp leading in to the Olympics
2 Go to comments« I am preparing myself for much more, something much bigger. I’m focussing on the next cycle, » You don’t say…
2 Go to commentsGeez plenty of time to come right before test season starts. Dont panic mr Mannering!!!!!
1 Go to commentsGreat read Nick. The Reds really have been great to watch this year, and the improvement of not only the players you mention, but the squad in general has been obvious. The Reds 10/12 play making axis is a nice counterpoint to the 10/15 partnership at the Brumbies and Rebels. If Schmidt was to pick say, Lolesio, Paisami and Wright / Kellaway, would this be too many play makers? I notice in a lot of those clips Tim Ryan playing across the field in support of Vunivalu. Is this a feature of Kiss’s structure?
11 Go to commentsSo sad, god rest him. Too young to be gone. RIP
2 Go to commentsRIP big man 🙏
2 Go to commentsThe GB coach. “Just because we don’t get together as much as other teams we don’t use that as an excuse for performances when we don’t hit the mark”. Why mention it at all then?
1 Go to commentsNo mention of the yellow card for Harlequins which really cost them.
4 Go to commentsThought you’d left us Nick. Good to have you back writing for us. So hunter ikitau works? I reckon wright kellaway as two of the back 3. Tim Ryan and Toole looking good for strike winger but I still want the power of korobeiti and figure our forwards still need him to help them out. Million dollar question is who plays 10? I’m thinking Noah for his kicking and combo with wright. Reckon the pair adds up to an attack and kellaway will help. Can you comment on Zac Lucas in Japan? How is he going?
11 Go to commentsMack Hansen, Ethan Roots, Taine Plumbtree, Louis Lynagh, Emmanuel Meafou? Which country do you want to pick your Barbarians from?
3 Go to commentsInstead of apologising, try to act like an adult, fcknut.
4 Go to commentsLooks like the Force twisted his leg…ahem arm
7 Go to comments