Ireland player ratings - versus England
Ireland’s lavish dream of winning a second Grand Slam in succession was shattered at the first time of asking in the 2019 Six Nations Championship, England serving up a sobering 32-20 defeat.
It was a crushing blow for Joe Schmidt’s side. Ireland had held England to a meagre 15 points or less in five of their last six meetings in the tournament, but there was no mean defence evident here as the playmaking Owen Farrell was to the fore in outfoxing his dad Andy, the Irish defence coach.
Ireland have had these poor defensive days under Farrell where their rearguard loses its credibility and the sight of England heading back to London to face France in round two with a bonus point victory will dent the reputation of the assistant coach who is set to take over from Schmidt at the end of the World Cup in Japan.
Here, RugbyPass runs the rule over how the Ireland players performed in what was their first defeat in 13 matches in Dublin since the November 2016 loss to New Zealand. It doesn’t make for pleasant reading on a disappointing first round evening for the defending champions.
Robbie Henshaw – 4
Struggled to show composure in only his second Test start at full-back, his first since his debut in June 2013. England’s canny kicking variation kept him busy. Was spotted too often racing back to tidy up. It was his poor clearance off his weaker left foot that gave the visitors the territory to secure Elliot Daly’s 30th minute try. Came into game with just 60 minutes’ action since early November and his rustiness left him exposed.
Keith Earls – 4
Normally a model of consistency, but his evening started poorly and only got worse. His jump out of the defensive line less than 90 seconds in was an unnecessary try-costing gamble. This error unsettled him, as did some heavy legal and illegal impact in the collisions. Wasn’t an aerial threat due to soreness and he didn’t reappear for the second half, Jordan Larmour coming on in his place.
Garry Ringrose – 6
Was one of Ireland’s few bight spots. Demonstrated intelligence with a kick through that was his team’s best moment during Tom Curry’s scoreless sin-binning. There was an excellent fetch under a 34th minute Garryowen. His crunching tackle on Owen Farrell 18 minutes later then pieced considerable English pressure while his step enticed Kyle Sinckler to give away the high tackle penalty for 13-17 with 25 minutes remaining. On flip side, penalised for holding to allow England go 13-25 up.
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Bundee Aki – 5
Usually the fulcrum of the midfield, but here he was put under constant scrutiny all through by an England thriving on Manu Tuilagi’s rumbustious return at No12. Was often left with poor passes to deal with, which affected his go-forward momentum, while the physicality of the visitors left him dealing with too many threats. Probably his poorest effort so far in an Ireland shirt.
Jacob Stockdale – 5
Was busy hunting possession in the opening half and he carried encouragingly, making over 60 metres off seven carries. However, his first half will be remembered for the calamitous mistake that saw him turned in defence and left juggling a loose ball from his left to right hand that escaped his grasp and was lapped up by the scoring Daly. Became much too quiet in the second half and didn’t feature much.
Johnny Sexton – 4
Much like Henshaw, his lack of recent action these past five weeks told a punishing tale. Unlike Owen Farrell, who kicked his team around the park and had width on his pass, Sexton behaved like a conductor who had left his baton in the dressing room. His concession of a 60th minute penalty for hands in the ruck highlighted his unease, and his miserable evening was rounded off with the rash pass to Henshaw that was picked off for England’s bonus try.
Conor Murray – 5
So many Ireland celebrations have much to do with the calibre of his box kicking, but his accuracy dropped quite a few levels in this tournament opener. His performance was summed up by a missed touch finder on 36 minutes that left Ireland handing on for the remainder of the half and fortunate to only concede three, not seven, points. He was also unsettled by the attention of the English pack who were ravenous to grab hold of him and let him know he wasn’t going to get anything easy.
Cian Healy – 5
His Saturday looked promising when he delivered Ireland’s try on 25 minutes, but his lack of aggression in the collisions typified how green his pack looked as they got their title defence off to the worst possible start. Ireland needed him to carry more than he did and he was hooked just after the hour, leaving Mako Vunipola go on and impressively seal his deserved man of the match award.
Rory Best – 5
Was in the ear of referee Jerome Garces early on, but this influence wasn’t enough to help Ireland in a first half where they struggled to combat England’s pent-up aggression. It was his crooked lineout throw on 38 minutes that led to Vunipola’s disallowed try. The second half then passed him by before he gave way to Sean Cronin with the result already decided.
Tadhg Furlong – 6
A quiet evening by his world class standards but he still had his positive moments, none more so when he carried meatily in the lead up to the penalty that cut the English lead to four points with 25 minutes remaining. Needed more people to step up with him to counter the cohesiveness of the opposition in the tighter exchanges.
Devin Toner – 3
Having scaled the heights with a monumental effort when Ireland beat the All Blacks in November, this was a return to the sort of iffy form that resulted in him being dropped from the starting XV prior to the 2015 World Cup. He didn’t have the craft or the guile to cope with England’s engine room and was pulled with 23 to go for Quinn Roux.
James Ryan – 6
This loss with serve the youngster greatly in the long run. Bad defeats were the making of the legendary Paul O’Connell and Ryan will learn much from this, particularly how Maro Itoje made his presence felt through a litany of nuisance interventions. Best moment was catching at the lineout off the penalty kicked to touch to set up Healy’s try.
Peter O’Mahony – 5
Inspirational moments were visible all through his 2018, but you wonder if the injury sustained for Munster at Gloucester three weeks ago is still present and held him back here amid bruising exchanges. Make a Murray-like pass from an eighth-minute ruck, but couldn’t get in among the English lineout and wasn’t impactful enough at the breakdown to make a telling difference.
Josh van der Flier – 5
His tackle count was right up there in an energy-sapping way, but this was a contest where he left the impression that he is still learning his trade at Test level as he struggled for positive moments elsewhere. There will now be a clamour for Sean O’Brien to start in Scotland as Ireland were short of pack ball-carriers.
CJ Stander – 5
England saw him coming and put manners on his. Stander was tremendous 11 months ago at Twickenham, revving up the Irish Slam clincher, but he was eclipsed here by Billy Vunipola. Too many of his carries were negative as he was chopped before he could even move forward and he became an anonymous figure in the second half.
Replacements
Sean Cronin – N/A
Result was gone from Ireland by the time he was thrown on at 13-22. This was a contest where he could have been introduced earlier and given a meaningful role.
Dave Kilcoyne – 5
Given a run for Healy when there was just four points between the sides, but he couldn’t swing the momentum in a finishing period where England scored 15 points before John Cooney’s consolation.
Andrew Porter – 5
Came on at the same time as Kilcoyne and while there was a promising first carry, he didn’t have enough of a presence to save Ireland from a wounding defeat.
Quinn Roux – 5
With Toner off his game, Roux was summoned with 23 minutes remaining to try and tilt the balance when the contest was still to be decided. Made one good early tackle but that was about it.
Sean O’Brien – 5
Stander gave way for O’Brien but he is in the rusty phase following injury, just like Henshaw and Sexton. Was asking too much of him to make a difference.
John Cooney – N/A
Played the last three minutes and trooped off with a late try.
Joey Carbery – N/A
Sent on at full-back, allowing Henshaw to go into midfield for the last seven minutes in place of Ringrose. The tactic backfired with Sexton’s intercepted pass gifting England their bonus.
Jordan Larmour – 4
Much more was expected of the youngster who was introduced at the start of the second half. He made little or no impact under the high ball, his dancing feet was pedestrian and his defensive rawness was exposed by how he was sucked in and allowed Jonny May to kick ahead for England’s third try.
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Comments on RugbyPass
What a dagg in more ways than one
5 Go to commentsRegroup come back next year but sack some of the coaching team and don't be like the ABs last minute sacking. If Crusaders don't do well ABs don't do well.
5 Go to commentsProctor Definitely inform again this year had a hell of a season last year and this year is looking even better. Still mixed feelings about Ioane tho.
4 Go to commentsDagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
5 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
5 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
4 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
38 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to comments