Ireland player vs England | 2023 Guinness Six Nations
Ireland player ratings: A deathly hush around the Aviva Stadium set the tone for an eerily nervous opening for Andy Farrell’s Ireland – who were very much rabbits in the headlights in face of Grand Slam history in Dublin.
No doubt the occasion got to the team and it’s a performance that might just worry the coaching ticket. This did not look like the best rugby team in the world.
The history books – of course – will record a fourth Grand Slam and Ireland march on.
15. Hugo Keenan – 7
Kept making breaks which his teammates were repeatedly unable to capitalize on. Went off after being clattered by Steward.
14. Mack Hansen – 6
Bit of a mixed bag here from the Aussie who had enjoyed a breakout tournament to date. For every romp upfield there was a fumbled pass or a knock-on. The good outweighed the bad though.
13. Robbie Henshaw – 7
A big ask to come back in the 13 channel but he dealt well with England’s direct if limited attack.
12. Bundee Aki – 7.5
A ding dong battle with old nemesis Manu Tuilagi, with honours maybe ending up even. His slipped pass for Henshaw to score in the 61st minute was pure selflessness.
11. James Lowe – 7
Seemed comfortable in the early kick-tennis exchanges and made a number of telling tackles. There were a lot of nervous nellies out there but Lowe wasn’t one of them. Missed a couple of tackles.
10. Johnny Sexton – 6
Went all guts and glory with a demented charge to the line after a quarter of an hour, but it was the urgency Ireland needed, even if it didn’t pay off. Hardly vintage Sexton but he managed Peyper well and won the flyhalf ego battle with Owen Farrell.
9. Jamieson Gibson-Park – 7
Handling errors meant that Ireland could never quite utilise the high-tempo game JGP was driving, but to his credit, he stayed in the fight and was among those forcing the issue when Ireland look unsure of themselves.
8. Caelan Doris – 5
Back in after recovering from a back issue, this was easily his worst game of this campaign, which is hardly the biggest criticism.
7. Josh van der Flier – 7
Another player who was trying to make things happen. Stripped Tuilagi of the ball in 19th minute and and was Ireland’s standout back row, bedevilling the English on both sides of the ball.
6. Peter O’Mahony – 6
Made some big defensive plays in the first half but errors suggested he was as spooked as the rest of the Ireland team. Taken off after 55 minutes.
5. James Ryan – 6
At the coal face all day and had the tackle count to prove it. A return to form for England’s Maro Itoje meant he had plenty to contend with.
4. Ryan Baird – 7
Like many off his teammates, the occasion got to Baird early doors, but he soon hit his straps. His turnover at 58 minutes was pure gold and by the end of his innings, the rookie looked every bit the Test second row.
3. Tadhg Furlong – 4
The rustiness seemed to catch up with Furlong here and he struggled to cope against Genge. One to forget for the tighthead superstar.
2. Dan Sheehan – 7
Fluffed his lines with a dud lineout throw but all was forgotten when he bulldozed his way over for a try that few hookers in world rugby would have finished. The lineout yips returned in the second half, with some questionable decision-making (Why keep throwing to the rear?) If his first try didn’t do it, his second certainly glossed over his shabby darts.
1. Andrew Porter – 6
Somewhat settled Irish nerves with a massive turnover when getting in over Henry Arundell after 10 chilling minutes for Ireland. Unlucky to get pinged for wheeling the scrum in the 29th minute.
REPLACEMENTS – 8: Jimmy O’Brien made a big impact as did Jack Conan. Rob Herring chipped in with a well-taken 5-pointer. Kieran Treadwell and Ross Byrne also contributed.
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments