England suffered one of their worst-ever defeats to Ireland on Saturday, going down 42-12 at Twickenham.
It was a second-straight defeat for Steve Borthwick’s side and all but ends their hopes of a Six Nations title.
Here are ESPN’s player ratings for the home side.
1. Ellis Genge – 7
Battled hard and the scrum was solid early on thanks to his efforts.
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie – 4
Lineout was sloppy from the get-go and was hooked inside the first half. Not all his fault but paid the price.
3. Joe Heyes – 6
Some good carries and held the scrum up well but faded later on.
4. Maro Itoje – 6
Not the memorable 100th cap he would have wanted but some strong runs. Lineout wasn’t England’s best today.
5. Ollie Chessum – 6
Didn’t have a lot of support but England were dominated at the breakdown again.
6. Tom Curry – 6
Not the impact he would have wanted in his return to the starting XV. Looked to be struggling with an injury or two in the second half.
7. Ben Earl – 7
Strong again but not as dominant as he was last week. Still England’s best hope of getting on the front foot.
8. Henry Pollock – 6.5
Didn’t mark his first start in sensational fashion. Picked up a yellow card but did come to life when he came back on.
9. Alex Mitchell – 4
Couldn’t really get the side going and unlucky to be injured fairly early.
10. George Ford – 6
Kicking was way off to start the game which cost England precious opportunities to attack early on.
11. Henry Arundell – 5
A few good touches but a couple of offloads that went wayward.
12. Fraser Dingwall – 7
His decent work went un-noticed but was solid competing against Stuart McCloskey who had a great game. Finished his try well.
13. Ollie Lawrence – 7
Brought some power and punch to the midfield but didn’t have a lot of support. Probably does enough to keep the 13 shirt for now.
14. Tommy Freeman – 7
Looked lively when he did get the ball out wide and unlucky not to score but couldn’t get himself too involved.
15. Freddie Steward – 5
Struggled in the air, couldn’t make the impact he wanted and was brought off just before the break.
Replacements:
16. Jamie George: 7
17. Bevan Rodd: n/a
18. Trevor Davison: n/a
19. Alex Coles: 6
20. Guy Pepper: 5
21. Sam Underhill: 7
22. Jack van Poortvliet: 6.5
23. Marcus Smith: 7
