15. Simon Zebo: 6.5
Some great clearances with his left foot took the pressure of Ireland in the first half but he was out-jumped for Anthony Watson’s try and rarely threatened in attack.
14. Tommy Bowe: 4
He will want to forget about this day very quickly. Five missed tackles, numerous handling errors and let Jonny May run straight over the top of him for the first try. A severe lack of form will be worrying from an Irish perspective as he has always been such an important part of their team.
13. Jared Payne: 6.5
Payne had a solid game and looked like he could create space when others around him had ran out of ideas. Solid in defence but had to be, particularly when defending on Bowe’s inside shoulder.
12. Robbie Henshaw: 5.5
Very one dimensional for the second week running. Ireland are not using him properly by just giving him short ball up the middle. There is more to Henshaw’s game but we are not seeing it at the moment. Threw a terrible basketball style forward pass when Ireland had a gilt-edged chance to score from distance.
11. Dave Kearney: 7
Ireland’s best back by far. Aggressive in both attack and defence, Kearney looked like he could have opened up a solid English defence but his team mates around him didn’t show him the support to feed off this.
10. Johnny Sexton: 5.5
Still seems rusty. Kicked aimlessly and his distribution in the first half especially was extremely poor. As against Wales, he grew into the game but couldn’t get his backline firing like he usually can. Had more influence in the first twenty minutes of the second half before cramp forced him from the field.
9. Conor Murray: 6.5
Was having a steadying influence from the base of the ruck before a knock to the head forced him off. Box kicked well as part of Ireland’s exit strategy from their own 22.
1. Jack McGrath: 7.5
McGrath was the pick of the Irish front row. He scrummaged extremely well and he seemed to be everywhere at the breakdown. Some big, important tackles as well as some carries of note. A high quality performance.
2. Rory Best: 6
Threw accurately barring one misguided arrow. Part of a dominant front row but unusually, he missed two straight up tackles.
3. Mike Ross: 7
Impressive work at scrum time. Gave the England front three a hard time all day and winning two scrums against the head is testament to that. His contribution in the loose cannot be sniffed at either as he offered himself to carry the hard yards on numerous occasions.
4. Devin Toner: 5.5
This wasn’t Toner’s finest hour. Two big missed tackles on Ben Morgan and more worryingly, Joe Marler, exposed Toner’s defensive game. He never gave up and worked hard but had no significant impact on the outcome of the match. Iain Henderson will be breathing down his neck for the starting jersey.
5. Paul O’Connell: 6.5
Scored Ireland’s only try from a well worked lineout move and also disrupted England’s set piece on more than one occasion to deny them quick ball. Had his usual influence in the loose and made more than his fair share of carries.
6. Peter O’ Mahony: 7
An accomplished performance. He has become one of Ireland’s biggest threats at the lineout. Made slightly fewer tackles than O’Brien but the ones he did were aggressive and at times potentially try-saving. Never let his work rate drop below an extremely high level.
7. Sean O’Brien: 7.5
An excellent performance from O’Brien. In the first half he was resigned to defending for most of it and over the whole match he made 14 tackles and missed none. Again, some handling errors but he was Ireland’s primary ball carrier and made good ground in some tight spaces.
8. Jamie Heaslip: 7
A much better performance from Heaslip this week. He had a greater influence at the breakdown with one sensational turn over. The odd handling error crept in later in the game but Heaslip is on course to be a huge influence at this World Cup.
REPLACEMENTS: 6
Eoin Reddan came on for Murray after 18 minutes and although his service was good to Sexton, he was starved of quick ball that would have helped him at the base of the breakdown. No one else really had time to make an impact.
By Andy Daniel (@scrum5ive)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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