IRELAND
15. Simon Zebo: 7
Was creative with ball in hand and was reasonably solid at the back. Finished off a questionable international season with a fine overall performance. His boot still isn’t what it could be for an international quality 15 but it’s getting there.
14. Andrew Trimble: 7
Was busy on attack and very solid in defence. The game seemed to drift toward his wing and he answered everything asked of him.
13. Jared Payne: 8
Had a very good game in defence and started a good break in the 47th minute. Didn’t quite find his groove but is looking more at home in the Irish midfield than he has in the past 12 months.
12. Robbie Henshaw: 6
Henshaw has formed a good relationship with Payne in the midfield and they defended very well in tandem against Taylor and Dunbar. Not spectacular and was probably one of Ireland’s quieter players but did a job.
11. Keith Earls: 7
Lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time for Ireland’s second try. Failed to set the game alight as the game went on but his work rate kept him involved.
10. Johnny Sexton: 8
A yellow card in the final stages of the match was a minor blemish on a good game for the pivot. A very good chip off his wrong foot set up Ireland’s second try but his place kicking was uncharacteristically wayward at times. Confirmed that no one directs a team around the park in the 6 Nations better.
9. Conor Murray: 9
Ireland’s livewire has cemented himself as one of the best scrum halves in Europe. On top of his quickness around the break down, he sparked the backline and delivered the ball when perhaps the foundation wasn’t perfect. Was rewarded for his constant sniping with Ireland’s third try.
1. Jack McGrath: 6
Had an unspectacular match but his scrummaging and his work around the fringes kept Scotland’s pack honest. Was confrontational up front and stopped Scottish momentum in the midfield with a big hit more than once.
2. Rory Best: 7
His work around the fringes as well as his direct running in the first channel got Ireland going forward and shows why he is the second best hooker in the 6 Nations (behind France’s Guirado). His experience at knowing when to contest the ball and when not to also told at the collision.
3. Mike Ross: 6
Was beaten on the outside by Stuart Hogg in Scotland’s first try but it would be unfair to mark him on that. Scrummaged well and worked hard in defence.
4. Donnacha Ryan: 5
Was overshadowed by Devin Toner but worked hard at lineout time. Has come a long way in the past 12 months, but was one of the quieter members of a dominant pack on the day.
5. Devin Toner: 8
Had one of his finer matches of the year and his hard work paid off for Ireland’s final try of the evening. Had massive boots to fill and while he hasn’t completely filled the chasm in the engine room, he went a step further to do so in this match.
6 CJ Stander: 10
Simply outstanding. From the first minute to the 80th, Stander was everywhere and was unlucky not to get yet another man of the match performance. He was tireless in defence and creative in attack. His quick thinking led to Ireland’s first try and well and truly gave them momentum.
7. Tommy O’Donnell: 8
Was quiet compared to his back row partners which says something considering he was one of the best on ground. In the thick of it the whole match. His physicality and his work at the break down underlined Ireland’s forward dominance.
8. Jamie Heaslip: 10
Boy do Ireland look good when he’s in form. Tireless in his ball carries, he worked spectacularly well in tandem with CJ Stander. A very deserved man of the match performance and if he and Stander team up nearly as well in South Africa during the Summer, they will fancy themselves for a series victory.
Replacements: 7
Scotland’s scrum gained a little bit of ascendancy in the final 15 after Joe Schmidt rang the changes with a number of substitutions around the 66th minute mark. Notables include Cian Healy who played his part well and looks to be getting back to the Healy of old, and Richardt Strauss who stepped into Best’s role with 11 minutes to go and with the match very much in the balance.
SCOTLAND
15. Stuart Hogg: 8
Easily Scotland’s best on ground and continues to go from strength to strength. Neatly sensed the position mismatch and blitzed Ireland’s kick chase defence for a 60m sprint to the line for Scotland’s first try. Was guilty of poor communication with winger Tommy Seymour in Ireland’s second try but was otherwise solid at the back.
14. Tommy Seymour: 4
Seemed a little unsure of himself after Ireland’s second try and looked to worry about Sexton putting the ball behind him. Struggled with the pace of the Irish attack.
13. Duncan Taylor: 5.5
Couldn’t repeat the performance that saw him rank as one of Scotland’s best on ground against France last week. Runs with the ball in both hands and looks to hit space so one to keep your eye on for the future.
12. Alex Dunbar: 5
A reckless yellow card in the 68th minute killed off any chance Scotland had of stealing the match. Until then, he’d had a tidy game – unspectacular, but tidy.
11. Tim Visser: 4
Couldn’t get into the match and always seemed to be chasing Trimble across the park. Was caught out by Murray’s box kicking at times and wasn’t as safe as he could have been.
10. Duncan Weir: 4
A kick out on the full just after Scotland’s second try really cost the visitors and stalled their momentum. Failed to direct the team around the park. Lacked creativity with ball in hand and it’s hard to know why they started with Weir when Peter Horne fitted in so well last week.
9. Greig Laidlaw: 6
Had played every minute of the 320 that preceded this match in the 6 Nations and it showed. Didn’t get the freedom around the fringes that he was afforded last week and while his goal kicking was reliable as usual, he lacked the spark Scotland needed.
1. Alasdair Dickinson: 5
Was out-scrummed and outmuscled at the breakdown by his counterpart which was surprising considering his game against the French. Looked to struggle with Ireland’s pace and their physicality at the break down.
2. Ross Ford: 5
Scotland’s lineout really struggled as did the scrum and Ford was right in the middle of both. Will lament a number of attacking opportunities which were squandered through sloppy errors.
3. WP Nel: 6.5
Played his heart out and was really in the thick of it. Tackled himself to a stand still and while he was apart of a forward pack going backward, he’ll be pleased with his effort.
4. Tim Swinson: 5.5
Was called into the starting squad to replace Jonny Gray but struggled against Ireland’s towering lineout. Could have imposed himself better at the breakdown and his fitness looked to be wavering against the pace of Ireland’s play.
5. Richie Gray: 7
With his brother missing through injury, it was always going to be a struggle to lead against a pretty efficient Irish lineout. And so it proved, however, his carries in close helped Scotland breach the gain line and he was their best forward. Never stopped trying.
6. John Barclay: 3
Sin binned midway through the first half, Barclay was a shadow of the figure he struck against France. Scotland struggled for traction in the middle of the field and could have really used more of his barnstorming runs as well as some application at the break down. Often looked to set up the pod far too early rather than going in to win the ball.
7. John Hardie: 3
Had one of his poorest matches in the Scottish jersey and was pulled in the 53rd minute. Made his tackles as usual but to get anything out of this match, Scotland really needed his best and got nothing of the kind.
8. Ryan Wilson: 4
Scotland’s entire back row was dominated by a hungrier and more determined Irish pack which completely negated Wilson’s performance. Scotland could have really used a launch from the scrum, however, and Wilson seemed hesitant to do so. Lacked the nous to change his approach during the game.
Replacements: 8
Replacement hooker Stuart McInally came on in the 50th minute and young prop Rory Sutherland followed soon after which saw instant improvement in the scrum, and briefly the light for Scotland got brighter. Horne came on for Weir at pivot after a string of errors and his arrival almost propelled Scotland to the win.
By Matt Tewhatu (@mtewhatu)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
13 replies on “Six Nations 2016: Ireland vs Scotland Player Ratings”
A little unfair to say the Scotland lineout struggled when they won 8/8 and stole an Irish one? Otherwise scores are pretty fair but I wouldn’t give John Hardie 3/10 considering he made 17 tackles in 50 minutes.
Also, in most of the scrums Ireland were going backwards and won because they were smart and skilled enough to get the ball out of there sharpish.
I think the harshest score is for Barclay – he was incorrectly penalised twice, including the penalty that got him the yellow card. He was neutered by the referee’s inability to correctly identify a ruck, not by the Irish back row.
I don’t think I’ve seen stranger scores on this site. Anyone would think Ireland had put 50 points on Scotland looking at this, rather than winning by just 10 points and only pulling away after Dunbar’s yellow card.
10s for Heaslip and Stander? Sure they were good but perfect perfomances? Rory Best the second best hooker in the 6 Nations?
Weird
Anyway, very enjoyable game. Shame about Sexton’s play-acting. That McInally looks a very good prospect for the Scots
Echo your thoughts here Pablito. I didn’t see a massive difference between the two teams, and certainly not one that would equate to these scores. Interested to know how Heaslip got a 10 when players in other teams have been much more impressive and got a 9? Stander was outstanding, but again still don’t think it’s worth a 10?
Matt care to explain yourself these scores are embarrassing.
Judging by these score Ireland would have beaten NZ with a performance like this.
I do agree that the 10s seem high and Stander and Heaslip weren’t originally given ‘perfect games’ but I’m not sure I’ve seen a more dominant performance by a Northern Hemisphere back row over the past 9 months (including the Rugby World Cup) – whether that’s attributed to Scotland’s back row being so poor, I’m not sure but they did have a brilliant game, physicality and work rate wise
I’m not sure the final score indicated Ireland’s dominance across the field including the breakdown and I wanted these scores to indicate that
I did think when editing that 10s were a touch high (would probably have gone for 9s myself) but I appreciate what you were trying to point out – namely the Irish back-row’s general dominance. Hardie I would have marked higher as his workrate was pretty immense.
On a different note, can anyone work out why exactly Strauss didn’t start this game? He was immense against France, and his ball-carrying is streets head of Wilson and Denton, both of whom are better suited to 6 than 8 IMO. He gives Scotland an extra dimension on the gainline, as they otherwise have very few big ball-carriers.
Wilson was most likely brought in for fitness and line speed, the latter of which was all over the place from Scotland. Strauss showed him up when he came on with his carrying.
nope, Wilson is an 8. His best games for Scotland and Glasgow are from 8. Strauss and Wilson are both neutralised by being at 6. Denton should be at 6 (well, not ahead of Barclay, but he’s not an 8!)
General feeling was that Strauss runs very upright so would be an easy target for the Irish choke tackling.
Those Scotland scores are wild! I realise that was an absolutely outstanding Irish back row display so have no argument against the Irish scores but I feel the Scotland scores are harsh!
10 out of 10 for Heaslip and Stander. Ha ha ha ha….. I mean, it’s not even worth a cogent rebuttal really, is it? Perfection achieved in the back row in a mid table game in the six nations. Who’d have thought it.
These scores and explanations are mad.
I give the ref a 2.
Last point from me, Stander played very well and I thought we would be MOTM, but he surely can’t be awarded a 10 after getting ruthlessly dunted by a debutant prop.