Well I didn’t see that coming… A record Calcutta Cup victory for the Red Rose as a confident Scotland team were dissected with worrying ease by an aggressive and calculated England side, led by the imperious Jonathan Joseph. Here’s how the players rated.
1 Joe Marler – 7.5
Had the edge on Zander Fagerson and part of a dominant scrum effort. Tackled, rucked and did everything asked of him. As he wins his 50th cap, he is threatening to become the player he has always had the potential to be.
2 Dylan Hartley – 7.5
Got through an impressive 14 tackles before being replaced, stripped a ball out of the tackle and won a couple of turnovers. Much, much better from the captain. Lucky to only concede a penalty for his neck roll however.
3 Dan Cole – 7
Similar to Marler, he did his basic job with aplomb. Doesn’t really offer much in the loose but does the dark arts in the middle of rucks and scrums that make him invaluable to the side.
4 Joe Launchbury – 8
His turn to be slightly over-shadowed by his second-row partner. Got through a mountain of tackles, with one powerful hit on Russell also knocking the ball out of his possession.
5 Courtney Lawes – 9
Lost the ball in contact once and gave away the penalty which led to Reid’s try. But apart from that, this was a supreme performance from Lawes. Alongside his destructive tackling, his carrying vastly improved and it was his aggression which got England on the front foot and laid the platform for the backs. On balance, England’s player of the tournament so far for me.
6 Maro Itoje – 8
Growing into his role on the blindside with each game – astonishingly effective at the breakdown for such a big guy and slowed down the little ball Scotland had. Also appeared galloping down the right wing with surprising regularity and effectiveness. Jones will have a real selection dilemma when Robshaw returns.
7 James Haskell – 7
Still looks a bit rusty and the quietest member of the back five. Did a lot of the grunt work which allowed his teammates to shine. Will need a big performance against Ireland, however, if he wants to be on that Lions tour.
8 Nathan Hughes – 7.5
Much better from Hughes, who finally showed he can be a class international number 8. Spurred on by the sight of Billy on the bench, he carried and tackled his heart out. His break and offload nearly created a try. Still gives away too many penalties though.
9 Ben Youngs/Danny Care 9
Youngs was good on Saturday – he box-kicked brilliantly in a smart and efficient performance – but I am going to cheat and give his combination with Care a 9. It just works brilliantly for England. Youngs has the game-management and Care the impish attacking instinct to exploit tired legs in the final quarter. Between the two you get one world-class scrum half.
10 George Ford – 8.5
Ford’s best performance in an England shirt for a long time. His passing was so good on Saturday – watching the game back it was the perfect weighting and delay on his distribution that gave Farrell space and allowed Joseph to break the line with such ease. Targeted a few times by Scottish runners as expected but stood up well. Forming a world-class partnership with Farrell more each game – has Gatland taken notice?
11 Elliot Daly – n/a Anthony Watson – 7.5
Daly unfortunately had to leave the field after Fraser Brown’s tip tackle – he made a brief return but left permanently on 15 minutes. His replacement, Anthony Watson, enjoyed a fine afternoon on his international return. He looked dangerous with ball in hand and popped up on Joseph’s shoulder to finish of a well-worked try.
12 Owen Farrell – 8.5
Farrell had an uncharacteristic off day against Italy. But then he wasn’t the only one. This was the perfect response. He kicked brilliantly, making 11 from 12 – and a missed 52-yarder can hardly be held against him – with one slightly over-cooked kick from hand his only blemish. Really growing into the leadership role as well.
13 Jonathan Joseph – 10
Four clean breaks, five defenders beaten, 126 metres made and a hat-trick of tries. All in only 57 minutes. What more could you ask for from Joseph? Responded to being dropped for the Italy game with the best hour of rugby by an English centre I can remember since Manu Tuilagi took the All Blacks apart in 2012. He ghosted through the Scotland line every time with rapier-like precision, picking the perfect lines and dancing over the whitewash (and into the Lions 13 shirt).
14 Jack Nowell – 7
A surprisingly quiet afternoon for Nowell, especially when this was the kind of match he would ordinarily thrive in. Made a couple of half breaks and went looking for work but not as prominent as his fellow backs. Good harrying on the kicks.
15 Mike Brown – 7.5
Brown has definitely got better as the tournament has gone on. Imperious under the high ball, his fiery running was more reminiscent of the Brown of old and he created a lot of England’s breaks by drawing the Scottish defence with his dummy lines. Couple of massive clearance kicks helped his side.
Replacements – 8
For once the ‘finishers’ were not required to win the game. Rather they were like vultures feeding on the remains of this match. Care, as mentioned, was particularly dangerous – darting through as the game broke up to claim two tries – while all the others carried on the good work of the starting 15.
Best of all was seeing big Billy back. The roar from the crowd as he came on showed how much England have missed their primary ball carrier. Got a chance to show his strength and busted through from a line-out maul to score.
Who do you think played well?
By Henry Ker
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
I’d switch the marks for Lawes and Launchbury, and an extra half mark for Cole for playing a game of rugby without conceding a penalty, that must be a first!
OK Mike “Head Down” Brown, does sometimes miss the opportunity to keep the ball alive, but thought he had an excellent game, I would give him an 8. His best since his ‘golden period’ a couple of years back.
No idea what EJ will do when Robshaw and Kruis are fit again, but a nice problem to have.
Lawes – also provided crisp, accurate off-the-top ball from the lineouts, which set up the attacking platform for at least two of the tries.
Joseph – have to add that, as always, his defence was excellent too, both in organisation of the defensive line and in making his own tackles.
Haskell – score and comments are harsh in my view. Very industrious and effective.
Forgot about Lawes lineout work, the speed and accuracy of his delivery into Youngs was really special, they both get a 9!
Brown was only worth a six! Far too greedy, could have passed at least ten times but chose to go to ground!
I have mentioned it on another thread but there was no point in Brown passing as there was no space in the outside channels, and they were further away from the supporting/retreating forwards.
I appreciate that it may seem different on the TV, from the side, but I can assure you that there were no overlaps, spaces, additional support out wide.
Surely we can expect from a test fullback that just not butchering overlaps?
There are countless times you’ll see Smith or Hogg exploit 2 vs 2s or create a half break by picking a prop to step. It’s just not enough to defend well and not be turned over in attack.
So basically Jacob, you are saying that EJ is such a poor selector that for 18 wins in a row he has let Mike Brown get away with being crap.
Interesting argument.
Or perhaps you think that Mike Brown has photos of EJ in compromising positions?
Or could it just possibly be that he is continually selected because he does exactly what he is asked to, very well, game after game after game?
See the ‘Rate the match’ thread for many more discussions on this. Stroudos has perhaps the best comment on Brown.
Seems to me that the people who moan about Briown are by and large the same people who moaned about Robshaw and didn’t understand what he bought to the team, despite not being a groundohog 7 or a flashy, line busting 6
Hi Pablito, I get sick of the Brown ‘knockers’ – as you say he does a great job and despite moving inside as EJ must want he has the strength to break tackles and ability to keep the all important possession for the team to build on. Great performer who fully justifies the faith EJ places in him.
To a degree I agree with both yourself and Jacob. I am constantly comparing Brown to the rest of the home nations full backs, and every game I’m slightly disappointed. Halfpenny does nothing outstanding, but everything well. He runs hard in attack and will pass and use the space to create chances for others as does Kearney and both have good boots and are solid in defence. Hogg is outstanding in attack, has a monstrous boot, good under the high ball, but maybe not so solid in defence?
Then I look at Brown and whilst he is solid in defence and under the high ball and has a good boot, he is the most lacking in the attack department in my opinion. He does draw defenders, but then he crashes into them and goes to ground almost every time.
The problem is I think Eddie sees him as the only option because he never lets him down (well, occasionally). You are probably right and he’s been told to play that way. We have some other great attacking options in our back line, but I just think how many more chances we could create if he would just occasionally pass, chip grubber or dummy or just try something.
I would definitely like to see Daly given a chance there, as I think he is the most naturally gifted out of himself, Watson and Nowell to play at 15.
Until then I am happy to be disappointed by Brown’s play as long as we keep on winning.
P.s. to my knowledge I have never moaned about Robshaw, but I can’t rule it out completely!! ;-)
Brown is not a fool.He is aware of his options when going forward.I feel sure he does what he does because that’s part of the plan the whole team knows.
I think his performance this series has finally buried Goode’s chances of being considered again-correctly in my view.
I literally said absolutely none of those words, but it certainly was an interesting twist on what I said.
Brown is brilliant defensively, a great under the high ball which provides a lot of security. What he doesn’t offer is any particular attacking threat. Do you really think that I can’t see the job he is doing? Or was I ever in the Robshaw bashing camp? Absolutely wasn’t and the suggestion that I was is completely unfounded.
Brown may well be doing the basics in attack but I don’t think it’s unfair to expect more when you compare his attacking abilities against other full backs playing for tier 1 nations.
I personally wouldn’t drop Hartley because I still believe he is our best set piece hooker and for me that’s vital. Whenever you (or others) have suggested that George should be picked it hasn’t once been suggested that you think EJ is doing a shit job…
Sorry this was in response to Pablito.
Brown just does not do speculative passes. Just about every time he did not pass he was correct to hold on to it.
Im not normally a fan of goving players a 10 but in Josephs case i cant argue against it. It seemed that every time he touched the ball he ghosted through the scottish line and made good ground or scored. Best attacking performance from a center i think ive ever seen
Yeh I originally gave Joseph a 9… then upped it to a 9.5. Then sat there and thought what more could he actually have done? He did only play 57 minutes (but that’s not his fault) and Scotland were poor (but also not his fault). I didn’t even mention his defence – which was outstanding. So perfect 10 from me.