Player ratings: how Ireland fared in win over England
STAR MAN: Ireland’s Mack Hansen goes over to score a try despite Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant of England. Picture: INPHO/Evan Treacy
Great chase almost the length of the field early on to deprive England of a breakaway try. Solid in defence and in the air and sharp in taking the ball into contact. Kicking superb too. The usual from Keen.
With hair like that you better be good. Sliced an early mark to touch but brilliant for so much else. Solid in the air, always looking for work. Brilliant crosskick for the Garry Ringrose try and deserved his own touch down in the second-half. Obvious man of the match.
Played an excellent long pass in the run-up to the opening try and got one of his own when he stayed out wide to receive that Hansen chip. Missed his usual quota of tackles which comes with the territory for a No.13.
Opened the scoring with Ireland’s first try and had the assist of the day with his mammoth pass for the Keith Earls score. Carried a tonne of hard ball in midfield traffic and even came back on after a second-half HIA.
Excellent showing from the Leinster man: with the boot, with ball in hand and with most of his D. Saved when coughing up one ball in his own 22 but claimed a try of his own with an easy run-in from a Ross Byrne flip.
Some good, some so-so. Missed three of four conversions, happy to trade aerial kicks with his opponents. Showed some nice hands at points but sent the odd one to ground too. Two lovely looping passes for the Lowe and Hansen tries.
Typically busy effort from the first-choice scrum-half who eventually made way for Conor Murray. Maybe not helped by Ireland’s spate of errors early on and the frequent games of kick-tennis but looked a tad rusty at times.
A quiet day at the office for the versatile prop, in open play at least. The stats say Porter only carried once and he got through an average amount of tackles in 73 minutes on the field before Jeremy Loughman came on in his stead.
Part of a malfunctioning lineout during his 38 minutes but this is clearly a collective issue. Was doing just fine in all-round play before injury forced him off in the closing stages of the first-half.
Adequate day for Furlong who wasn’t near his best in open play. His highlight will no doubt be Ireland winning a scrum penalty seconds after Jamie George complained to the referee about the Ireland tighthead’s allegedly illegal technique.
Huge shift defensively with his 16 tackles the most by any player in green. Used as a link man more than a runner with ball in hand but will be poring over footage of that problematic lineout for the next while, as will a few others.
Big day for the stand-in captain but Ryan conceded a couple of penalties in a scrappy first-half. Made some punching runs, not least before James Lowe’s try, but another who will be ruing those lineout issues.
Made the game’s first tackle, created the first try for Bundee Aki and was having a typically effective all-round day before coming off after 53 minutes so Joe McCarthy could get more game time in his legs pre-World Cup.
Crucial link in the chain for at least three of Ireland’s five tries with his incisive and clever running, which was more evident after the break. Tackled his heart out and showed some lovely hands in little space at times.
His first senior start and it went pretty damn well at No.8. His jackling prevented a quick English response after Ireland’s first try, he was a regular option in the lineout, carried loads and made eleven tackles. He even kicked a clearance from Ireland’s 22.
: 7 Finlay Bealham, Joe McCarthy and Rob Herring rolled their sleeves up in defence and Keith Earls provided the best moment of the evening with Ireland’s fifth and last try on his 100th appearance. The crowd’s reaction would have blown the roof off if the Aviva had one.
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