Gavan Casey

Backs

Hugo Keenan — 8: One of the few Irish players who looked his old self for virtually the entire game. One memorable tackle on Ben Earls and held his own in the aerial battle with the 6’5 Freddie Steward following one clean take over his head by the English fullback. Plenty of attacking involvement, too, including a clever kick into the English backfield which resulted in a five-metre Irish scrum.

Mack Hansen — 6: Tried to set the tone with an early rib-tickler on Cadan Murley and looked sharp on either side of his blood injury in the first half. Far quieter second 40, purely because Ireland found themselves so often attacking towards James Lowe’s wing.

Garry Ringrose — 7: His aerial take over Maro Itoje in the second half was one of the most rousing moments of the game from an Irish perspective. An excellent defensive effort with 12 tackles, which led the backs.

Bundee Aki — 7: Sensational second-half finish in the left-hand corner after a quiet game, relatively speaking, to that point. Still made 10 carries in under an hour but, aside from his try, he was well marshalled by Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence.

James Lowe — 9: Among Ireland’s most effective players in both attack and defence in the first half. Obliterated Alex Mitchell to tee up Ireland’s first try for Gibson-Park. Exploded into life and ran the show when the game loosened in the second, finishing with 13 carries for 123 metres and a game-leading five clean breaks. A couple of poor exit kicks — one straight into touch — were the only blots on his copybook.

Sam Prendergast — 5: The second of his two poor early contestables ultimately resulted in England’s opening score for Cadan Murley. The young out-half showed some beautiful touches throughout — his passing range is going to make him a special player — but this was a day with as many downs as ups. One from three off the tee with a particularly poor conversion miss from Jamison Gibson-Park’s try, but his penalty to give Ireland a 13-10 lead after two earlier wides was very impressive in the context. By no means out of his depth or anything stupid like that; just finding his feet at 21.

Jamison Gibson-Park — 9: A couple of his early decisions in his conduction of traffic were questionable but Gibson-Park was the justified Player of the Match. His try finish was vintage as he turned the giant Freddie Steward inside out, and his defensive contribution in the second half was as impressive as his efforts with the ball as Ireland began to fizz.

Forwards

Andrew Porter — 8: Ireland’s scrum was without blemish and Porter was joint second in the tackle stakes, completing 13. Didn’t get much purchase out of his nine carries but was exceptional at the breakdown.

Rónan Kelleher — 7: Was sharp in the loose in the first half, pouncing upon one overthrown English lineout, and unfortunate not to bank a try. Like Porter, made nine carries but for more yardage.

Finlay Bealham — 8: Aside from his excellent scrummaging, he was far more physical in contact — and particularly in the tackle — than he was in November.

James Ryan — 7: Not quite as impactful overall as he has been in recent months but was vicious at the breakdown in particular and rescued Irish possession on at least three occasions.

Tadhg Beirne — 7: Fell off Ollie Lawrence in the lead-up to Murley’s opener and pinged for a cheeky infringement which saw Rónan Kelleher’s potential leveller chalked off. Responded with a poach penalty soon afterwards — the only turnover Ireland won in the first half — and bagged a try in the second with an excellent support run. Big defensive effort in particular with 12 tackles.

Ryan Baird — 7: Might have been culpable for the disconnect which resulted in Ben Earl’s linebreak in the first half (not marking him down for this without a rewatch). Brilliant carry down the right edge almost saw Baird bank a try. That was one of his six carries on a solid outing in which his explosivity was mostly kept in check by England.

Josh van der Flier — 8: A classic Van der Flier performance in which he stuck his head in places where others wouldn’t dip a toe. Led Ireland with 17 tackles and picked a couple of nice lines in attack. Was up to the pitch of the game from the first minute, which wasn’t the case across the board.

Caelan Doris — 7: Not quite a classic Doris performance in that he netted only 13 metres from 11 carries. His work rate was, as always, off the charts however: he made the second most tackles behind Van der Flier and won a turnover on a day in which Ireland didn’t win many.

Replacements:

Dan Sheehan (Kelleher 49′) — 9: It’s clear, now, that Sheehan transforms this team. His try was one of the best of the Farrell era and his constant, go-forward momentum is a game-changer that Ireland have sorely missed since last year.

Cian Healy (Porter 73′) — n/a:

Tom Clarkson (Bealham 58′) — 7: Made himself known with a couple of strong carries and continued to lock out the Irish scrum where Bealham had excelled before him.

Iain Henderson (Ryan 61′) — 6: Made five tackles in just under 20 minutes but didn’t didn’t make a carry or have any attacking lineout involvement.

Jack Conan (Baird 49′) — 8: Combined to reshape the game with Sheehan upon their joint introduction. Made serious inroads off five carries, particularly with his linebreak before Sheehan’s try, and put in seven big hits. A brilliant bench option for Ireland but in good enough form that he may start at Murrayfield.

Conor Murray — n/a:

Jack Crowley (Prendergast 58′) — 8: Contributed significantly to Ireland’s improvement. Three excellent kicks from hand, some beautiful short passing in tight spots, a half-break and two conversions — the latter of which was from the left-hand touchline. Crowley will feel he has proven a point.

Robbie Henshaw (Hansen 3′/Aki 57′) — 5: Didn’t have a great deal of opportunity to influence the game during his two cameos but will be disappointed not to have stopped Tommy Freeman at the death.