15 Mike Brown
Busy start, took a high ball and then a high pass from Farrell. Made crucial tackle on Earls going in for a try. Best England back. Knocked on last pass.
Rating: 6
14 Anthony Watson
Not much space or possession first half to attack. Dropped one early second half. No platform to express himself.
Rating: 5
13 Jonathan Joseph
Defensive duties saw to most of the first half and the second. Didn’t make one break that troubled Ireland. Again a flat performance.
Rating: 5
12 Owen Farrell
Beautiful kick over Irish line for Daly running on, which almost came off. Kicked three from three but messy ball for most of the match.
Rating: 6
11 Elliot Daly
Intelligent player. Always tried to make things happen and he was sound under Sexton’s high ball. Couldn’t buy space to save his life and no threat throughout.
Rating: 5
10 George Ford
Little first half platform to build on and kicked straight to touch in first half under pressure. Couldn’t marshal or direct the game and was taken off.
Rating: 5
9 Ben Youngs
Couldn’t get the ball first half. Directed traffic largely and didn’t make any impact. Taken off 15 minutes from the end.
Rating: 4
1 Joe Marler
The scrum was okay. Very high work load first 40. Put his body around but no impact at all. Taken off at halftime for the bigger unit of Mako Vunipola.
Rating: 4
2 Dylan Hartley
Again, the scrum was solid. Yapping at referee and overthrew lineout at half time. No real leadership from the captain who left after 55 minutes.
Rating: 4
3 Dan Cole
Aggressive defending early on but asleep for Iain Henderson’s try. Lots of grunt in busy first 40 minutes but surpassed by more dynamic Ireland.
Rating: 5
4 Joe Launchbury
In the thick of knocking Irish bodies back first half. But allowed Payne off the ground to run at them in second half. Workman like.
Rating: 5
5 Courtney Lawes
Was not dominant even in the lineout, where England lost a couple. No raking runs or real intent from this athletic player.
Rating: 5
6 Maro Itoje
Looked for more impact from him. Like Launchbury made the tackles but didn’t impose himself in a match where some England player had to.
Rating: 5
7 James Haskell
Little chance to carry first 40 minutes but good defensive shift. Made a lot of tackles and lasted the hour.
Rating: 5
8 Billy Vunipola
Gave away silly early penalty. Big physical presence but didn’t use it to England’s advantage. For such a big player he had little impact.
Bench
The vaunted bench were far from impressive . Mako Vunipola was a little more visible than Joe Marler, Ben Te’o went off soon after coming on looking dazed, while Danny Care upped the tempo as usual.
Rating: 4
Coach
Eddie Jones took full responsibility for England’s flat performance, holding his hand up and admitting he made mistakes.
Rating: 3
