1.Marler 6.5 - Made some big tackles and although the pack in general were out played, Marler kept coming back for more and showed good commitment, but sadly not much else.
2.Hartley 5.5 - Poor lineout, kept his discipline though and that is always something people are keen to pick up on when it comes to Hartley. Butchered some opportunities in the Irish 22 with the bad lineout at a time where momentum could have swung England's way.
3.Cole 7.5 - 28 metres made, 9 tackles, great use of the head. Our standout performer, although it wasn't too difficult to achieve that title. Couldn't dominate in the scrum but very effective in the loose.
4.Attwood 5.5 - 19 tackles that people seem to have forgotten about, but my god there was a lot missing from that man today, probably his worst performance of the seaspon.
5.Kruis 6 - Carried quite well, made some good tackles but again missed that special something that a player like Lawes or Launchbury can give you, England fans will now be desperate to see that second row combination back.
6.Haskell 5.5 - Made a lot of tackles, but couldn't turn the ball over, which we needed desperately. I spoke about how the battle of the breakdown would be crucial before the game here, and England were so much slower than the Irish, and with players such as Jordi Murphy and Rory Best being so dangerous over the ball this is an area that England desperately need to improve upon.
7.Robshaw 6.5 - Very good in defence again and the only person chasing kicks. The English kick chase was once again very poor, and although Robshaw gave it his all he couldn't make anything happen for the men in white.
8.Vunipola 7 - Carried well, 14 times in fact, and had one of his better games for England. People may criticize his kick through to when he broke away with Youngs outside him, but the pass wasn't on. I'd have liked to have seen the big man keep charging though, not many can stop him at full pace.
9.Youngs 5 - I'm usually a fan, not today, missed 1/3 of his tackles, looked quite good early on but really dwindled. The tempo was too slow and it was not a good game for the scrum half.
10.Ford 6 - Actually think he played just fine, good tackling for the most part, but given a masterclass as many predicted by the best fly-half in world rugby.
11.Nowell 6 - Made 1 tackle, missed 2. Unusually poor in the air, but threatening in attack. He did have one lapse in concentration that fortunately led to nothing as far as England were concerned, when he was meant to be guarding the right hand side of the ruck to allow a box kick for Youngs, he inexplicably moved at the last second which meant the scrum half was charged down.
12.Burrell 5.5 - Henshaw outplayed him yesterday, he didn't really seem to threaten at all, and performances like this will force Lancaster into yet another change in the centres, but the English centre partnership is a discussion I will post about later on this week.
13.Joseph 5 - Didn't look at all impressive against a well-organised side, but that is probably because he never saw the ball. Certainly not at fault for the loss, but England were crying out for a bit of JJ magic that never came.
14.Watson 5.5 - Good running, but not smart thinking and poor in the air. His game intelligence will improve with time, but needless penalties such as collecting a ball when you know your offside is really amateur and not expected at this level.
15.Goode 5.5 - Not as bad as people made out. 136 metres made, a lot of poor areas, especially in the air, but only as bad as the others around him.
A horrible day for English rugby, Ireland showed England up with their good kick chases, ability at the breakdown and their good discipline. England threw away a winnable game, but this will not shake them too much. There is a lot of time to grow, to improve, to bring players back from injury, and this England side should not be judged until crunch time, the home World Cup.
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