England
Elliot Daly Solid under the high ball, dangerous strike running and a poacher’s finish first-half. Excellent performance. 8
Jonny May Didn’t see as much ball as he would have liked, but chased and tackled hard. 6
Manu Tuilagi Familiarly destructive carrying – and a massive early hit on CJ Stander also set the tone. 8
Owen Farrell (capt.) Prompted the back line in tandem with Ford, kicked well, led from the front. 7
Jonathan Joseph One twinkled-toed first-half break justified his selection on its own. Delivered on an important day. 7
George Ford Brilliant tactical kicking from hand, and a sniping finish to set England’s chariot swinging. 8
Ben Youngs A special scrum-half when on song. Perceptive with the boot, speedy service maintained England’s control. 7
Joe Marler A powerhouse in the scrum for the most part, and defensively very solid as always. 7
Jamie George A battering ram in the loose, especially first half, and a good day in the scrum. 7
Kyle Sinckler Strong scrummaging, cute in the loose, kept his composure. Reminiscent of destructive displays in Japan. 8
Maro Itoje Gave away an early penalty, but outstanding after that. Stole Ireland’s ball, charged them down. 7
George Kruis Quietly effective as usual, played his part in a world-class display by the hosts’ pack. 7
Courtney Lawes A superb extra option at line-outs, carried relentlessly, did tonnes of work all over the pitch. 9
Sam Underhill Tackled relentlessly, as we have come to expect, and added extra beef in attack. 7
Tom Curry Dangerous in the loose, and did not look out of place at scrum time. 7
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie (for George, 51) Scored the try that ended any contest 8, Ellis Genge (for Marler, 57) Tore into his first scrum and shifted the momentum 8, Will Stuart (for Sinckler, 68) N/A, Joe Launchbury (for Kruis, 59) Tackled hard 7, Charlie Ewels (for Lawes, 57) Added momentum 7, 21 Ben Earl (for Curry, 65) Finished strongly 7, 22 Willi Heinz (for Youngs, 57) Controlled with his kicking 7, 23 Henry Slade (for Tuilagi, 73) N/A.
Ireland
Jordan Larmour Caught out of position for England’s opening try and offered precious little in attack. 5
Andrew Conway Generally anonymous, he could not make inroads in attack and was defensively over-worked. 5
Robbie Henshaw Lifted his team with a burrowing second-half finish from short range. 6
Bundee Aki Occasionally a threat with ball in hand but a costly lack of handling precision, too. 5
Jacob Stockdale Caught off-guard not once but twice in-goal for England tries, and made other errors. 4
Jonathan Sexton (capt.) A day to forget: started on the back foot and stayed there. Dreadful goal-kicking. 3
Conor Murray Punished ruthlessly for some poor early kicking that handed the initiative to England. 4
Cian Healy Injured in the early skirmishes, and taken off. N/A
Rob Herring A mixed afternoon with his line-out throwing, one excellent tap tackle on a rampaging Curry. 6
Tadhg Furlong Following a strong first scrum, he spent much of his afternoon on the back foot. 5
Devin Toner Driven backwards by England’s forward power, failed to impress along with his colleagues in the pack. 5
James Ryan Mostly tidy at the line-out, but spent much of the day in reverse gear. 6
Peter O’Mahony Spoiled England’s line-out ball on one occasion, but a very testing day overall. 6
Josh van der Flier Played his part in Ireland’s second-half recovery but another man who was mostly outmuscled. 5
CJ Stander Billed as Curry’s nemesis, but struggled throughout. Arguably lucky to escape punishment for Farrell altercation. 5
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher (for Herring, 59) Solid in the scrum 6, Dave Kilcoyne (for Healy, 25) Came into the match well after Healy injury 7, Andrew Porter (for Furlong, 59) Grabbed late try 7, Ultan Dillane (for Van Der Flier, 59) Carried strongly 6, Caelan Doris (for Van Der Flier, 59) Looked determined 7, John Cooney (for Murray, 54) Made a positive difference to Ireland’s attack 7, Ross Byrne (for Conway, 65) N/A, Keith Earls (for Larmour, 63) Struggled to get involved 5.
