England kicked off their Six Nations campaign with defeat as they were beaten 27-22 by Ireland in Dublin.
Steve Borthwick’s side started well and were ahead inside 10 minutes thanks to a try from Cadan Murley on his debut.
England went in 10-5 up at the break after a brilliant defensive effort - but they were blown away in the second half.
Ireland ran in three tries after the interval to secure a bonus-point win, while England must lick their wounds quickly as they host France next week.
Standard Sport’s Simon Collings was at the Aviva Stadium to rate the England players...
Backs
Freddie Steward 6
Proved a useful weapon under the high ball, both in attack and defence. Carried solidly from deep, too.
Tommy Freeman 7
Did not have masses of ball out on the wing, but went over late on to secure England a losing bonus point.
Ollie Lawrence 7
Did his best to act as a battering ram for England and made a few good line breaks. Showed great hands to help create Tom Curry’s try.
Henry Slade 7
Played a beautiful kick through for Murley to score England’s opening try. An improved showing from the autumn.
Cadan Murley 5
Got off to a flyer on his debut by scoring inside the opening 10 minutes. Had a tough second half, though, and was shaky on kick defence. Did assist Curry’s try.
Marcus Smith 8
Picked up where he left off from in the autumn. Electric whenever he got the ball, which wasn’t enough in the second half.
Alex Mitchell 6
Showed why he was a miss in the autumn. Bright and solid with his kicking. A poor tackle on James Lowe for Ireland’s opening try the only blot on his copybook.
Forwards
Ellis Genge 7
Got through a lot of work in the loose and was a willing carrier. Managed to get through over 70 minutes, too.
Luke Cowan-Dickie 6
Handed a start in the absence of Jamie George. Struggled at lineout time and had to receive a fair bit of treatment on his shoulder.
Will Stuart 6
Off twice for a HIA. A solid performance other than that. England did not lose a scrum while he was on the pitch.
Maro Itoje 8
A big performace, especially in the first half, from the lock on what was his first Test as England captain.
George Martin 6
Put in a good shift during his hour of work. Under pressure for his place due to the return of Ollie Chessum.
Tom Curry 9
Rose to the occasion and was a menace at the ruck, stealing ball. So strong in the tackle as well and even scored a late try. Didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
Ben Curry 8
Justified his selection with a great performance. A real nuisance at the breakdown and got through so much work defensively.
Ben Earl 7
Effective with and without the ball. Cut Ireland open with one quiet break before half-time and caused problems at the breakdown. Perhaps taken off too early?
Replacements
Joe Heyes (Stuart 38’ & 50’ & 71’) N/A
Theo Dan (Cowan-Dickie 56’) 6
Tried to give England an injection of pace off the bench and created Freeman’s late try.
Tom Willis (Earl 56’) 5
Been in sparkling form for Saracens, but was quiet here.
Ollie Chessum (Martin 60’) 6
Came on and helped settle the lineout down. Carried well, too.
Chandler Cunningham-South (Ben Curry 60’) 5
Tried to made an immediate impact but gave a penalty away for a tackle in the air.
Harry Randall (Mitchell 66’) 5
A bit shaky at times and sent one box kick backwards.
Fin Smith (Steward 66’) 6
A steady stint at fly-half, but the game was gone by that point.
Fin Baxter (Genge 71’) N/A
