Six Nations 2020: England ratings as Lawes shines with a shiner and Youngs gets over World Cup final woes
ENGLAND got back to Twickenham and got back to what they know best: winning.
They blitzed the Irish and went 17-0 up at half time, before completing a rout with a 24-12 win for Farrell the younger & Co.
SunSport’s Alex Terrell gives the Red Rose marks out of 10.
BACKS
Elliot Daly 8
Superb try as he sprinted on to George Ford’s clip over the top.
Read the high ball better than anyone else on the field in the first half.
Jonny May 8
Saw what the Irish wingers have offered so far this tournament and bettered it.
Manu Tuilagi 7
England’s go-to option when the ball came out of the set-piece.
Absorbed opposing tacklers like a sponge.
Owen Farrell 7
To hear Farrell being so polite with referee Jaco Peyper is something new.
Maybe he has decided to be more cute with referees, but it is credit to him. Very professional all afternoon.
Jonathan Joseph 7
Superb makeshift winger.
Did all the basics well and also provided welcome heft when it came to counter-rucking.
George Ford 8
Scored and created England’s two first-half tries.
Fully justified playing himself at fly-half, with Farrell alongside him.
Bizarre first-half kick that he tried to clip through the Irish ranks went… backwards.
Ben Youngs 7
Youngs’ best performance since New Zealand in a Red Rose shirt.
He had a nightmare in that final everyone just wants to forget, and that France match.
But not today.
FORWARDS
Joe Marler 7
Super solid in the scrum and happy to do plenty of dirty work and hard yards.
Jamie George 7
Played a big part in a superb England line-out.
Kyle Sinckler 7
Picked up a first-half injury and looked dazed at times.
Always ready to put his head in difficult areas, when England were camped in Ireland’s 22 for long periods of the first half.
Maro Itoje 8
Back to his best with the line speed on the tackle.
He has been quiet in the opening two rounds, but much better on home soil.
George Kruis 7
Needs to keep his discipline, which he failed to in the first half.
The No5 jersey is by no means his for keeps and Eddie Jones doesn’t like costly players.
Courtney Lawes 9
Was unfortunate to knock the ball on with a great chance to score in the first-half.
Excellent catching in the line-out and generally superb in the tackle, maybe that shiner he picked up in training worked wonders. Man of the match.
SIX NATIONS NEWS
Sam Underhill 7
Good performance from him and the whole English back row.
His line speed is slowly coming back to its jack-in-the-box best.
Tom Curry 7
Good work from the back-row in his less-favoured No8 jersey.
He is only looking after it for Billy Vunipola, but was part of a fine back-row unit.
REPLACEMENTS
Luke Cowan-Dickie 8 (George 51), 17 Ellis Genge 7 (Marler 57), 18 Will Stuart 6 (Sinckler 68), 19 Joe Launchbury 7 (Kruis 60), 20 Charlie Ewels 6 (Lawes 57), 21 Ben Earl 6 (Curry 65), 22 Willi Heinz 6 (on for Youngs 57), 23 Henry Slade 6 (Tuilagi 73)