[2025 Six Nations] Ireland vs England - 01/02/25

[AlRums]

Ireland vs England player ratings: Cadan Murley wilts under Dublin lights

Who impressed and who struggled in an absorbing Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium?

www.telegraph.co.uk

Keenan-7/10
Hansen - 6/10
Ringrose - 7/10
AkI - 7/10
Lowe - 8/10
Prendergast - 4/10
Gibson-Park - 8/10
Porter - 6/10
Kelleher - 6/10
Bealham - 6/10
Ryan - 6/10
Beirne - 6/10
Baird - 6/10
van de Flier - 7/10
Doris - 6/10
No score for the bench but praise for Conan, Sheehan and Crowley.


Steward - 4/10
Freeman - 6/10
Lawrence - 7/10
Slade - 6/10
Murley - 4/10
M Smith - 6/10
Mitchell - 5/10
Genge - 6/10
Cowan-Dickie - 6/10
Stuart - 6/10
Itoje - 8/10
Martin - 7/10
T Curry - 7/10
B Curry - 7/10
Earl - 6/10
Replacements - 3/10 (Mild praise for F Smith)

Really overrated itoje

 

[BPM]

Ah, here comes the 'neutral'.

 

[Amiga500]

I didn't see all the first half, only about the last 15 or so, and then most of the 2nd half.

I think England were flattered by very bad Irish handling.

How many times were Ireland a fumbled ball or pass away from kicking the door open?
Fair do's to England's scramble defence, credit where its due - but I got the feeling they were hanging in by their fingernails.

Now, to be clear, hanging on through a sticky patch in a game is a great trait. But only if you fix the problems such that what's going wrong is only a spell in the game and doesn't define the game.
2nd half, it was more of the same, only Irish accuracy improved slightly and England simply couldn't live with it.
(Not helped of course by usual penalty stupidity. Some penalties are worth giving away or are the result of the dynamic environment, but too many of those were just stupid.)

I don't think the pick of both sides are gonna trouble the French... assuming they travel well and who the f**k knows the answer to to that perennial question with the French.

 

[McTallshort]

View attachment 22787

Standard Dawson, the wake up call was a year ago.

A wake up call where lessons need to be learned but there were positives for the guys the build on.....repeat

 

[Reiser99]

Congrats Ireland. You completely suffocated England in the second half. You can't defend all half and expect to win. England couldn't get any territory or possession. I feel partly because of the usual drop off after twenty minutes. We seem to go out all guns blazing and then take our foot off in case it backfires. However, Ireland also controlled the territory a lot better and didn't allow England to get behind them as easily.

England still can't put in an 80 minute performance and will end up 4th or 5th.

 

[Saintjay]

Not sure where England are going from here tbh.

We are lacking physicality in terms of winning the collisions, we haven't really made a dent in midfield again.

I have a lot of time for Steve Borthwick. Intelligent man, good rugby guy, and generally an excellent, highly detailed coach, but I just don't think he's the ruthless man you need to lead the England national team.

That said- does any coach turn this squad into something more? Or are we player-limited?

Player limited. How we consistently look like we have the second worst behind Wales 12/13 pairing in the comp is beyond me.

 

[McTallshort]

Ireland vs England player ratings: Cadan Murley wilts under Dublin lights

Who impressed and who struggled in an absorbing Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium?

www.telegraph.co.uk

Keenan-7/10
Hansen - 6/10
Ringrose - 7/10
AkI - 7/10
Lowe - 8/10
Prendergast - 4/10
Gibson-Park - 8/10
Porter - 6/10
Kelleher - 6/10
Bealham - 6/10
Ryan - 6/10
Beirne - 6/10
Baird - 6/10
van de Flier - 7/10
Doris - 6/10
No score for the bench but praise for Conan, Sheehan and Crowley.


Steward - 4/10
Freeman - 6/10
Lawrence - 7/10
Slade - 6/10
Murley - 4/10
M Smith - 6/10
Mitchell - 5/10
Genge - 6/10
Cowan-Dickie - 6/10
Stuart - 6/10
Itoje - 8/10
Martin - 7/10
T Curry - 7/10
B Curry - 7/10
Earl - 6/10
Replacements - 3/10 (Mild praise for F Smith)

Earl only 6? These ratings are always crap for forwards

 

[OllyM97]

Ireland will beat France in Dublin and win the Grand Slam. France under Galthie are so much less than the sum of their parts.

 

[IT157]

Congrats Ireland. You completely suffocated England in the second half. You can't defend all half and expect to win. England couldn't get any territory or possession. I feel partly because of the usual drop off after twenty minutes. We seem to go out all guns blazing and then take our foot off in case it backfires. However, Ireland also controlled the territory a lot better and didn't allow England to get behind them as easily.

England still can't put in an 80 minute performance and will end up 4th or 5th.

You think Italy or Wales will finish ahead?

 

[BPM]

Congrats Ireland. You completely suffocated England in the second half. You can't defend all half and expect to win. England couldn't get any territory or possession. I feel partly because of the usual drop off after twenty minutes. We seem to go out all guns blazing and then take our foot off in case it backfires. However, Ireland also controlled the territory a lot better and didn't allow England to get behind them as easily.

England still can't put in an 80 minute performance and will end up 4th or 5th.

Back to your positive best I see?

 

[BPM]

Player limited. How we consistently look like we have the second worst behind Wales 12/13 pairing in the comp is beyond me.

This is grossly unfair IMO. I'm usually crucial Al of both, but Slade and Lawrence were pretty good today.

 

[Amiga500]

A wake up call where lessons need to be learned but there were positives for the guys the build on.....repeat

Dawson is delighted that he can now use DeepSeek as well as ChatGPT to get more ways of rewording that!

 

[Amiga500]

Player limited. How we consistently look like we have the second worst behind Wales 12/13 pairing in the comp is beyond me.

Marcus makes Marcus look good.
Fin makes everyone else look good.

How the f**k are your centres supposed to know what to do when your 10 doesn't know what he's gonna do?

 

[IT157]

Marcus makes Marcus look good.
Fin makes everyone else look good.

How the f**k are your centres supposed to know what to do when your 10 doesn't know what he's gonna do?

Six Nations: England's Marcus and Fin Smith conundrum at fly-half

Thanks to Marcus Smith's versatility and Fin Smith's continuing rise, England's fly-half debate is far from settled.

www.bbc.com

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Freeman went OK and like the rest of his team in the first half was pretty busy. Was poor for one of Irelands scores.

Not sure what you expect from Itoje. Who would have done better as captain in all honesty. The drop of in the last twenty is a coaching issue of some sort. It's well identified yet still a problem.

Freeman was poor for one of the tries and I just don't see him making the impact he should ball in hand. Or going looking for work - in today's earlier game wingers from both sides were popping up on the opposite wing. IFW roams looking for opportunities.

Itoje has a reputation as one of the world's best. What I want to see from him (any second row captain) is smashing opponents, delivering hurt and intimidation and leading from the front. Making a difference, inspiring. Didn't really see that and can't help feeling McCall knows his onions. Read a lot in the week about a more cerebral approach, but while you don't want any Robshaw style poor decisions you want someone you can really emotionally buy into. You can't read too much into Itoje being picked up and thrown backwards by 2 Irish players, but it was kind of symbolic. A captain should have that undefinable presence - Johnson had it, Dayglo had it, Itoje doesn't.

And what happened in the dressing room at half time? First half was respectable, but the second was lousy. Ireland seemed to fix their problems. Ours seemed to start.

 

[Reiser99]

You think Italy or Wales will finish ahead?

Back to your positive best I see?

Honestly, if we play like we did in the second half then yes.

We scrapped a lucky LBP and we still have lots of issues across the pitch. There were some very good moments, but that's all they turned out to be.

 

[IT157]

I thought Itoje was really good and one of our best players. Don't get the hate.

 

[IT157]

Honestly, if we play like we did in the second half then yes.

We scrapped a lucky LBP and we still have lots of issues across the pitch. There were some very good moments, but that's all they turned out to be.

Did you not watch Wales?

Saying that, it is in Cardiff and it will be their World Cup final.

Borthwick does like breaking records. So losing to Italy would be very Borthwick I guess.

 

[munstermuffin]

Whatever pal. Regardless of the result, your players will know you were in a proper game.

I 100% agree. England were extremely physical. It was their tactics that hurt them and not players. They had gameplay but it was never sustainable for 80 mins and they had no plan to adapt

 

[BPM]

Honestly, if we play like we did in the second half then yes.

We scrapped a lucky LBP and we still have lots of issues across the pitch. There were some very good moments, but that's all they turned out to be.

You just relish us losing …