None of these player ratings make for pretty viewing.
Following Ireland’s 24-12 defeat to England at Twickenham, on Sunday, Robbie Henshaw and Peter O’Mahony [both getting 7/10] topped our playings rating piece. On the flip side, Conor Murray [4] and Johnny Sexton [3] were judged to have been well under-par.
Only a handful of Irish players walked away from Twickenham with much credit after a thorough beating at the hands of Eddie Jones’ side. Having made a positive, winning start to the Guinness Six Nations, the defeat to England cost Ireland a Triple Crown and damaged their overall championship hopes.
A look across the water at the Ireland player ratings compiled by the English press sees two players with poor returns – Sexton and Jacob Stockdale.
The Guardian, Independent and Sky Sports all rated both sets of players, at Twickenham, and all were fulsome in their praise for the likes of Courtney Lawes, Kyle Sinckler and Maro Itoje. On Stockdale, however, Sky Sports state:
‘Inexplicable hesitation from the wing allowed England to score a second try and take complete control of the contest. Contributed little from an attacking point of view. 3/10.’
Sexton, according to The Guardian, had ‘a day to forget: started on the back foot and stayed there’. The Ireland outhalf, and captain, was guilty of ‘dreadful goal-kicking’ and got a team-low rating of 3/10.
Looking at all three outlets, here is the average rating from the Ireland XV that started the day out as Triple Crown hopefuls:
Jordan Larmour – 5
Andrew Conway – 5.33
Robbie Henshaw – 6.66
Bundee Aki – 5.33
Jacob Stockdale – 4
Johnny Sexton – 3.66
Conor Murray – 4.33Cian Healy – 4.5
Rob Herring – 5.66
Tadhg Furlong – 5
James Ryan – 6.33
Devin Toner – 5
Peter O’Mahony – 5.66
Josh van der Flier – 5.33
CJ Stander – 5.66
Any Irish fans looking for positives may cling to the positive reviews John Cooney, Ultan Dillane and Caelan Doris received after they added impetus when coming off the replacements bench.
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