Billy Vunipola was sent off as England’s stuttering World Cup preparations were thrown into further disarray by a costly 29-10 defeat to Ireland amid Owen Farrell’s ongoing disciplinary saga.
The number eight is likely to miss the start of the tournament in France after his 53rd-minute yellow card for making contact with the head of Andrew Porter was upgraded to red.
Steve Borthwick’s men were comfortably dispatched in a disjointed Dublin affair, which influential captain Farrell sat out following the fallout of his dismissal against Wales last weekend.
Nick Purewal was at the Aviva Stadium to rate the England players…
Freddie Steward – 5
As solid under the high ball as ever, but outfoxed too often in defence.
Anthony Watson - 5
A constant threat on the ball but did not see enough of it.
Joe Marchant - 5
Quiet and got quieter as the game wore on.
Manu Tuilagi - 5
Promising that he got through in one piece, but still yet to fire.
Elliot Daly – 5
Busy again but not as effective as last week.
George Ford - 6
Shaped the attack well at times and proved manful off the ball.
Ben Youngs – 5
Has to speed up the play off the ruck base.
Ellis Genge – 5
Struggled to impose himself in all areas.
Jamie George - 5
Battled for set-piece parity and spent too long talking to the referee about it
Will Stuart – 5
Slipped off at the scrum again, after a strong start, again.
Maro Itoje – 4
Sloppy by his lofty standards and gave away too many penalties.
David Ribbans - 4
Conceding a penalty when doing the exact opposite of the referee’s instruction summed up a below par showing.
Courtney Lawes – 6
Transforms England’s lineout and maul effectiveness, still as impactful as ever.
Ben Earl 6
So strong over the ball and pushing hard for a place in the World Cup starting XV.
Billy Vunipola 3
The difficulty of avoiding high tackles basically does not matter any more. This is the reality and players have to adapt, and fast, or end up letting their teams down.
Replacements:
Theo Dan (for George, 66) -6
A busy and bustling cameo from the fleet-footed hooker.
Joe Marler (for Genge, 56) – 6
Showed again why he is in this squad, a dependable performer.
Kyle Sinckler (for Stuart, 44mins) - 6
Took his try well and will have hoped to make a point about his readiness to start.
Ollie Chessum (for Ribbans, 50) 6
Took a good step back towards match fitness and the World Cup starting line-up.
Jack Willis (for Lawes, 74) 5
Unable to make much impact at the death.
Danny Care (for Youngs, 56) – 6
Unsurprisingly increased the pace at the ruck.
Ollie Lawrence (for Tuilagi, 60) 5
Unable to make much happen amid another error-strewn team performance.
Marcus Smith (for Watson, 69) 5
Looked lively in the loose as the game broke up.
