England kept their Six Nations hopes alive with a tense 23-19 victory over Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
Eddie Jones’ side had to weather a second-half fightback from the visitors to make it back-to-back victories since their opening round defeat to Scotland.
Will Macpherson was there to run the rule over Jones’ men…
Freddie Steward - 7
This was the Steward England fans were falling in love with in the autumn. Superb in the air, some important metres made, a decent tackle on Cuthbert, and one wonderful clearing kick. Was guilty for Wales’ first try, but not enough to blot his copybook.
Max Malins - 6
A couple of little errors but some impressive work to get around the outside on the right wing, and defensively smart. One bad spill, and not given the opportunity to light the game up.
Elliot Daly - 6
Was parachuted in late after Manu Tuilagi’s injury. Never seems totally certain in defence, but made one very fine hit on Basham in the first half, and had some good moments with ball in hand.
Henry Slade - 7
A beautiful 50:22 kick in the first half provided England with a prime position they could not capitalise on. Will not see him at his best until there is a big man alongside him to do the dirty work.
Jack Nowell - 6
Excellent at the restarts, including the first kick-off, and buzzed around the field busily. Made 11 tackles, highlighting his industry.
Marcus Smith - 8 | Star man
The official man of the match, mainly because of his work with the boot, but his lovely hands and feet were on show when he got the ball. This really does feel like his team, and it was a real show of faith that he was backed to finish the game – unlike against Scotland.
Harry Randall - 7
The biggest game of his career. Not a perfect box-kicker, but brought the tempo to the game that Jones was looking for. Right call to take him off for Youngs in the final quarter.
Ellis Genge - 7
Was picked on by referee Mike Adamson at the scrum, but was superb in the loose. Got through 10 tackles and trucked up for some heavy-duty metres.
Luke Cowan-Dickie - 6
His day was ended after 24 minutes with an injury. The lineout was a little messy while he was on, but he did make a fine early turnover.
Kyle Sinckler - 7
Saw plenty of the ball on his 50th cap, and worked mighty hard. Part of a battling scrum, but the issues seemed to be on the other side.
Charlie Ewels - 7
Came mighty close to the line in first-half in one of his best England performances for some time. A more conspicuous presence around the park than usual..
Maro Itoje - 8
A smart moment on Adam Beard for England’s try that was not picked up by the referee, in a very fine all-round performance. Classic Itoje: carrying and tackling relentlessly. Perhaps unfortunate that Smith was named man of the match.
Courtney Lawes - 8
First appearance of the campaign, and england just look so much better when he is around. Looked very groggy midway through the first half, but recovered and lasted the full 80 minutes. Made 14 tackles, more than anyone else.
Tom Curry - 6
No captaincy this week and looked liberated. Big hit on Williams, although was perhaps lucky not to get pinged at the breakdown. Was a surprise not to see him return after the break, but he had failed an HIA.
Alex Dombrandt - 8
A first Test try, and his best Test performance? Made plenty of metres, bouncing off tacklers, but worked seriously hard in defence too. Linked up well with Smith, as per.
Replacements
Jamie George - 7
Two tries in Rome, but back on the bench here. Expected to be used in the last half-hour, but was on in the first 30. Busy.
Will Stuart - 7
There was an uptick in England’s fortunes at the scrum as soon as he came on.
Sam Simmonds - 6
Got a full half, on the openside. Found time to get through the graft of 10 tackles and had his moments in attack too.
Ben Youngs - 7
Brought on for the final quarter to close things out. He did exactly that, including launching the ball into touch to end the game.
