7. Sam Underhill – 7.5
Filled in well in the second row as Ollie Chessum and Ethan Roots were off the pitch. Strong early tackles, made the 11th minute hit on Assiratti but didn’t factor Chessum’s high hit that followed. He just flies into his tackles, dangerous in defence. Huge second hit on Asseratti. The prop stayed down after the second one. Off for Cunningham-South (63).
8. Ben Earl – 8.5
Strong option in the carry from the back of the scrum. Excellent performance and rightfully named man of the match. Try at 18 minutes, picked the ball from the back of the scrum and battled his way through three men with a fierce leg drive.
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan – 5.5
Given the job of upping the tempo to secure the win, Dan was introduced after George Ford had kicked his side into the narrow lead. The Saracen’s nine minute run out saw him compete at the breakdown and retain the ball at the set-piece.
17. Ellis Genge – 7
Early scrums resulted in re-sets as the new England props took a while to adapt themselves. Genge then won a huge scrum penalty on the 60th minute, as he overpowered newcomer Archie Griffin. Strong in the carry, Genge’s half hour effort puts him in contention for a start against Scotland.
18. Dan Cole – 7
Shown to be Frustrated by the early mishaps at the scrum, as there were repeated re-sets on the England 5m line following he and Genge’s introduction. Cole then won a key scrum penalty at 57’ on England’s 5m line, as he schooled the Welsh loose-head into hinging. A great effort as the veteran got the better of the young Welsh props.
19. Alex Coles – 6
Struggled to gain a tactile foothold in the match as he was introduced for Ollie Chessum and then withdrawn with the lock passing his HIA. Coles tried to make his first half minutes count with an impressive work rate, and returned to Twickenham for the final eight minutes in the place of Ethan Roots.
20. Chandler Cunningham-South – 7
On for Underhill just after the hour mark, and received an immense ovation from the Twickenham crowd. If Cunningham-South keeps maximising his minutes like he has done against Italy and Wales, then it won’t be long until he is rewarded with his first test match start. Brilliant defensive work rate and provided a powerful carrying option on the front foot.
21. Danny Care – 5.5
On for Alex Mitchell with 12 minutes to go, it was hard for the Harlequin to up the tempo following Mitchell’s blistering performance at scrum-half. Care steered the ship into the matches latter stages, and provided quick ball for George Ford to send to his recipients.
22. Fin Smith – N/A
Unused against Wales.
23. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – N/A
Unused against Wales.
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