Six Nations 2017: Ireland v England player ratings from Dublin

RUCK runs the rule over the England and Ireland teams after Saturday’s Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium.

Who were your star performers?!…

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England player ratings v Ireland:

15 Mike Brown: The spill to end England’s hopes summed up his performance. 5/10

14 Anthony Watson: Only got near the ball twice, failing to catch a crossfield kick and then knocked on – not his afternoon.  4/10

13 Jonathan Joseph:Last week’s hat-trick hero but was reduced to the role of interested spectator for some periods of the game. 4/10

12 Owen Farrell: Kicked well and led England’s late assault. 7.5/10

11 Elliot Daly: Give everything and was one of England’s better players. 7/10

10 George Ford: Too many poor kicks. 3/10

9 Ben Youngs: His distribution was rushed and poor. 4/10

8 Billy Vunipola: Failed to make the desired impact. In hindsight, he’d of been more effective off the bench. 5/10

7 James Haskell: Ran the hard lines and tackled all day. 7/10

6 Maro Itoje: Consistently on the wrong side of the referee, but couldn’t fault his commitment. 5/10

5 Courtney Lawes: Not as prominent in the loose as he would have liked. 5.5/10

4 Joe Launchbury: Carried well throughout and typically high work-rate. 7/10

3 Dan Cole: Why was he on for 77 minutes? 4/10

2 Dylan Hartley (c): Again one of the first off for England and overpowered in the scrum. 5/10

1 Joe Marler: Was completely outfought by Furlong and replaced at halftime. 4/10

Replacements: 16 Jamie George 5/10, 17 Mako Vunipola 6/10, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood 4.5/10, 20 Nathan Hughes 5/10, 21 Danny Care 4/10, 22 Ben Te’o 4/10, 23 Jack Nowell 5/10

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Ireland player ratings v England:

15 Jared Payne: Attack on  jitters early on saw him spill the high ball but found a couple of gaps as the game went on6/10

14 Keith Earls: A leading contender for Ireland’s player of the Championship. His acceleration is a breath of fresh air. 6/10

13 Garry Ringrose: Did his defencive chores soundly and made sure Joseph was completely uneffective 8/10

12 Robbie Henshaw: Tackled himself to a standstill. 7.5/10

11 Simon Zebo: Not that prominant but did nothing wrong 7/10

10 Johnny Sexton: Took a number of late, bruising hits but was able to put in a performance of the highest standard. 9/10

9 Kieran Marmion: Who needs Connor Murray? The 25-year-old set a superb tempo throughout. 8/10

8 CJ Stander: A late switch to his favoured number eight shirt certainly didn’t dry up his thirst for work and he ran into the white wall 16 times. 8/10

7 Sean O’Brien: Got around the field in trademark fashion, and never stopped working. 7/10

6 Peter O’Mahony:  The sound of referee Jerome Garces pleading: “six green, calm down” tells you all you need to know about how much the Munster captain craved this return to an international starter’s berth. Unbelievable performance. 9/10

5 Iain Henderson: Bulldozing shift full of graft for the powerful lock. Also showed skill with a  great finish for the opening try. 8/10

4 Donnacha Ryan: Mixed display, producing some fine moments, but also faded. 7/10

3 Tadhg Furlong: Prominent at close quarters and consistent in the scrum. Continues to perform strongly. 8.5/10

2 Rory Best (c): Started with an HIA but recovered but his leadership was prominent at the end. 7.5/10

1 Jack McGrath: McGrath was a pain in the side for Dan Cole and every English forward 7/10

Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell 6/10, 17 Cian Healy 6.5/10, 18 John Ryan 6/10, 19 Devin Toner 7/10,  21 Luke McGrath 6/10, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Conway 6.5/10