England 21 Ireland 42: Andy Farrell\u2019s side take convincing win at Twickenham \u2013 in picturesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n13 Garry Ringrose<\/p>\n
Made an important tackle on Freddie Steward after intercepting Stuart McCloskey in the first half. Smashed players all over the pitch, including Arundell in the second half. Rating: 8<\/p>\n
12 Stuart McCloskey<\/p>\n
Probably his best performance in an Ireland shirt. Broke forward for Baloucoune\u2019s try, offloaded brilliantly, and made that eye-catching chase down of Marcus Smith late on. Rating: 9<\/p>\n
11 James Lowe<\/p>\n
Pity the winger lasted only 19 minutes before being replaced due to injury, not enough time to see him grow. Dropped a ball but was finding his stride before limping off. Rating: 5<\/p>\n
![\"England's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/K4WR5YMLTBGI4VVEIW43HSO4X4.jpg\")
England’s George Ford tackles Ireland’s Jack Crowley. Photograph: Adam Davy\/PA 10 Jack Crowley<\/p>\n
An excellent game from the outhalf. Showed considerable poise and authority. Made his share of tackles and comfortably knitted into the attack moving forward with the ball. Rating: 8<\/p>\n
11 Jamison Gibson-Park<\/p>\n
Everything he touched turned to gold. At his sniping best, his tap-and-go to run at a tighthead prop for a first-half try was top rugby IQ. Another peak showing from the scrumhalf. Rating: 9 <\/p>\n
1 Jeremy Loughman<\/p>\n
When England had territory and go-forward ball in the first half his work rate in the tackle, hitting and lifting added positively to an Irish effort where defence was crucial. Rating: 7 <\/p>\n
2 Dan Sheehan<\/p>\n
A lot more lively than last week and was at his best as England pressed. Things looked up with a trademark try just after half-time following a break from Caelan Doris. Rating: 7<\/p>\n
![\"England's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/TQ3J3SDZX4TGO76YLQRM56XVUI.jpg\")
England’s George Ford is tackled by Ireland’s Dan Sheehan. Photograph: Inpho 3 Tadhg Furlong<\/p>\n
Held up Maro Itoje and Henry Pollock in England\u2019s first-half purple patch. Scrum problems remain but his scramble-defence work around the pitch was excellent. Put in 10 tackles before departing. Rating: 8 <\/p>\n
4 Joe McCarthy<\/p>\n
Much more energy, better punching through and off loading, his natural pugnacity on the pitch showed. Scrapped, turned over ball and was aggressive. Rating: 8 <\/p>\n
5 James Ryan<\/p>\n
Has found the fighting spirit which makes him effective around the pitch. Tackled, carried and was an important option in the Irish lineout which was strong. A nuisance. Rating: 8<\/p>\n
6 Tadhg Beirne<\/p>\n
How many turnovers? Whenever a big tackle was needed, or when the bodies got off the ground, the blue scrum cap was always there. A powerful and dominant performance. Rating: 9<\/p>\n
![\"Tadhg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/TAZX3YG7CEJ3AN2DBSIXXZSIM4.jpg\")
Tadhg Beirne celebrates after the game. Photograph: Glyn Kirk\/AFP via Getty Images 7 Josh van der Flier<\/p>\n
Two tackles within 60 seconds of the match starting. A higher-energy flanker this week who played with impact at a better tempo, making an impressive break in the first half. Rating: 8<\/p>\n
8 Caelan Doris<\/p>\n
Had the most tackles for Ireland, leading by example which was huge when England pressed. Also got forward with his break into England territory ahead of Sheehan\u2019s try. Rating: 8<\/p>\n
Replacements<\/p>\n
Tommy O\u2019Brien\u2019s energy fizzed as soon as he came on for Lowe and he was rewarded with a try, while Nick Timoney added tempo and aggression after the break. Overall, they delivered. Rating: 8<\/p>\n
Head coach \u2013 Andy Farrell<\/p>\n
Farrell<\/a> took some heavy flak over the last two weeks following the France and Italy games and went back to players who he had faith in. They delivered for him in spades all over the pitch. Rating: 8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England 21 Ireland 4215 Jamie Osborne Tackled with intensity and accuracy when England pressed. Kicking from hand was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[59241,61,60,1449,43,15551],"class_list":{"0":"post-310210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-england-rugby","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-ireland-rugby","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-six-nations"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}