Ratings

[Epaminondas Pules]

Daily Mail:

Mike Brown 5

A day to forget with two unforced handling errors and some wayward kicking. Often looked like boiling over but hustled Edoardo Gori with a good kick-chase to force England’s first try.

Anthony Watson 6

Beat more defenders than anyone else on the pitch with his lighting speed. Showed good upper body strength to strip Gonzalo Garcia in defence but could do with more of the ball.

Jonathan Joseph 8

An 18-minute hat-trick should hold off the competition of Elliot Daly. Steamrollered and dumped backwards by Michele Campagnaro early on, but eventually showed some graceful movement.

Owen Farrell 6

Ran a good support line off Jamie George for 74th minute try and showed signs of improvement in 10-12 combination. Recovered from an early blow to the head with a solid defensive display with 17 points.

Jack Nowell 6

Anonymous for large parts of the game with little opportunity to attack. Tested in defence when Italy looked to add width but stood firm with a high of 14 tackles.

George Ford 6

Looked off the boil for 50 minutes as England failed to break away on the scoreboard. Exploited some poor Italian covering with his kicking game, adding a first-half try,

Ben Youngs 7

Handed the Man of the Match award but replacement Danny Care was equally impressive. Created the best first-half opening with a ghosting run between the Italian props.

Mako Vunipola 7

Far more effective with ball in hand than Joe Marler, with only brother Billy making more carries in the pack. Growing in confidence at the scrum, where England held their own.

Dylan Hartley 6

Unpicked at the line-out by Italian jumpers, who spoiled four from 14 throws. Counter-rucked effectively to force Italian errors, before being harshly penalised at the breakdown.

Dan Cole 5

Penalty count continues to work against the veteran. Did not get on the right side of Glen Jackson in the loose, but held his own at the scrum before being replaced by Paul Hill.

Courtney Lawes 6

Needs to do more to ease the ball-carrying workload of Billy Vunipola. None of his trademark big hits, which are his point of difference, but made some useful interventions at the line-out.

George Kruis 6

Will spend some late nights studying lineout footage with Steve Borthwick. Beaten in the air on his own ball, having dominated the set-piece contest against Scotland.

Chris Robshaw 7

Briefly restored to No 7 jersey in the second-half, having rarely played their since the World Cup. Topped the pack’s tackle count with a solid defensive display, but offered little in attack.

James Haskell 6

Lucky to escape a yellow card for a high tackle on Luke McLcean in the second half. Not a true ‘No 7’ performance as England were often turned over at the breakdown.

Billy Vunipola 7

Still England’s go-to man to get over the gain-line. Carried the ball more than any of his team-mates and showed deft hands around the park. Turned over because of poor support.


REPLACEMENTS

Jamie George (on for Hartley 71)

Joe Marler (on for Vunipola 48) 5

Paul Hill (on for Cole 70)

Joe Launchbury (on for Lawes 48) 6

Maro Itoje (on for Haskell 55) 7

Jack Clifford (on for Robshaw 62)

Danny Care (On for Youngs, 49) 7

Alex Goode (on for Farrell, 14-22) (on for Brown 70) 6

[Epaminondas Pules]

For me

Brown - 5
Watson - 6
Jospeh - 7
Farrell - 6
Nowell - 6
Ford - 6
Youngs - 6
Vunipola - 7
Haskell - 5
Robshaw - 5
Lawes - 6
Kruis - 7
Cole - 6
Hartley - 5
Vunipola - 6

George - 6
Marler - 7
Hill - 6
Launchbury - 7
Itoje - 6
Clifford - 6
Care - 7
Goode - 5

[Epaminondas Pules]

Telegraph:

England
1. Mako Vunipola
Brought into the side to add ballast to England’s scrum and did not disappoint although was less prominent in his carrying. 7/10.

2. Dylan Hartley
England’s line-out was not as proficient as the England captain would have liked but he edged battle with Gega. 6/10

3. Dan Cole
Big scrummaging display against a powerful Azzurri pack but over eagerness at breakdown at times led to penalties. 7/10

4. Courtney Lawes
Made a solid return to the second row if not quite the ranging impact when at his very best. 6/10

5. George Kruis
Served up a sweet flick to keep an England attack flowing and aside from one line-out loss delivered another high octane performance. 6/10

6. Chris Robshaw
Topped England’s tackle count and got through a huge workload which was key in wearing down the Italian effort. 7/10

7. James Haskell
Went toe-to-toe with Zanni at the breakdown and made a couple of sesmic hits which helped weather the Italian storm up front. 7/10

8. Billy Vunipola
Always made ground even when taking the ball under pressure and relished his contest with Parisse. 8/10


9. Ben Youngs
Attacked space well when England had front-foot possession in the first half and sharp break almost created a try. 7/10

10. George Ford
A couple of wayward passes in the first quarter but grew into the game, kicking with aplomb and finished well-executed try. 7/10

11. Jack Nowell
Another display of huge energy and commitment but struggled at times to get into the game as he did in Edinburgh. 6/10

12. Owen Farrell
Perfectly-placed pass under pressure created the half-gap for Ford’s try and stood up to testing defensive examination by Italy’s midfield. 7/10

13. Jonathan Joseph
England managed to create more space for him to attack than in Edinburgh and was ruthless in his finishing for his hat-trick of tries. 8/10

14. Anthony Watson
Good kick chase on restarts and worked hard to get into the game, but we only saw glimpses of his potency as an attacking threat. 6/10

15. Mike Brown
Harried the Italian defence with excellent kick-chasing and aggressive defending and was rock solid under the high ball. 6/10

[Puja]

For me
Itoje - 6

Bit mean on Itoje. He was only on for 25 minutes and turned over one lineout and two rucks, made a lot of good tackles and carried well.

Puja

[Renniks]

For me

Brown - 4
Watson - 6
Jospeh - 7
Farrell - 6
Nowell - 6
Ford - 5
Youngs - 4
Vunipola - 7
Haskell - 5
Robshaw - 5
Lawes - 5
Kruis - 7
Cole - 5
Hartley - 5
Vunipola - 6
---
George - 7
Marler - 6
Hill - ?
Launchbury - 6
Itoje - 7
Clifford - 6
Care - 7
Goode - 5

[Renniks]

Do love reading the newspaper ratings - definitely think that they're watching a different game to me…

How Robshaw scores more than Kruis is beyond me, but for Haskell to score more too is just incredulous…

See also Youngs scoring more than Nowell and Watson

[bitts]

Thought Faz was a 5 to be honest. Missed tackles l, a wayward pass and average kicks to touch and posts. Obviously ive lost all ability to be objective about the twat though.

For me, the main thing we leant today was the starting pack were very average. Lawes, Haskell, Hartley, cole and Robshaw should be out sooner rather have than later.

Youngs was hilarious. 5 tops.

[Renniks]

Thought Faz was a 5 to be honest. Missed tackles l, a wayward pass and average kicks to touch and posts. Obviously ive lost all ability to be objective about the twat though.

Gave Farrell an extra mark because I thought he was a 5, and I think I'd pick fault in a flawless display…

Definitely don't think he's working at 12 - but he didn't stop Joseph scoring 3, he passed for Ford to finish, and he scored one too…

[Beasties]

Thought Faz was a 5 to be honest. Missed tackles l, a wayward pass and average kicks to touch and posts. Obviously ive lost all ability to be objective about the twat though.

Gave Farrell an extra mark because I thought he was a 5, and I think I'd pick fault in a flawless display…

Definitely don't think he's working at 12 - but he didn't stop Joseph scoring 3, he passed for Ford to finish, and he scored one too…

Wasn't Farrell's worst game by a long chalk, and he did put in a nice pass for Ford to score.

But he is still blocking someone like Devoto from getting caps and experience.

[Oakboy]

For me

Brown - 4
Watson - 6
Jospeh - 7
Farrell - 6
Nowell - 6
Ford - 5
Youngs - 4
Vunipola - 7
Haskell - 5
Robshaw - 5
Lawes - 5
Kruis - 7
Cole - 5
Hartley - 5
Vunipola - 6
---
George - 7
Marler - 6
Hill - ?
Launchbury - 6
Itoje - 7
Clifford - 6
Care - 7
Goode - 5

Not far off, IMO. To nit-pick, I'd suggest that Care, Mako and Goode might all be a point too high.

[Renniks]

Not far off, IMO. To nit-pick, I'd suggest that Care, Mako and Goode might all be a point too high.

Care was such a step up it's hard not to shower him in glory,
Mako's carrying was so important for us in the first half, but I agree might be a bit high
Goode is absolutely shit.

[morepork]

Thought Faz was a 5 to be honest. Missed tackles l, a wayward pass and average kicks to touch and posts. Obviously ive lost all ability to be objective about the twat though.

Gave Farrell an extra mark because I thought he was a 5, and I think I'd pick fault in a flawless display…

Definitely don't think he's working at 12 - but he didn't stop Joseph scoring 3, he passed for Ford to finish, and he scored one too…

Wasn't Farrell's worst game by a long chalk, and he did put in a nice pass for Ford to score.

But he is still blocking someone like Devoto from getting caps and experience.

Farrell got schooled by his opposite number before the latter went off injured. He did make up for it by punching a prone Italian in the face after he had been tackled into touch though, so there is that I suppose. Italy just gave up after that JJ intercept, the pricks. They really have to stop doing that.

[Beasties]

Thought Faz was a 5 to be honest. Missed tackles l, a wayward pass and average kicks to touch and posts. Obviously ive lost all ability to be objective about the twat though.

For me, the main thing we leant today was the starting pack were very average. Lawes, Haskell, Hartley, cole and Robshaw should be out sooner rather have than later.

Youngs was hilarious. 5 tops.

The Hask gets an extra mark for picking up that pass that Youngs lobbed at his bootlaces. There's never any flicker of recognition on his face when he does one of his special passes. Amazing.

[Banquo]

why is Mako getting a hard time?

[Renniks]

why is Mako getting a hard time?

Marler seemed to sure things up – trying to work out whether that was because Mako wasn't at an 7.5+ rating, or whether it was because Italy fell to pieces at it was good timing

[Mikey Brown]

Some very generous scores from some in here. It was just about held together by a good team performance though. I guess some people use different scales but to 5 is surely par? Brown and Nowell were below par. Youngs by a long way below and Lawes/Cole/Hartley really scrape by.

Brown - 4
Watson - 6
Jospeh - 7
Farrell - 5
Nowell - 4
Ford - 5
Youngs - 3

Vunipola - 7
Haskell - 5
Robshaw - 5
Lawes - 4/5
Kruis - 7
Cole - 5
Hartley - 5
Vunipola - 6

George - 7
Marler - 6
Hill - ?
Launchbury - 6
Itoje - 7
Clifford - 6
Care - 7
Goode - 5

[Peat]

Anyone know who was calling the lineout? If it was Kruis, as the Mail insinuates, he shouldn't be getting anything above a 6. If it was Lawes, he should be dropped.

Think Robshaw deserves more recognition for getting over their ball.

Although I'm clearly going blind as I honestly didn't think Care added much more than Youngs and was the beneficiary of a hugely improved performance rather than a cause.

[Banquo]

why is Mako getting a hard time?

Marler seemed to sure things up – trying to work out whether that was because Mako wasn't at an 7.5+ rating, or whether it was because Italy fell to pieces at it was good timing

the scrum was fine, but possibly improved when Marler came on, though there was a bunch of changes around the same time; Marler did zero carrying however, unlike Mako. This is possibly the Flatman effect, who also said the Hask was terrific.

[Banquo]

Anyone know who was calling the lineout? If it was Kruis, as the Mail insinuates, he shouldn't be getting anything above a 6. If it was Lawes, he should be dropped.

Think Robshaw deserves more recognition for getting over their ball.

Although I'm clearly going blind as I honestly didn't think Care added much more than Youngs and was the beneficiary of a hugely improved performance rather than a cause.

it was Kruis, as he had against Scotland.

Care was much sharper than Youngs and that kick through for JJ's try was inspired.

[Bloggs]

Brown 4
Watson 6
Joseph 8
Farrell 6
Nowell 6
Ford 6
Youngs 4

Mako 6
Hartley 5
Cole 5
Lawes 5
Kruis 7
Robshaw 7
Haskell 5
Billy 7

George 6
Marler 7
Hill - too little to rate
Launchbury 7
Itoje 7
Clifford 6
Care 8
Goode 5

[Peat]

Anyone know who was calling the lineout? If it was Kruis, as the Mail insinuates, he shouldn't be getting anything above a 6. If it was Lawes, he should be dropped.

Think Robshaw deserves more recognition for getting over their ball.

Although I'm clearly going blind as I honestly didn't think Care added much more than Youngs and was the beneficiary of a hugely improved performance rather than a cause.

it was Kruis, as he had against Scotland.

Care was much sharper than Youngs and that kick through for JJ's try was inspired.

Thank you. Nothing exasperates me more than the hooker getting it in the neck for a dodgy lineout while the caller isn't even considered for criticism.

The kick for JJ's try was wonderful - but then I thought Youngs spotting there was no one at home for that chip through that got us the 5m lineout was fine work too. But less memorable as the forwards then made a hash of it.

Still, I'm willing to go with the consensus on this.

[Renniks]

Thank you. Nothing exasperates me more than the hooker getting it in the neck for a dodgy lineout while the caller isn't even considered for criticism.

Was there not 1 overthrow over a full stretch jumper, and at least 1 pinged for not straight (though at least 2 more that were really bad) ?

Hoping Kruis doesn't call the same line outs for first few next time out - but would keep letting him call them

[p/d]

I wouldn't rate either 9 that highly.

I would get someone like Harrison or Spencer into the squad as soon as.

[Banquo]

Anyone know who was calling the lineout? If it was Kruis, as the Mail insinuates, he shouldn't be getting anything above a 6. If it was Lawes, he should be dropped.

Think Robshaw deserves more recognition for getting over their ball.

Although I'm clearly going blind as I honestly didn't think Care added much more than Youngs and was the beneficiary of a hugely improved performance rather than a cause.

it was Kruis, as he had against Scotland.

Care was much sharper than Youngs and that kick through for JJ's try was inspired.

Thank you. Nothing exasperates me more than the hooker getting it in the neck for a dodgy lineout while the caller isn't even considered for criticism.

The kick for JJ's try was wonderful - but then I thought Youngs spotting there was no one at home for that chip through that got us the 5m lineout was fine work too. But less memorable as the forwards then made a hash of it.

Still, I'm willing to go with the consensus on this.

Hartley's throwing was off, but something else was wrong with the lineouts.....and I'd agree that calling may have been something to do with that. They did use four jumpers, which was nice.

Care was sharper and more consistent than Youngs, whose passing was 'variable' if we are being kind, a little ponderous, and made one howler of a decision coming left, when there was something like a 7 on 3 to the right...maybe he didnt get a call, but.......

[Banquo]

I wouldn't rate either 9 that highly.

I would get someone like Harrison or Spencer into the squad as soon as.

Ben was unfortunate to have a bad day at the office today. I'd look to Robson or Cook over them tbh.