England Player Ratings

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My ratings for the Argentina game.

1. Joe Marler - 6/10 - A good solid performance from the third choice prop, coped well in the scrum and was fairly busy in the loose carrying the ball hard in the tight exchanges. Didn't really make any stand out contributions though in the way Corbs can do.
2. Dylan Hartley - 8/10 - A MoM display from Hartley, ran well, tackled like a machine (8 completed) beat two defenders while making plenty of yards ball in hand and actually took the ball at pace. I think apart from one blip his lineout work was perfect as well. Just needs to work on his break down skills to be up there with the best.
3. Roger Wilson - 6/10 - Another solid display from the other prop. Was put under a fair bit of pressure by scrummaging machine Ayerza early on and gave away a pen there but otherwise was incredibly busy in defense (10 tackles completed). Didn't offer enough ball in hand (but look at the size of him) and lacks Coles breakdown work.
4. Joe Launchberry - 8/10 - The other contender for MoM Launchberry seemed to be taking what ever Robshaw was on as he was everywhere. Linked well with the backs (5 passes), carried well (7 runs), put in his tackles (12!) and worked well in the mauls. A brilliant display from the youngster.
5. Courtney Lawes - 6/10 - A quieter game from Lawes this week but still pretty effective. Not sure if he is the best for carrying the ball in traffic but that seemed to be his role as foil to Launchberry, he took the majority of lineouts well and called a good variety of moves. Has to be given a bit of praise for Englands good mauling and for two big tackles that forced turnovers. Still needs to improve on his carrying though which is weak.
6. Tom Wood - 5/10 - A busy shift from Wood which didn't seem to achieve much at times, the backrow as a unit started impressively but dropped off. Wood got through plenty of tackles (13) but didn't turn over enough (1 turn over) and gave away the most penalties of any player (3) a poor game by his standards as he just struggled to make an impact.
7. Chris Robshaw - 6.5/10 - Much like his backrow colleague Robshaw looked busy for the majority of the game but didn't really have much of an effect other then in defense where his 20(!!) tackles make him the top tackler in the team. He did make a fair few runs but didn't achieve a single turn over all game. Also struggled to get his team back in the game in the second half.
8. Billy Vunipola -6.5/10 - His carrying wasn't quite as destructive as last week but still he made the most yards of any forward (45) and nearly all of them put his team on the front foot. Worked well at the back of the scrum but didn't offer much in defense and struggled to really make a big impact on the game.
9. Lee Dickson - 5/10 - Made a stunningly poor 3m's carrying the ball, he also only made 2 tackles all game. On the plus side his passing was pretty good this week and he was quick to the rucks. Still is not a complete package and has to take some of the blame for the lack of focus in the second half.
10. Owen Farrell - 5/10 - A pretty subdued game from the young fly half. His kicking from hand was poor and he didn't really threaten too much ball in hand. But he did tackle well and help turn ball over. Still not the comlete package and has to take a lot of the blame for the England backs total lack of cohesion and precision in attack.
11. Ben Foden -5/10- Fairly anonymous all game but then he got a lot less ball then the other back three players. He worked well with Brown at least and provides more assurity in the backs with his all round game.
12. Billy Twelvetrees -6.5/10- A mixed game from Billy, took his try really wel running a fine line, passed and ran to better effect as well and tackled his opposite number all day. Still too many dodgy passes though and he needs to look for space to run into more often.
13. Joel Tomkins -4/10- Tomkins can be forgiven a little as it was only his second game for England, but he's just anonymous at the moment. He managed 3 tackles all game and missed 1, conceded a pen and passed 3 times. Hopefully he'll grow into the England setup but right now he's a passenger. Remember Manu's contributions in his first games for Eng? Two tries in two matches.
14. Chris Ashton -6/10- Not as bad a game as many would like to make out for Ashton. He did royally ruin the first try attempt and if the TMO had been used he may not have got the second either. But he was busy for once on attack and looked to make positive contributions to the team. Made 6 tackles and missed 2 so his defense is still wonky but it was definitely a step in the right direction. He also managed 83m's ball in hand, second only to Brown.
15. Mike Brown -7/10- Another assured performance from the full back. He linked well with his back three compatriotes and took all the high balls well except for one. Made his tackles and the most clean breaks of any player (1!).

So what do you think? All in all a pretty solid performance by England, lots to work on but they'll be pleased at getting 40 minutes of quality rugby in.

Big concerns at the moment are the lack of turn overs and impact by the forwards, in particular the backrow are industrious but didn't do anything to change the tempo of the game. No key turn overs, no scintillating breaks or busts either. Look at guys like Easter for Quins or Manoa for Saints, they raise the whole team with big runs off the scrum or a massive hit.

Also the total lack of clean breaks. Before Morgan's break we had managed 1 all game. That is truly terrible and the half backs have to take most of the blame here for not creating opportunites. Too often our backs got the ball passed out to them with the Puma's defense drifting comfortably without any worries, they then just shifted it wider still until they got to the edge of the pitch.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Tomkins got over the gainline when finally given a flat ball and it helped create Morgan's try. That was our only bit of quick ball off the lineout and the only time we took it to the gainline before passing. If your going to play Tomkins who's strengths are hard running and offloading out of contact it is sod all use giving him the ball 5 to 10 metres behind the gain line.

The backline is a shambles and in what universe is it better to put Flood at 12 whilst Farrell is at 10 that was nearly as moronic as naming three full backs in the 23, what tactical options did that give us? Pretty much none. Take away the explosive capabilities of a Manu at 13 and the creative 9s Youngs and Care and our starting backline looks toothless is phase play (Mike Brown at least looks good running it back).

Agree with pretty much all of this Sam - Especially the point about bringing Flood on, out of position for our best back on the day. A very strange call which evidently didn't pay off at all given the second half performance.

I do feel a bit for Tomkins as it's difficult for a 13 to show much in a side playing so far behind the game line but at the same time he has looked next to invisible for 160 minutes of rugby now which is worrying. I do rate him as a player and given his physicality/defence can see why Lancaster picked him given our game plan but in Manu's absence I'd much rather have seen us try someone with the pace and passing game to attack in the wider channels.

9.Youngs
10.Farrell
11.Yarde
12.Twelvetrees
13.Trinder or Daly - or even 12.Eastmond 13.Twelvetrees
14.Wade
15.Brown

These AI's would have been a perfect opportunity in my eyes to try out different sort of players to see what they could add to our game. Sadly the back play has stayed much the same as it has been for years now (predictable) which given the strength of our pack is very frustrating.