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England player ratings vs Wales | 2025 Six Nations
By Liam Heagney at Principality Stadium, Cardiff
England player ratings live from Principality Stadium: Now we can say for certain this is a Steve Borthwick team definitely on the up, their sublime 68-14, 10-try record Cardiff hammering of Wales moving them on top of the Guinness Six Nations table ahead of the final match of the championship on Saturday night between title favourites France and Scotland.
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England ultimately finished in second place, as the French held sway in Paris on a score of 35-16 to take the glory, but that outcome can’t take away from the merit of what unfolded in Cardiff.
Borthwick’s tenure had been a snakes and ladders adventure until this weekend, steps forward followed by more steps backwards, but their completion of a first four-wins-from-five Six Nations campaign since they last won the title in 2020 signals a giant leap for the head coach and the credibility of his team.
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Final day Anglo-Welsh fixtures had a powder keg history, Wales memorably upsetting the odds in 1999, 2007 and 2013, but this round five Welsh side was a shambles fully deserving of what was their 17th successive Test loss… and confirmation of a second successive championship wooden spoon.
With an error-ridden Ireland eventually edging Italy to move top of the table by mid-afternoon, it was over to England in Wales to see what they could achieve. Their first job was silencing the Welsh crowd in the opening 10 minutes and they did this wonderfully, Maro Itoje and Tom Roebuck scoring converted tries either side of a disallowed score from Blair Murray.
It was next door the previous night at Arms Park where England U20s got 13-3 up and were then outmanoeuvred, losing a Grand Slam and the title in a jolting 13-23 loss. There was no repeat of that dramatic collapse here.
Yes, Wales did close to 14-7 with a 31st-minute Ben Thomas try, but how England finish the half was clinical, Tommy Freeman, replacement back-rower Chandler Cunningham-South and Will Stuart all scoring to secure a 33-7 interval lead.
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No one can deny that Wales were dire; their fans even voted with their feet and streamed towards the exits long before the finish.
But the creative calibre of this English performance, which was decorated by second-half tries from Alex Mitchell, the debut-making Henry Pollock (two), sub tighthead Joe Heyes and a second from Cunningham-South, definitely won’t escape the attention of Andy Farrell when he feeds this easy-on-the-eye evidence into the mix ahead of his British and Irish Lions tour squad selection. Here are the England player ratings:
15. Marcus Smith – 7.5
Restored to the starting line-up after last weekend’s short-lived benching, his impacts were positive in attack. Was also a safe pair of hands under high Welsh ball.
14. Tom Roebuck – 8.5
A first Test start, the rookie looked like he was around for years. Started with a confident catch, demonstrated sheer power when finishing his 10th-minute try and he was also involved in the third and fifth tries, showing great intelligence in everything he did.
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13. Tommy Freeman – 8
Shifted into the midfield to alleviate the injury loss of Ollie Lawrence, he delivered a textbook choke tackle on 14 minutes but his defending could be questioned for Wales’ 31st-minute try. He hit back within minutes, though, with a classy finish to seal the fabulous individual feat of scoring a try in every round of this year’s Six Nations. Exited on 49 minutes not looking his most comfortable.
12. Fraser Dingwall – 8.5
Came in from the cold last weekend and didn’t disappoint. Was even better here, however, and the way England’s attack functioned will reflect very well on him. No slouch either in defence as witnessed in the 46th-minute race he won to touch down behind his line and deny Wales a try.
11. Elliot Daly – 7.5
Last week’s starting full-back, this week’s starting left wing after an in-game change to centre against the Italians. Such is the value of Daly’s versatility. Was relieved that flapped aerial ball, which led to the disallowed Murray try for Wales with England 7-0 up, wasn’t costly. Big carry in the lead-up to his team’s second try highlighted his value. Tackle intervention was also critical in Mitchell scoring try No6.
England secure the big victory over Wales! ?#GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/bfkr0IFKeJ
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 15, 2025
10. Fin Smith – 9
Had already made the No10 jersey his own this spring, but the variety of his attacking play here was exactly what England needed to take things to the next level. The superb assist pass for the Roebuck try showed chutzpah while his cross kicks were dynamite. Left with his job fabulously done on 56 minutes with his team 40-7 up.
9. Alex Mitchell – 8.5
Had frustrations with some first-half bouncing balls, including the one that got away in the lead-up to Wales’ disallowed eighth-minute try. However, the bounce that favoured him when scoring from his 55th-minute kick ahead was sweet and a deserved reward for a 68-minute display where the quality of his pass was top notch.
1. Ellis Genge – 8
Would have missed the match if his partner went into labour but with the new arrival still to appear, the loosehead provided the type of robustness that greatly unsettled Wales when the match was there for the winning. Started his solid outing with the scrum penalty win that earned England the territory for their second try. Played 62 minutes.
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie – 7.5
Back in the XV after rotating with Jamie George, his lineout wasn’t the smoothest but he more than made up for that with the frequency of his tackling. Was on top of that particular chart when he exited on 48 minutes, his best moment being the snazzy hand trip that denied Murray when it looked like the full-back had gassed him and would score in the first half.
3. Will Stuart – 8
Rounded off his five-starts campaign with another impressive outing. There was a free conceded at the game’s first scrum, but everything else purred and his 48-minute performance was capped by the determination shown when finishing off his try on the blow of half-time.
4. Maro Itoje – 8.5
The British and Irish Lions tour captain-in-waiting set the tone for this swashbuckling England effort with his third-minute try. Led his team astutely and managed his communications well with referee Nic Berry.
Alex Mitchell with the wheels for @EnglandRugby ???#GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/mDh43WJOpc
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 15, 2025
5. Ollie Chessum – 5
Showed a momentary glimpse of his determination to grow into the enforcer role, spikily reacting to defend Tom Curry who was pushed when getting up after a scrum collapse. The pity was he was gone on 19 minutes, paying a painful price for an awkwardly attempted tackle.
6. Tom Curry – 8
Huge carry in the lead-up to the opening try ignited his fine day, but for a change he wasn’t his team’s best back-rower despite his excellent work rate.
7. Ben Curry – 9
Promoted from the bench, he was a brilliant addition who gleefully subdued the Welsh during his 59 minutes, never giving them a sniff. His carrying was a nuisance to the red-shirted opposition but what topped his lot was the brilliance of a 47th-minute steal on his own try line to break fleeting Welsh momentum.
8. Ben Earl – 8.5
Switched from openside to start at No8 for the first time since round one, he too defiantly took the fight to Wales and his only annoyance was conceding the no-rollaway penalty that gave the home side a kick to the corner and a score off the lineout. Delighted in a 36th-minute ruck penalty win; then finished the match as a midfielder, playing there for the last half hour to accommodate the rookie Pollock at back row.
How will the England captain, Maro Itoje, be spending his evening…? ???????#GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/BCfy5FoJdd
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 15, 2025
Replacements:
16. Jamie George – 7
Is a very different George to the player who struggled in the autumn. Was a 48th-minute sub here who delivered impetus with a smile on his face.
17. Fin Baxter – 6.5
Given the closing 18 minutes, he quickly got stuck into the revelry and will have enjoyed his cameo.
18. Joe Heyes – 7.5
Another sent on just eight minutes into the second half, he capped his grand outing with his well-taken 70th-minute try.
19. Chandler Cunningham-South – 9
Had a 61-minute runaround due to Chessum’s early exit. Was invaluable, scoring twice and being a thorn for the Welsh forwards. No issues at all with him scrummaging as a makeshift second row.
20. Henry Pollock – 9
What a debut for the affable 20-year-old. Arrived on 49 minutes and was a try-scorer 18 minutes later. Wasn’t satisfied with that, adding a second on 79 minutes. Memorable start to what should be an excellent career.
21. Tom Willis – 7.5
Got the last 21 minutes and while he won’t gain the plaudits that others will hog, his brilliant break and offload to set up Heyes’ score was class.
22. Jack van Poortvliet – 7
The 68th-minute sub kept the tempo high, England bossing the try count 3-1 while he was on.
23. George Ford – 8
Rewarded for his training ground effort ls in preparing the team in previous rounds this spring, his 56th-minute introduction was followed by England piling on more scores to their 40-7 lead. It was his lovely inside pass that sent Pollock in for his second try.
?? Scoring two tries to mark your debut! That's just what Henry Pollock did for England in a huge victory against Wales in Cardiff ?#Breitling #DefiningMoment @Breitling pic.twitter.com/xiTzyrVfaS
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) March 15, 2025
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Maybe too soon to fully assess Borthwick’s 6N, but in terms of selection, it looks like he’s building a half decent ‘squad’. Still not sure who our best starting 15 are though especially with IFW and Furbank coming back.
Knowing the starting XV would be next to useless given most of the best players will be unavailable in the summer.
Well bugger me England, look what happens when we play with some pace and go more than 2 phases without kicking the ball. Excellent performances from 1 to 23.
If you want to see what happens when you don't kick against a team with a competent defence then watch how Scotland just lost to France. Phase after phase, going nowhere, no points to show for all the effort. I swear some people think that every game can be won with the same one size fits all strategy. Delusion. I for one don't want to watch endless phases on the halfway line for 80 minutes.
So great to see Ford have a good game, en route to Borthwick proving the haters wrong.
Never forget that before the match there were scum self-identifying as England fans saying they hoped England lose.
I heard some idiots behind me actually get upset when George Ford came on.
Ford was scapegoated in the Autumn by people who think that just because he came on before we lost that it must have been all his fault. Still world class. Opened the door for a good number of tries and carries. Just the man to come on and really turn the screw in the second half. Probably deserved more games, might have been able to unlock that Scotland defence in the second half of that game and got us a more impressive win.