England player ratings: Fin Smith ‘dominant’ in Fiji thrashing but it becomes the ‘Henry Pollock show’ in the second half
Fin Smith and Henry Pollock in action for England against Fiji in the Nations Championship.
Following a 73-8 victory over Fiji in the Nations Championship clash at the Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool on Saturday, here are the player ratings for England.
15 Marcus Smith: The beneficiary of a fortuitous bounce as Fin Smith’s cross-field kick touched the post before falling perfectly for the full-back to score. Then showed some nifty footwork at first receiver to set up Seb Atkinson’s score, but it was not the type of game to answer whether he is a Test-level full-back. 7
14 Tommy Freeman: Was always on for the cross-field kick and managed to get free down the right once, but Freeman was relatively quiet as England had the most joy going down the middle. However, he did contribute superbly to their aerial dominance and won everything in the second half. 7
13 Henry Slade: Had one decent surge from a first-phase attack and also showed his dexterity at times, but England didn’t always utilise his skill set, with Fin Smith very much taking control of the backline in the opening period. Nevertheless, when the game opened up following the red card, Slade was to the fore and was at his creative best. 7
12 Seb Atkinson: Touched down for his second international try and was used elsewhere to crash it up the middle on occasions, but it was his work ethic which impressed most. Made one important tackle and then got quickly back to his feet, sprinted into defence, and was on hand to pick up the ball after Fiji knocked on. Unfortunately, an England error prevented him from counter-attacking, but it’s that sort of effort which will keep him in Steve Borthwick’s good books. 7
11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso: Had a dreadful day under the high ball in Johannesburg but was much better in Liverpool, albeit against much weaker opposition. Won his aerial duels and counter-attacked well, eventually getting a try in the second half. 7
Needs to be backed by Borthwick
10 Fin Smith: Dominant from the fly-half. While he made the odd mistake, Smith controlled the play beautifully. Kicked like a dream, both off the tee and out of hand, and marshalled his backline well, while he always puts his body on the line in defence. Playing against Argentina in South America will be a truer test of his international capabilities, but he should be the man to lead this team from 10. 9
9 Jack van Poortvliet: His best game for England? Quite possibly. Again, he needs to prove it against tougher teams, but Van Poortvliet was sharp from the base and handled the pressure Fiji put on the ruck excellently. Levani Botia targeted him but, in the end, it was the back-rower who got sin-binned. 8
8 Ben Earl: A typical Earl performance where the number eight was the Englishman’s primary carrier and one of their most prominent defenders, while he set up Henry Pollock’s try with a lovely kick through. 7
7 Guy Pepper: Didn’t have the greatest Six Nations and struggled a bit for Bath in the latter stages of the campaign, but this was much more like it from Pepper. Was taking names in defence and disrupting the Fiji breakdown, with the flanker rewarded with a try for his efforts. 8
6 Ollie Chessum: Did some good work from the restarts and showed his physicality in the tighter exchanges to help England get that forward control over the Flying Fijians. 7
Superb set-piece
5 George Martin: Similar to Chessum and Pepper, there were some big contacts from Martin at close quarters, albeit Martin didn’t quite get through the body of work as his pack team-mates. 7
4 Alex Coles: Ruled the lineout alongside Chessum, while his restart work was also good. Also, one of England’s busiest in defence as they stopped their dangerous opponents from creating too many chances. 7
3 Joe Heyes: Goes from strength to strength and is part of the reason why the Red Rose have developed a fearsome scrum. His work doesn’t stop there, however, with Heyes always busy around the field. 8
2 Jamie George: Made a brilliant intervention early on to stop a Fijian try, and that set the tone for his performance as George had a fine game. As ever, the darts were pinpoint at the lineout and he also grabbed himself a try. 8
1 Ellis Genge: England have found themselves two props who very much complement each other, with Genge following Heyes in doing excellent work in both the set-piece and around the field. 8
Replacements: It was the perfect Test debuts for Noah Caluori and Benhard Janse van Rensburg, who both grabbed tries, but the South African-born centre was particularly impressive as he was abrasive in the carry and linked play nicely behind the scrum. However, it became the Henry Pollock show late on. The 21-year-old scored a quick-fire hat-trick, with his second particularly superb as he outpaced Fiji full-back Salesi Rayasi. 9