Player ratings: Flying wings shine for England

Adam Kyriacou
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Following their 41-18 victory over Italy in their Six Nations match at Twickenham on Saturday, here’s the player ratings for England.

15 Elliot Daly: Had to take some of the blame as England got too narrow in defence for Italy’s early try and struggled to make much of an impact until he popped up to touch down when England had numbers on the left wing 12 minutes from time. 4

14 Anthony Watson: Looked lively after the early setback and showed good feet to finish off England’s second try, before making the interception and darting 80 metres to double his tally. 8

13 Henry Slade: It was his grubber kick that caused alarm in the Italian defence in the build-up to England’s first try. Almost got a touchdown of his own but just came out second best in a foot race. Quieter in the second half. 7

12 Owen Farrell: Not his best kicking display and not involved as much as he would have liked. 6

11 Jonny May: Stunning leaping finish in the corner to beat the tackle of Luca Sperandio and put England in control before the break. Always looked a threat. 8

10 George Ford: Held up over the line in the closing stages. 7

9 Ben Youngs: Not at his best and can lay claim to his fair share of England’s handling error count. Not helped by replacement Dan Robson making an almost instant impact. 4

8 Billy Vunipola: Struggled to make much of an impact but did snuff out some Italian pressure late in the first half with a clever tackle on Stephen Varney. 6

7 Tom Curry: Topped the charts for tackles made alongside Itoje. 7

6 Courtney Lawes: Made a key offload to Hill in the build-up to Watson’s first score and put in a good shift in defence. 7

5 Jonny Hill: Burrowed over the line for the try that put England in front in the face of some determined Italian defending – his first for his country. Also showed some good handling in the build-up to Watson’s first try. 8

4 Maro Itoje: Won a couple of turnovers and made a leading contribution to England’s tackle count. 7

3 Kyle Sinckler: Standout performer in the front-row and heavily involved in the build-up to Daly’s try, his charging run carrying England closer to the line. 8

2 Luke Cowan-Dickie: Conceded a cheap penalty that allowed Paolo Garbisi to pull Italy back to 8-8 but an otherwise industrious shift. 8

1 Mako Vunipola: Quiet but played his part in a solid England scrummaging performance. 6

Replacements: Robson’s superb solo run almost earned him a try shortly after coming on, but the ground he made put England within touching distance of the line and fellow replacement Jack Willis – on for his Six Nations debut – finished the job. Willis’ joy was short-lived as he suffered a serious-looking knee injury soon after. 7

England