France v England: English player ratings
Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:35
France managed to hold on for a 12-10 victory over England at the Stade de France to win the Grand Slam on Saturday.
While the home side adopted a fairly conservative approach they were able to deal with everything that England managed to throw at them.
Strong scrumming and ferocious counter-rucking managed to stall any attack that England were able to conger up.
Rugby365 rates the English players
England
15 Ben Foden:
Is a star in the making with some deadly attacking skill from the back and solid on defence. He score a fantastic try early in the first half
8/10
14 Mark Cueto:
Had limited opportunities out wide, but he come in-field to carry the ball up strongly a few times and tackled well all evening.
6/10
13 Mike Tindall: Replaced by Mathew Tait
Made a
real difference in the English midfield offering his experience and put Ben Foden and Chris Ashton into a few gaps. He neutralised Mathieu Bastareaud brilliantly.
7/10
12 Riki Flutey: Replaced by Jonny Wilkinson
Never offered very much on attack and didn't support his flyhalf effectively in a very average performance.
5/10
11 Chris Ashton:
Looked good in the starting side and showed that he might develop into a dangerous attacking force on the wing at international level. Had one great opportunity to score where his chip kick was put in too early and might have backed himself better in his one-on-one with Clement Poitrenaud.
7/10
10 Toby Flood:
Made no mistakes in the No. 10 jersey and his goal kicking didn't let anybody down. Without grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck he had a sound outing.
6/10
9 Danny Care:
Wasn't as potent round the fringes has he has been on previous outings, but did provide some good clean ball for his flyhalf to play with.
6/10
8 Nick Easter:
Worked hard at the breakdown but wasn't able to offer enough on attack for an international No.8
6/10
7 Lewis Moody:
Put his body on the line and combined well with the other English loose forwards to capitalise on errors made by the visitors. Tackled his heart out and did a fine job in his first outing as captain.
8/10
6 Joe Worsley: Replaced by James Haskell
Had a fairly quiet game and made some tackles but disappeared in passages of play.
6/10
5 Louis Deacon:
Struggled to compete with his big French opponents and was invisible for much of the match.
5/10
4 Simon Shaw: Replaced by Tom Palmer
Not on long enough to be rated after an early injury.
3 Dan Cole: Replaced by David Wilson and then came back on for Tim Payne in the 68th minute.
Had a shocker in the scrums conceding three penalties in a row in the first half and pulled from the match at half time as a result.
3/10
2 Dylan Hartley: Replaced by Steve Thompson
Wasn't able to help the props in the scrums but he carried the ball up in broken play well enough.
5/10
1 Tim Payne: Replaced by Dan Cole
Was decent in the scrums but had little support from his fellow front rows and spilled a few passes at first receiver.
5/10
16 Steve Thompson: On for Dylan Hartley in the 41st minute
Made an impact in the scrum to fix some of England's set-piece problems
and was good at line-out time.
7/10
17 David Wilson: On for Dan Cole in the 41st minute
Wasn't bad in the scrums but couldn't give England any good front foot ball. Made an effort in the tight phases of the game and did a good job for the most part.
6/10
18 Tom Palmer: On for Simon Shaw in the 14th minute
Was excellent in the line-outs and was a regular at first receiver to cross the gain-line. Got around the park well for a tight forward and used his height to his advantage.
8/10
19 James Haskell: On for Joe Worsley in the 63rd minute.
Not enough time to be rated
20 Ben Youngs:
Wasn't used
21 Jonny Wilkinson: On for Riki Flutey in the 61st minute.
Not enough time to be rated
22 Mathew Tait: On for Mike Tindall in the 52nd minute
Made a few
good breaks but never played a major creative role. Needs a more open running game to use his running game to full effect.
6/10
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