England player ratings: ‘Sensational’ Ollie Sleightholme is on: Planet Rugby

After their impressive 59-14 against Japan’s Brave Blossoms, here are our player ratings for England’s Red Rose.

Beautiful backline

15 George Furbank: The full-back was given a try to complete a solid effort, contributing in attack where he could and making few mistakes in defence. He adds a load of dynamism to the English backline. 6

14 Tommy Freeman: His performance was capped by a sumptuous out-the-back offload to his Northampton teammate. Furthermore, I had a good performance in Maroon. 6

13 Ollie Lawrence: Lawrence was very good in the progression, beating seven defenders and recording a try assist. It may have been a weaker opposition, but it was a change he needed after a tough autumn. 8

12 Henry Slade: No 12 in our view and although he had a strong link-up play in this match, he put the outside pressure back on in defense with some of his reads. The jury is still out on whether he is the right man for this midfield. 4

11 Ollie Sleightholme: One of the things that is so hard to coach is finishing, and boy, the winger has that ability in spade load. His grubber and collect to score was sensational and a joy to watch. He certainly made it difficult to leave him out in the future. 8

10 Marcus Smith: The fly-half settled in well as England’s incumbent player and he launched the attack very nicely and kicked accurately from the tee. Smith showed his versatility with an exciting cameo at wing-back during the latter part of the match. 7

9 Jack Van Poortvliet: Didn’t kick as well as he should have and was slightly inaccurate in several roles in this one. It was by no means a shock, but the difference was noticeable when Harry Randall was present. 5

England seal dominant win over Eddie Jones’ Japan to wrap up disastrous Autumn Nations Series as defensive concerns remain

Suit

8 Ben Graaf: The number eight needed a try-scoring performance to bounce back from his mixed Autumn Nations Series. He topped the carry charts as you would expect and totally deserved his try. 7

7 Sam Underhill: He looked solid enough and scored an early try before having to leave early with an injury. N/A

6Tom Curry: Busy busy as always. Curry made 14 tackles, which was his main contribution to this as he was less involved in the attack. 6

5 George Martin: Typically gets his work done in defense but didn’t have to do much more on that front as the main carry dominated the attack. He checked the boxes and got work done in a different way. 5

4 Maro Itoje: He was solid in the lineout with eight starts and was always dominant in the maul defense. There was no real need to produce that big Itoje performance that we have become accustomed to. 6

3 Wil Stuart: It was a beautiful sight to see him break the line and scoop a ski pass wide! Otherwise it was another brilliant scrummag effort. 7

2 Jamie George: Captain Fantastic. George was rewarded for navigating a challenging season as team leader with absolute aplomb. For his efforts, he grabbed a bracket from the back of the maul. 8

1 Ellis Genge: The loosehead was solid in the scrum, but is still not the Genge we mainly know in the carry. 5

Replacements: For once we’re not going to complain about Steve Borthwick’s bench as Luke Cowan-Dickie bagged a brace and Tom Roebuck scored his first Test try in an electric cameo. 9

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