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Ireland vs England rugby player ratings: Mako Vunipola hits a perfect 10 in enthralling Six Nations display

Man-for-man marking from England's 32-20 Six Nations victory over Ireland

Jack de Menezes
Aviva Stadium
Saturday 02 February 2019 22:46 GMT
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England got their Six Nations campaign up-and-running in style with an emphatic 32-20 victory over defending champions Ireland, ending their hopes of successive Grand Slams in the process and sending out a statement to the rest of the championship.

With the Vunipola brothers back in the fold and Manu Tuilagi fit and firing on all cylinders, England looked a team transformed as they pulled Ireland apart, recording a bonus-point victory in the process.

Jonny May got the ball rolling inside two minutes, scoring a try after slick hands from Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly, before the latter got in on the act with a try of his own after Jack Nowell forced a handling error from Jacob Stockdale on his own line.

In between those two scores, Cian Healy managed to score a try for Ireland that kept them in the contest, with Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell trading penalties to leave the score 17-10 in England's favour at the break.

But afterwards it proved one-way traffic as England scored to very different tries through Henry Slade. The first was a slick first-phase move off a scrum that Slade passed to May before chasing his subsequent kick to touch down, before the second saw the centre leap out the line and intercept Sexton's pass with a diving catch before touching down.

Ireland scored a consolation try at the death through replacement scrum-half John Cooney after a strong break from Sean Cronin, but it was not even enough to bag a losing bonus point, such had been England's dominance.

So how did the players perform? Click the gallery above to find out.

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