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Dave Kilcoyne hopes Ireland can use their record loss to England as a World Cup cautionary tale.
Ireland climbed to the top of the world rankings for the first time with Saturday’s 19-10 victory over Wales to toast boss Joe Schmidt ‘s final match in Dublin.
Head coach Schmidt’s men have hit back from their 57-15 humbling at Twickenham in August by beating Wales home and away, leaving Munster prop Kilcoyne boosted by that return to form.
And now the 30-year-old front-rower has insisted Ireland must keep on using that hefty London loss to fuel their drive at the World Cup, with their Pool A opener against Scotland fast approaching on September 22.
“I thought we were poor against England, there’s no point denying it, I thought we lacked hunger and physicality which was the most disappointing thing,” said Kilcoyne.
Show all 30 1 /30England vs Ireland player ratings England vs Ireland player ratings <b>England:</b> Anthony Watson – 4 out of 10 Dropped the high Sexton kick that lead to the first try for Ringrose, and was forced off as England scored their opener with a leg injury.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Jonny May – 6 out of 10 Made a nice break in the second half to gain 30 metres an finished his last-minute try well, but by then the game was done and dusted.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Jonathan Joseph – 5 out of 10 Worked hard in defence but rarely threatened with the ball in hand. More is needed from him if he is to tie down his place in the side.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Ben Te'o – 5 out of 10 Gave the pass for May to score the third and final try but did little else of note. At 31 years old, is he the answer to England’s midfield conundrum? He doesn’t look it.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Elliot Daly – 7 out of 10 Showed his pace to beat Earls on the outside and reach Farrell’s kick to score his first try and was given a simple run in for his second after a magical offload from Mike Brown. Conceded a penalty for a neck-roll on Kearney, but defended well and was England’s best player.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Owen Farrell – 5 out of 10 Smart kick for Daly’s try and tried to pin Ireland back with his tactical kicking, but his goalkicking was woeful as he missed all three conversions.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Richard Wigglesworth –5 out of 10 Tried to pin Ireland back early on and it was noticeable how often he kicked possession away, but there was no threat from the base and his play was rather predictable.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Mako Vunipola – 6 out of 10 Went up against the form tighthead in the world and stood up relatively well in the scrum, and got through plenty of work as England’s main ball carrier.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Dylan Hartley – 5 out of 10 One overthrow when England repeatedly went to the corner was on the verge of criminal given England’s need to get into the game, and as he departed shy of the hour mark, you did wonder if that’ll be his last international appearance at Twickenham.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Kyle Sinckler – 5 out of 10 Penalised for two early engagements inside a minute but made a good impact with his carrying and also added power to the driving maul. Came off second best against Cian Healy though.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Maro Itoje – 5 out of 10 Utilised in the lineout but gave away a penalty when tackling Henderson in the air. Lost the ball too often in contact which caused England problems.
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England vs Ireland player ratings George Kruis – 5 out of 10 Lineout functioned relatively well beyond the Hartley blunder on the Irish five metre line, and he made a solid contribution with the ball in hand with some powerful carries.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Chris Robshaw – 5 out of 10 Returned to his role on the blindside after an unsuccessful stint in the seven shirt but came off second best to Peter O’Mahony, although one nice break late in the match gave England some good progress.
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England vs Ireland player ratings James Haskell – 6 out of 10 Brought line speed in getting into the Irish line in defence and made a very good steal on the Irish five metre line. A good performance on his return to the starting line-up but not the openside England desperately need.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Sam Simmonds – 4 out of 10 Anonymous throughout as he carried very little and didn’t make any impact whatsoever. Repolaced 67 minutes in, and the experiment to try him at No 8 simply hasn’t worked..
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England vs Ireland player ratings <b>Ireland:</b> Rob Kearney – 8 out of 10 Excellent in the air and disrupted Watson that lead to the first try – even though it looked like he knocked the ball forwards. Took a huge hit from Sinckler that he somehow got up from, and a lovely pop pass to Stockdale to produce the third try. A very astute performance from the 15.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Keith Earls – 6 out of 10 Beaten twice by Daly as he was caught too narrow, although apart from that he didn’t do an awful lot wrong.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Garry Ringrose – 7 out of 10 Smart play to follow up Kearney and score the opening try by reacting to the loose ball first. Brought Kearney into the line well in the first half.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Bundee Aki – 6 out of 10 Surging break in the first half and smart pass inside to Stander allowed the No 8 to crash over, and it was a good performance up until his day was ended early with injury in the 56th minute.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Jacob Stockdale – 7 out of 10 Excellent finish to score his 11th international try in just nine matches, claiming the Six Nations record in the process for the most tries in a championship, as he chipped the ball over Brown before outpacing him to win the race.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Johnny Sexton – 8 out of 10 Put early pressure on Watson that was rewarded with a try for Ringrose, but struck a penalty that he should have kicked against the upright. His passing was at times mesmeric, and he utilised his runners to keep England on the back foot.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Conor Murray – 7 out of 10 Marshalled his pack well and his box-kicking was as precise as ever. Tried to snipe around the ruck, particularly in the first half, but England did a good job of keeping him quiet. Kicked a successful penalty in the second half.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Cian Healy – 8 out of 10 A very good showing from the loosehead as he got the better of Sinckler in the scrum and it was fitting that he departed in the 51st minute by winning a penalty at the set-piece.
England vs Ireland player ratings Rory Best – 7 out of 10 Reliable lineout throwing and lead by example as he did plenty of hard yards. Stood up well in the scrum with one particular moment in the second half coming as he and Healy sent Sinckler in reverse.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Tadhg Furlong – 8 out of 10 Claimed the man of the match award and rightly so as he gave Ireland a strong attacking platform in the scrum and also got through bucket-loads of carries that nearly always made a dent on the English defence. One good tackle on a full-flight May stood out in the first half.
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England vs Ireland player ratings James Ryan – 6 out of 10 Relatively quiet but didn’t put a foot wrong and replaced by Devin Toner 67 minutes in.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Iain Henderson – 7 out of 10 Disrupted English possession in the maul just as he did 12 months ago and was the
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England vs Ireland player ratings Peter O'Mahony – 7 out of 10 Sent to the sin-bin as Ireland were penalised for repeated infringements on their own line, but return in the second half with a point to prove and went about it brilliantly. Once again he dominated the lineout.
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England vs Ireland player ratings Dan Leavy – 8 out of 10 Excellent around the park and lead the Irish defensive effort with an impressive 16 tackles. Has reeled off back-to-back standout showings to ease the absence of Sean O’Brien.
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England vs Ireland player ratings CJ Stander – 8 out of 10 Rampaging run carried him to the base of the post and the No 8 was smart enough to touch the ball down against it for a try. Ireland’s top carrier and England could not find a way to stop him.
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“We’ve an incredible defence coach in Andy Farrell, we all knew our defence was off that day, but thankfully that’s really picked up in the last two weeks.
“And hopefully we can bring that into the World Cup, and really bring that impressive defence into the World Cup.
“You have to be equipped to turn negatives into positives. You can’t dwell on it.
“If you keep looking back you’ll never go forward and you get lost back there.
“So after the England game it was about looking at where and why we were short, and putting a plan in place to remedy that.
“I thought we did that well, and it feels we’re building nicely now.”
Rob Kearney, Tadhg Furlong and James Ryan all crossed as Ireland subdued Wales for the second time in as many weeks at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Schmidt has carried Ireland from eighth to first in the world rankings in his six years at the helm, transforming the national team into a genuine world threat.
Former schoolteacher Schmidt will return to his native New Zealand after the World Cup, stepping down from his Ireland role to spend more time with his family.
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