Ireland player ratings: ‘Outrageous’ James Lowe breaks the game open as Sam Prendergast ‘fails’ to put 10 debate to bed in unconvincing win over England

Our Ireland player ratings following their victory over England in the Six Nations.
Following Ireland’s 27-22 victory over England in their opening Six Nations 2025 match, here is how we rated Simon Easterby’s men at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland player ratings v England
15 Hugo Keenan: Didn’t offer as much as he usually does in attack. He spoiled a few attacking opportunities but he was as safe as ever in the backfield and made some great defensive interventions. 6
14 Mack Hansen: Busy as ever as he tried his utmost to spark Ireland’s attack into life. He linked up well and competed impressively in the air. Solid. 5
13 Garry Ringrose: Made a few crucial defensive interventions, particularly in the first half but struggled to really influence the attack but that wasn’t all of his doing. 7
12 Bundee Aki: Arguably Ireland’s best player for the 57 minutes he was on the park, making a fingertip tap tackle to stall Tommy Freeman while he showed his brute strength to finish off a great try. Always drew bodies when he charged towards the line. 8
11 James Lowe: It was his moment of brilliance that finally got Ireland on the board and he charged through the attempted tackle from Alex Mitchell before setting Jamison Gibson-Park away. He is another who just constantly worked and managed to get under the skin of the England players. His booming boot is always a huge asset and he came up with another outrageous game-breaking moment to push his side into a 10-point lead and did it one more time to put the game beyond England’s reach. Today, he made a huge difference. 9
10 Sam Prendergast: Not quite the compelling performance that he would have liked as it was littered with inaccuracies and brilliance with his passing and kicking game. He finished his stint with a success rate of just 1/3 off the tee but there were some really soft moments. There is no doubting his ability and promise but he did not make the most of his chance today as he failed to put the debate around the fly-half to bed. 4
9 Jamison Gibson-Park: As all scrum-halves do, Gibson-Park supported a line break brilliantly to grab Ireland’s opening try when they really needed it. Named the official man of the match as he sparked the comeback for his side and produced yet another classy performance. 8
Loose forwards
8 Caelan Doris: Stock-standard performance from the Ireland captain, busy in the rucks, strong in the carry and in defence. He did what was required of him. 6
7 Josh van der Flier: Never gives in and today was no different. Relentless work rate in all facets of the game and does so effectively. The England starting back-row had Ireland’s number but Van der Flier was not completely outplayed. 7
6 Ryan Baird: Backed to translate his club form at the highest level in a competitive role and didn’t quite do so. He impressed at lineout time and had a few good carries but that was overshadowed by poor decisions in the defensive line and gave away a silly offside penalty. 4
Tight five
5 Tadhg Beirne: Was the reason for Kelleher’s try being chalked off but he rolled the dice and would probably get away with that more often than not. He did manage to grab a five-pointer after following the Lowe line break well and was his usual workhorse self around the park. 8
4 James Ryan: A quiet game by his high standards with the breakdown being one of his strong points but for much of the match, that’s where England got the upper hand. Still, not a poor performance. 5
3 Finlay Bealham: Was rather fortunate with some of the scrum calls that went his way as he filled Tadhg Furlong’s void admirably. 6
2 Rónan Kelleher: A key figure in the tap and goes near the line while on the whole, his set-piece work was sharp and accurate. Racked up a handy 33 metres with ball in hand and got stuck in on defence. 7
1 Andrew Porter: Always goes deep into matches and he managed to keep his side of the scrum clean once again. A huge defensive effort as he put his hand for the Lions with Andy Farrell watching on. 7
Replacements: Along with Lowe, the Ireland bench were the difference between winning and losing as they made huge impact and steered the side to victory. Jack Conan was sublime as was Dan Sheehan. Meanwhile, Robbie Henshaw and Jack Crowley painted a different picture for the England defence and Ireland benefitted hugely from it. 9
READ MORE:?Ireland v England, AS IT HAPPENED: Hosts fight back to defeat Steve Borthwick’s men