England v Chile player ratings: Owen Farrell oozes class but Max Malins fails to make mark
Winger Henry Arundell scored five tries as England tore up the safety-first playbook from their first two matches at the Rugby World Cup in a crushing 71-0 defeat of Chile on Saturday to hand coach Steve Borthwick a selection quandary.
England, who made 12 changes from the starting lineup against Japan, scored 11 unanswered tries, including the five for 20-year-old winger Arundell, equalling an England record, albeit against the lowest ranked team in the tournament who are playing at their first World Cup.
The changes included captain Owen Farrell returning from suspension but arguably it was another flyhalf, Marcus Smith, starting for the first time at fullback, who stole the limelight, with flashes of the spontaneous touches England have missed in past matches.
Charlie Morgan ran the rule over England’s players.
England
15.Marcus Smith
Failed to find his wings in the first 10 minutes but improved later, scoring from his own grubber just before half-time, and was a real weapon as Chile tired 8/10
14. Henry Arundell
Bagged five tries, with a classy fourth the pick of the bunch, and still left one feeling as though he can grow into a more devastating force at this level 8/10
13. Elliot Daly
Unthinkably, this was only Daly’s fourth England start at outside centre. Distribution went awry at times, though a well-judged grubber laid on Arundell’s third 6/10
12. Ollie Lawrence
Prominent as a passer and a tackle-busting carrier, notably from restarts in heavy traffic. Clearly an important figure in his squad 7/10
11. Max Malins
An uncertain and error-strewn first 20 minutes was jarring. Malins endeavoured for greater involvement without putting his stamp on the game 5/10
10. Owen Farrell
Clearly fired-up in the warm-up, thumping Freddie Steward, before oozing calm and accuracy on the pitch. Forced an early turnover and constantly found space for others 8/10
9. Danny Care
Energetic and eager to snipe around the fringes in the first half, with mixed success. Suffered a couple of scruffy moments at the base of rucks 6/10
1. Bevan Rodd
Began with a chop-tackle and registered a close-range try. Penalised for an early push but encouragingly lively overall 6/10
2. Theo Dan
Burrowed over from a maul, snaffled a jackal and was alert in attack. Skewed first throw of the second half yet solidified standing as second choice 8/10
3. Kyle Sinckler
Early trundle set the tone for his efforts in the loose and he was expectedly dominant in the scrum. Satisfactory with far sterner challenges to come 6/10
4. David Ribbans
A go-to source of line-out ball, Ribbans also deserves credit for suffocating Chile’s maul. Understated yet valuable in a one-sided game 7/10
5. George Martin
Made metres, both as a carrier and in a muscular maul, and even plucked an interception. Shifted to the back row in the second period 7/10
6. Lewis Ludlam
Held his width in phase-play, as we have seen before, and enjoyed a few charges into open space. Will he stay in the strongest squad when Tom Curry returns? 6/10
7. Jack Willis
Having slipped down the pecking order since the Six Nations, Willis was determined and busy. Topped England’s tackle count by some distance, won a trademark steal and deserved his try 8/10
8. Billy Vunipola
Another returning veteran, Vunipola seemed to be a specialist catcher of restarts. Effective there but quiet otherwise, and was boomed backwards by Augusto Bohme 5/10
Replacements
Jack Walker on for Dan, 54
Joe Marler on for Rodd, 54
Will Stuart on for Sinckler, 54
Ollie Chessum on for Ludlam, 54
Ben Earl on for Vunipola, 67
Ben Youngs on for Care, 50
George Ford on for Daly, 50
Joe Marchant on for Malins, 69
The forwards maintained the pressure, particularly in defence, but Ford’s arrival was the high point for England here. It obviously reprised a familiar 10-12 axis and the fly-half unfurled a number of eye-catching passes. Interestingly, Martin moved to blindside flanker upon the introduction of Chessum.