Ireland kicked off their 2025 Six Nations campaign with a 27-22 victory. Our live match centre has you covered for all the big moments, best scores, reactions and full Ireland player ratings.
Ireland are the reigning champs and welcomed an England side to Dublin that stopped them winning a 2024 Grand Slam. At Aviva Stadium, this time, revenge took a while but it was sweet when it arrived. Here are our full Ireland ratings:
Hugo Keenan - 7
Caught out by the grubber for the Murley try. Made an electric break down the left wing, on the half-hour mark. Turned over at the start of the second half. Came into his own in a solid second half.
Mack Hansen - 6
Left to get an early ankle injury seen to. Looked sharp when he returned, with some strong carries.
Garry Ringrose - 8
Shifted to the right wing, early on, and was sucked infield when Murley scored in the corner. Lined Smith up for a big hit, but missed and Ireland just about escaped. Someone held on to the ball when Lawrence almost ended him.
Bundee Aki - 8
Scuttled one dangerous first half attack by knocking on, inside the England 22. Went through Smith then bashed through two more tackles for his try in the corner.
James Lowe - 8
Was tested early on, in the air. One superb take but couldn't hold another. Boshed Alex Mitchell and timed his pass perfectly to set up that Gibson-Park try. Two iffy kicks in the second half. Sublime break and another assist, this time for Beirne. Made it a hat-trick of assists when Sheehan scored.
Sam Prendergast - 7
Shaky first 10 minutes then warmed to his task. Timed a couple of passes well to set van der Flier then Hansen free. Guilty of a couple of go-for-broke passes when other options were there. But caused England's defence plenty of headaches. His conversion misses halted some of that Irish momentum. Settled himself with a 55th minute penalty.
Jamison Gibson-Park - 9
Delivered some magic just when Ireland needed with a superb step, and try. Pushed a couple of box-kicks slightly too long, but also troubled England with some steeplers. Fortunate when his high punt was shelled by Murley. His timing of pass to put Lowe clean through was pure art. His defence is superb, too, and he put down a lot of big ball-carriers.
Andrew Porter - 7
England tried to get under his skin, and certainly got a rise. Porter got through several shed-loads of work in the loose and landed some stinging hits. Won a vital second half scrum penalty. Gave one back with a neck-hold tackle effort.
Rónan Kelleher - 7
So unfortunate that his early try was chalked off. Much better day with his darts and he was an abrasive carrier. Pounced on one English overthrow. Lost the ball on the English tryline after getting gang-tackled.
Finlay Bealham - 6
A couple of lusty tackles and lineout cleans. Scrummaged well against the spiky Genge.
James Ryan - 6
Missed a couple of first half tackles and did little damage on his two carries. Stopped Murley in his tracks with one tackle.
Tadhg Beirne - 8
Did not have much impact in the first half as England turned up the heat, then defended stoutly. Put his body on the line to stop Murley in his tracks. Swallowed Smith after one kick-chase. Charged over for a great try after supporting the Lowe break.
Ryan Baird - 7
One rampaging carry down the right wing, left three in his wake, before he was hauled down short. One hot potato lineout take, but got the ball back. Pinged for offside, just after half-time.
Josh van der Flier - 8
Flattened Itoje on one carry into the English 22. Was right up against it, on the deck, against England's trio of opensides in their back row. Stuck 17 tackles.
Caelan Doris - 8
Found the going tough in the first half, and referee O'Keeffe could not be turned on some crucial calls. Backed up Baird well after his big carry. Bruising tackle on Curry inside his 22 forced a turnover. Knocked on, just a minute later. Sent Itoje airborne with one tackle.
SUBS
Jack Conan (for Baird '49) - 7
Tidy lineout takes. Solid.
Dan Sheehan (for Kelleher '49) - 9
Instant, punching impact when he came on. Started and finished his try that killed England off. Ireland may not have won this one with his brilliant contributions.
Robbie Henshaw (for Aki '57) - 7
Was on early when Hansen hurt his ankle. Won a turnover, when he returned in the second half.
Jack Crowley (for Prendergast '58) - 7
Had fun out there with some nice kicks in behind the white lines. Turned over in the England 22.
Thomas Clarkson (for Bealham '58) - 6
Iain Henderson (for Ryan '61) - 6
Conor Murray & Cian Healy - n/a
The match is now in the history books, but our Ireland vs. England liveblog will keep you up to date on all the contentious issues, pundit post-game reactions, scores, and our Ireland player ratings.
Click on the key point you want to read about, or just keep scrolling to see updates in our liveblog [below]:
Ireland players Rónan Kelleher and Cian Healy. (Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)
Ahead of the game, interim Ireland head coach Simon Easterby spoke to reporters about Sam Prendergast getting the 10 jersey ahead of Jack Crowley.
"Those two are going to play a lot of rugby and they are going to compete with each other, along with a few others, Ciarán Frawley also in the squad," said Easterby.
"They are going to play a lot of rugby and compete for a long time, I think. This decision has gone Sam’s way. We felt like he did really well in November, he got a taste for international rugby. He went away and played really well for Leinster in a good period for them, and he was a big part of the successes across the December window and into the new year."
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Ireland player ratings throughout 2025 Six Nations
Throughout this Six Nations championship, we will be running team announcement and big match liveblogs, which will include our Ireland player ratings.
Another person that will be watching the championship closely is Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. He is on sabbatical from his IRFU job as he carries out his duties as British & Irish Lions head coach.
