England player ratings: Playmakers struggle as shambolic attack lets Red Rose down again

Following a poor 30-21 defeat to Scotland in the Six Nations clash at Murrayfield on Saturday, here are the player ratings for England.

15 George Furbank: Very mixed. Some nice things but that playmaking axis just made so many errors. Jury still out on him at Test level. 5

14 Tommy Freeman: Has been quiet since the Italy game. Some decent work in the air but not much else. 5

Errors

13 Henry Slade: Just makes too many mistakes at this level. Passing was poor and was one of the key reasons for England’s inability to catch in the opening half. Some bad defensive reads were costly too. 4

12 Ollie Lawrence: Barely saw him in an attacking sense. A few carries, one bad pass, one dropped ball – although that was George Ford’s fault – but not the form we’ve seen in the Premiership. 4

11 Elliot Daly: Nice work for the opening try but nothing much else really stood out. Place should be under threat after mediocre efforts in the first three rounds. 5

Dreadful decision-making and execution

10 George Ford: Like Slade and Furbank, passing was dreadful. When it’s on his boot, he’s fine, but that rather sums England up. It almost feels like his attacking game has been coached out of him. Either that or he simply isn’t in form. 4

9 Danny Care: Several levels below Alex Mitchell. The lack of length from box-kicks put England under pressure, especially early in the second half, while his decision-making from the base was atrocious. 4

Planet Rugby player ratings key 10 – Career defining performance 9 – Outright blockbuster effort 8 – Significantly influenced the result of the game 7 – Committed and effective outing 6 – Flashes of brilliance outside of executing fundamentals 5 – Fulfilling the role required by position (base level) 4 – Poor execution of fundamentals 3 – Costly errors and/or discipline in the game 2 – Poor performance that directly impacted the result 1 – Grossly ineffective throughout 0 – Should have carried water instead

8 Ben Earl: Again was one of England’s best players. Powerful in the carry and his acceleration off the base was key for the first try. 7

Breakdown work

7 Sam Underhill: A busy performance from the flanker. Won two important turnovers at the breakdown before he was taken off. 7

6 Ethan Roots: Another game – following on from Wales – where he never quite imposed himself on proceedings. 5

5 Ollie Chessum: Disrupted Scotland’s lineout on a couple of occasions and some decent carries before fading in the second period. 6

A shining light

4 Maro Itoje: Alongside Earl, consistently the shining light in this England team at the moment. Never stopped throughout the 80 minutes. 7

3 Dan Cole: You feel he’s a rather pointless selection if he’s not getting scrum dominance because he offers nothing else, and Scotland basically neutralised him in the set-piece. 5

2 Jamie George (c): As ever, lineout on point and was busy in the loose, especially defensively. 6

1 Ellis Genge: Carried more than he has done in recent times and the set-piece was reasonable. 6

Replacements: Ben Spencer was, well, disappointing and failed to increase the tempo, but George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South and Fin Smith had their moments off the bench. However, the main impact came from Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who did more in his few minutes on the field than someone like Elliot Daly has done all Six Nations. 6