Hugo Keenan
He sets such high standards that on occasion it’s almost taken for granted that he will be typically excellent in all facets of the game. He chased, ran, won a couple of aerial duels and covered the backfield with authority.
Rating: 7
Mack Hansen
His 10th international try was generously provided by Tadhg Beirne. More prominent than last week, especially in the air but missed Juan Cruz Mallia badly for the fullback’s try and threw a pass into touch.
Rating: 6
Garry Ringrose
Made a superb break for Mack Hansen’s try, several superb reads in defence – one missed tackle aside – and textbook tackling, one massive turnover tackle before half-time representative of his gold standard work. Super feet in attack.
Rating: 8
Robbie Henshaw
He carried with power and purpose, breaking tackles, and on the other side of the ball put in several important tackles. His connectivity with Ringrose in the midfield was hugely important.
Rating: 7
James Lowe
Superb carry in the build-up to the Joe McCarthy line, representative of some fine work in attack and in the collisions. One silly penalty, he made a couple of decisions that he’d like to have again. A few errors.
Rating: 6
Jack Crowley
Took a teeth-rattling head shot from Matias Moroni but responded by scoring his second international try, dropped a goal and managed the game well in the first half but like the team he fell off a little after the interval.
Rating: 7
Jamison Gibson-Park
Ran the game with typical aplomb, his vision and range of passing injected momentum and width into Ireland’s attacking patterns and he was vigilant in his covering of the Irish backfield.
Rating: 8
Andrew Porter
He was diligent in his work, muscular in contact when carrying possession and also sharp in locking down the fringes of the breakdown. Another who transformed average ball into something better.
Rating: 7
Rónan Kelleher
He was nicely physical in contact both in attack and defence, his lineout throwing was largely accurate, one stray one over the back notwithstanding, and he got his team going forward even off slow ball.
Rating: 6
Finlay Bealham
Received a yellow card for a clear croc-roll on Thomas Gallo and was replaced permanently on 52 minutes by debutant Thomas Clarkson which suggested that Ireland were looking for more energy for the last half an hour.
Rating: 5
Joe McCarthy
Traded in big hits on the fringes of rucks. Good hands and concentration for his try. Received a yellow card for cumulative team offences but he should have been smarter in not being caught offside.
Rating: 7
James Ryan
One surging run which harkened back to his younger days, showing power pace and footwork, he did a great deal of the heavy lifting when it came to tackling and cleaning out at rucks.
Rating: 6
Tadhg Beirne
Provided a try for Mack Hansen but a knock-on in a heavy tackle denied Beirne one as he tried to ground the ball. He was harshly penalised for jumping across in lineout. Typically, he never stopped working.
Rating: 7
Josh van der Flier
Omnipresent, whether carrying, tackling, forcing turnovers, tidying possession, turning static possession into something that the team could use. He was brilliant and did more to drag his team through to a win than any other player.
Rating: 9
Caelan Doris
Conceded a couple of penalties just before half-time but his team survived to the whistle. He was typically industrious with a huge work-rate especially in the second half and when his team needed it most.
Rating: 6
Replacements
Thomas Clarkson won a scrum penalty on debut, Sam Prendergast was summoned for the final quarter and showed some lovely touches, Jamie Osborne, Rob Herring and Peter O’Mahony injected energy and quality.
Rating: 8
Coach
Andy Farrell will have been delighted with the first half an hour but unhappy thereafter as Ireland were inaccurate and ill-disciplined (13 penalties) and he will be relieved that his team just about survived.
Rating: 7
