England Player Ratings vs USA: Ford 9, Coles 5

Rugby News

by Harrison Clifford

Sunday, 20 July 2025 at 01:42

byHarrison Clifford

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England Rugby Player Ratings vs USA: England put in a strong performance to secure another win in Washington DC.

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USA played host to England at Audi Field in Washington, DC — which clearly annoyed some higher power, because a biblical thunderstorm delayed the match for an hour. Fans were left with the message:

“The game has been stopped indefinitely because of the weather. We’ll bring you a new start time when we know.”

When players finally took to the field, a clearly frustrated Steve Borthwick rushed through the warm-up. Then players hurriedly changed into their kits, and the national anthems were rushed through to get to kickoff.

England, after their back-to-back wins against Argentina, have moved to fifth in the world rankings. The USA currently sit 16th, having only reached 15th as their highest. This was their first clash in four years, and the USA have never beaten an England side.

The United States made a brilliant start by putting pressure on the English visitors to get within 10 metres. A strong lineout gave the ball back, but the Americans persevered.

England focused on their high-ball game for a counterattack. With a broken defensive line from the USA, it was questionable that England couldn’t get through. At the 12-minute mark, the USA No. 10 was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on; England capitalised, got within 5 metres for a lineout, and a simple maul got them over the line for Langdon to score the first try.

The Eagles continued to surprise by putting pressure and gaining territory, but inexperience showed after poor defence and a simple missed pass to Northmore led to England’s second try of the match. USA retaliated by getting to the opposing goal line but were just held up. Effort from the Americans was going their way, but a silly lineout throw gave England the ball, and they took full advantage to score — which was then disallowed for obstruction.

The fixture was stopped again at the 28th minute because of lightning. It resumed almost 40 minutes later. England struggled to secure points with silly handling errors, and the USA struggled in the same way. Another opportunity for an England score was denied due to a knock-on by Murley. The Eagles showed great promise in their lineouts by stealing the ball from England. The visitors played their first piece of attacking shape that seemed to have any structure, and Cadan Murley was the man to take the points.

England pressed on after those two disallowed tries at the start of the second half, with Jack Van Poortvliet scoring in the first minute. But again, the USA showcased some spectacular rugby, and it was just frustrating that they didn’t complete. Brilliant rucks and brilliant lineouts, but terrible support gave England the chance to get the ball back.

A pretty boring 20 minutes followed between the two tries, with too many easy balls dropped, stolen, and lost — it was just frustrating to watch. Feyi-Waboso’s speed hasn’t dipped, there’s no doubt. He flew towards the USA goal area, and support from Harry Randall meant he was the beneficiary with the fifth try for England.

Gabriel Oghre scored the sixth and final try for England, which was fitting for the prop to take over from a prop who scored. America managed to score a consolation try in the last play of the fixture through Shilo Klein, which was a nice sight to see. But some could say (and they’d be right) it was too little, too late for the promise they showed throughout the whole match.

The match wasn’t played under the best circumstances. Lightning, high temperatures, humidity — all made for a bad day in the office, and it sadly showed in today’s fixture. Lots of aspects of the game need to be worked on, and hopefully both teams will improve for their next fixtures.

Watching USA vs England was like watching two brothers, one older and one younger play a game. The older brother is trying to show off but making too many mistakes, and the younger is surprising everyone - but inexperienced. The older brother shows off that he won, but not as good as he should have.’

USA: 5

Tries: Klein (80')
Cons:
Pens:

ENGLAND: 40

Tries: Langdon (11'), Northmore (18'), Murley (40'), Van Poortvliet (41'), Randall (62'), Oghre (74')
Cons: Ford (12', 18', 41', 63'), Atkinson (74')
Pens:

ENGLAND player ratings vs USA:

15. Joe Carpenter — 8/10

Great in the role of fullback. His kicking game and high-ball control were brilliant. For a first-cap performance, anyone would be happy if it was their 100th cap. A masterclass which Borthwick should be taking note of for future fixtures post Lions campaign.

14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso — 6/10

Struggled under the high ball; the pressure from missing out on test rugby due to his ban after a red card in Twickenham against France must have played a part. Great speed, though—that’s still there!

13. Luke Northmore (off at 61) — 6/10

Great support line in getting the second try for England, but some simple handling errors which shouldn’t be made by someone in international test match fixtures—still some test match nerves?

12. Max Ojomoh — 6/10

His tackle technique was textbook and effective. No one was getting past him. His one-on-ones were excellent, but he needed to watch himself in rucks where he was called out for a neck roll.

11. Cadan Murley — 7/10

Brilliant under the high ball, and his kicking game showed great promise. His confidence is growing on the international stage, and it’s showing. Not afraid to take risks and try to make an impact—which showed with his try at the end of the first half.

10. George Ford (captain) (off at 62) — 9/10

Good composure when coming up against the defence and playing the opposition to get the ball away. His commitment to keeping the morale of the team up is excellent. A class act.

9. Jack Van Poortvliet (off at 53) — 7/10

Great effort in playing the ball back to where it is needed and controlling the time in the ruck to England’s advantage.

1. Bevan Rodd (off at 50) — 5/10

Not a great shift for the forwards. Too many scrum and lineout errors gave the USA ample opportunity to make an impact, but inexperience got the better of them.

2. Curtis Langdon (off at 66) — 7/10

The best of the starting forwards. Making a mark in defence with his brilliant height and being better in one-on-one tackles. Great power led to scoring the first points for England. A great show.

3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour (off at 65) — 5/10

Once again, doing what he needed to do and not much more. Sometimes that’s all you need, but this week was a chance to show some flair and a reason to.

4. Alex Coles — 5/10

His communication amongst the pack was a great effort, but some physicality was missing in today’s fixture—not just from Coles, but from the whole forward pack.

5. Arthur Clark — 6/10

Great supportive lines. His work in the ruck and scrums was commendable and definitely something Borthwick would have noticed when selecting him.

6. Chandler Cunningham-South (off at 66) — 8/10

Brilliant start in the game, which was backed up by the rest of his performance. Dominant in tackles and consistently ripping the ball back—this is the Cunningham-South that we know!

7. Guy Pepper — 6/10

Needed to be more aware of his spacing. Good height in scrums but the heat must have sapped some energy. It’s not the best we have seen from Pepper, and we’ll see more again.

8. Alex Dombrandt (off at 52) — 5/10

Dombrandt had a great game at the beginning—scoring a try (disallowed), great effort in the scrum—but sustained an injury in the 30th minute, and his effort dipped.

Replacements:

16. Gabriel Oghre (on at 66) — 7/10

A great takeover as the hooker from Langdon, and similarly scoring a great try. His footwork was excellent, and he brought great energy to boost morale.

17. Fin Baxter (on at 50) — 7/10

Should have come on sooner for the forward poach. Baxter played like he wanted to be there! Quite frankly, that was missing from a lot of the players, especially in the forward pack. Great passion in the rucks and respect for the referee.

18. Trevor Davison (on at 65) — 6/10

He came on and did his job— all that was needed. There probably wasn’t enough time for Davison to make a mark on the game, which wasn’t his fault. No doubt future fixtures will give him a chance.

19. Ted Hill (on at 66) — 6/10

Similar to Davison, he did his job and that was enough. Hill became part of the team with ease, and credit where credit is due—the swap was unnoticed.

20. Ben Curry (on at 52) — 6/10

Always a pleasure to watch. Some great chat to the younger/fresher faces of the squad, and good dominance in the scrum. There wasn’t a lot Curry could do—perhaps it would have been better to get him on at the start to make more of an impact?

21. Harry Randall (on at 53) — 7/10

The beneficiary of England’s fifth try, Randall did a great job taking over from Van Poortvliet.

22. Charlie Atkinson (on at 62) — 6/10

Taking over from Ford is a tough gig, and fair play for doing it without fuss. Scored an easy conversion, but more vocal leadership in controlling the pack would’ve been better to see.

23. Oscar Beard (on at 61) — 5/10

An underwhelming performance—not just from Beard, but from the team. There wasn’t anything that stood out from the outside centre. More is needed to make an impact in an international fixture.