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England’s winless streak since 2020 at Murrayfield continues to roll on as Scotland turned up and delivered a commanding performance to regain the Calcutta Cup.
Jones (9', 52'), Ritchie (13'), White (26')
Tries
Arundell (20'), Earl (77')
Russell (10', 14', 27', 53')
Conversions
Ford (21', 77')
Russell (3')
Penalties
Ford (25', 44')
Here are five things we learned from Scotland’s 31-20 win:
Gregor Townsend is safe for now
The Scotland boss has been under intense pressure since their disappointing opening round loss to Italy, with his involvement with Newcastle Red Bulls causing frustration amongst the Scottish faithful. Scotland could have easily ended up finishing fifth - with just one win across the tournament, given they still have to face Ireland and France - if they lost this fixture.
That wouldn’t have cut the mustard and might have been the straw that broke Townsend’s back but the former fly-half’s tactical masterclass against the Auld Enemy once more has no doubt saved his job for the time being.
George Ford is becoming over reliant on drop goals
The Sale Sharks playmaker has made the drop goal his trademark move since his flurry of kicks against Argentina in the World Cup. Ford was seen slotting a sumptuous three-pointer on the halfway line against Bath and then delivered a crucial drop goal in England’s victory over New Zealand in the autumn.
However, Ford blew a drop goal wide against Argentina in the autumn and has made a few blunders for Sale when dropping into the pocket recently. With England trailing by 11 points and into the Scotland 22, Ford dropped back but this time his attempt was blocked by Matt Fagerson and resulted in a seven-point swing through Huw Jones’ length of the field try. Finn Russell said post-match that they had spent time in the build-up preparing for Ford’s trademark play, and it was a moment which cost Ford and England dearly.
Scotland fail to miss their record try scorer
All the chat in the build up was around how an under pressure Townsend could leave out Scotland’s bulldozer wing Duhan van der Merwe, given his freakish strike rate in this fixture. However, Kyle Steyn’s player of the match performance quickly put those worries to bed, with a rock solid performance under the high ball.
Van der Merwe has been out of form for Edinburgh and his club mate Darcy Graham was also surprisingly left out of the starting XV in place of usual scrum-half Jamie Dobie but it was a move which paid off handsomely.
The Scottish Messi returns
Russell failed to manage last week’s game in Rome and was unusually quiet in a contest where the Bath playmaker was desperately needed. But this is the fixture Russell relishes more than any and while it wasn’t quite the sort of scintillating display with ball in hand that we saw at Twickenham in 2019, he played an integral part in their triumph.
Crisp passing, clever kicks and rock solid defence were there in abundance but the biggest stand out was his prolific goal kicking, which was missing 12 months ago when England edged a contest at Twickenham they probably should have lost.
Steve Borthwick’s centre conundrum rolls on
Tommy Freeman looked lost on Saturday, unable to force his way through collisions and couldn’t prove to be a useful link man either. The debate around whether he’s more suited at 13 or wing rolls on. His club colleague Fraser Dingwall failed to make any noteworthy impact with a serious lack of penetration through midfield. Penny for the thoughts of a fully-fit Ollie Lawrence..
Lawrence and Henry Slade formed a solid partnership last year, which saw them played together the most since the olden days of Mike Tindall and Mike Catt - remember them? Borthwick appears to have excluded Slade from his plans, while Max Ojomoh’s devastating debut in the Autumn has failed to see him move up the pecking order. Lawrence has since returned from an ACL injury but has been playing well for Bath, forcing eyebrows to be raised at his exclusions across the first two rounds.
You get defensive organisation and playmaking from Dingwall at 12 but very little go forward compared to Ojomoh, Lawrence or even the now bulked up Seb Atkinson, and that’s exactly what England sorely missed in Edinburgh.
