England retained the Calcutta Cup with a 35-13 win over Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. The world champions scored four tries to one in the RBS Six Nations fixture.
It was a strange old night at Murrayfield indeed -- starting with the pre-match histrionics that were worthy of the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup rather than what was in all likelihood expected to be a one-sided Calcutta Cup clash.
The pre-match rigmarole seemed to fire the Scotland side up, however, and the English outfit seemed somewhat surprised at their opponents' initial onslaught.
England were immediately on the back foot when scrum-half Andy Gomarsall sliced his kick into touch and the Scots were unlucky not to score when England fullback Iain Balshaw mistimed an attempted clearance inside his 22. The Scotland attackers, however, could not get to the ball in time to dot down.
England were soon spurred on by Scotland's opening commitment and they began to string together some moves and centre Jason Robinson provided them with the spark they needed when he chipped through the Scottish defence from five metres out.
Scotland fullback Ben Hinshelwood got back quickly, but was left clutching thin air as the ball bounced awkwardly away from him, leaving Ben Cohen only needing to apply downward pressure for the try. Fly-half Paul Grayson added the extras.
The hosts lived up to their moniker of "bravehearts" as they continued to throw their bodies around with little regard for safety and dominated periods of play for the opening quarter, but for all their passion and commitment they could not find a way through the England defence.
Winger Simon Danielli was the pick of the Scotland backs and he came agonisingly close in the 18th minute only to knock the ball on metres from the England line after blasting through a gap.
Captain Chris Paterson finally put his team on the board soon after, but Grayson reclaimed the seven-point advantage a few minutes later with a penalty of his own and stretched the lead further four minutes later with another.
Referee David McHugh then played a major role in England's next try when he inexplicably failed to pick up an English knock-on -- letting play carry on -- and Balshaw took advantage of the referee's mistake to stretch the lead.
Grayson was again on hand to add the extras.
The Scotland players battled to control themselves after the try and the wheels threatened to come off as they began to lose their structure and, worse, their handling began to let them down. None more so than Brendan Laney, who after taking a quick throw-in to himself, stopped playing and waited for England flanker Richard Hill to dump him in the tackle in another surreal moment.
Scotland could only shake their heads in dismay as they went into the break 20-6 down.
The second half proved to be a drab affair with neither team showing much desire to break the game wide open, but it was England who continued to ride their luck and hard-working winger Josh Lewsey, who was the standout performer for the visitors, picked up another soft try.
Lewsey had flanker Chris Jones to thank when the lanky Sale loose forward -- on his run-on debut -- charged down a kick on the Scotland line -- Lewsey was on hand to dot down.
The Scots were then finally rewarded for their tireless efforts when Balshaw fluffed a clearance at the back for Danielli to snaffle the ball and scream over for the try. Unbelievably it was Scotland's first against England since 2000.
The scoreline suddenly read 25-13 and the crowd began to liven up to the possibility of an upset, but it was not to be. A Grayson penalty and a try to lock Danny Grewcock made sure of that. England, however, will be far from enthused after a sub-standard performance, while Scotland can hold their heads a little higher after a much-improved showing.
Man of the match: For Scotland, scrum-half Chris Cusiter and winger Simon Danielli both proved useful, while flanker Jason White was a giant on defence. But England winger Josh Lewsey stood head and shoulders above everybody else with a tireless effort -- the former army man showing strength far beyond his stature.
Moment of the match: Brendan Laney's bemused look as England hard man Richard Hill dumped him into the ground after the Scotland centre's quick throw-in to himself.
Villain of the match: There weren't many, but the sin-binning of Simon Taylor springs to mind as a possible candidate, but take a bow Brendan Laney, whose decision to stop running after taking a quick throw just made no sense and for a veteran player it was particularly foolish.
The Teams:
England: 1 Phil Vickery, 2 Steve Thompson, 3 Trevor Woodman, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Chris Jones, 8 Lawrence Dallaglio (c), 9 Andy Gomarsall, 10 Paul Grayson, 11 Ben Cohen, 12 Will Greenwood, 13 Jason Robinson, 14 Josh Lewsey, 15 Iain Balshaw
Reserves: Matt Dawson, Simon Shaw, Henry Paul
Unused: Jason Leonard, Mark Regan, Olly Barkley, Alex Sanderson
Scotland: 1 Bruce Douglas, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Tom Smith, 4 Stuart Grimes, 5 Scott Murray, 6 Simon Taylor, 7 Jason White, 8 Cameron Mather, 9 Chris Cusiter, 10 Chris Paterson (c), 11 Simon Webster, 12 Brendan Laney, 13 Tom Philip, 14 Simon Danielli, 15 Ben Hinshelwood
Reserves: Michael Blair, Nathan Hines, Gavin Kerr, Daniel Parks, Andrew Henderson, Allister Hogg, Robbie Russell
Attendance: 67500
Referee: Mchugh d.
Points Scorers:
England
Tries: Balshaw I.R. 1, Lewsey O.J. 1, Cohen B.C. 1, Grewcock D.J. 1
Conv: Grayson P.J. 3
Pen K.: Grayson P.J. 3
Scotland
Tries: Danielli S.C.J. 1
Conv: Paterson C.D. 1
Pen K.: Paterson C.D. 2
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