England end campaign on a high

Noon notches up a hat-trick

England ran in seven tries in total as they finished a frustrating RBS Six Nations campaign with a flourish at Twickenham.  Jamie Noon scored a hat-trick of tries as England reclaimed the Calcutta Cup -- and avoided fourth place in the standing.

Scotland had a better second half after England had led 26-10 at the break, and it could have been even closer but for an aberration by Scottish right wing Rory Lamont.

With England leading 33-22, Lamont had a run down the right wing which had "try" written all over it as he had two supporters on his inside.  But he chose to take Josh Lewsey's tackle and get dumped into touch.

Both sides tried to run the ball at every opportunity but the match lacked the intensity, speed and skill which Wales, Ireland and France were able to generate.

That said, there were some splendid tries, especially Scotland's second.

In all England scored seven tries, Scotland three.  Three of England's tries were scored by Noon, the first hat-trick in a Calcutta Cup match since John Carleton of England did it in 1980.

The first bright moment of the first half was provided by Scottish fullback Chris Paterson who darted, raced and swerved in counter-attack, but England scored first.

From a line-out Charlie Hodgson simply cut inside Gordon Ross and gave to James Noon who had a simple run to the posts.  Hodgson converted.  7-0 after 14 minutes.

When Martin Corry was penalised, Paterson made it 7-3.

England struck straight back.  They won the ball at the kick-off and Noon scored his second try -- a remarkable solo effort.  He burst between two Scots, shucked off another and then bounced Paterson out of the way to score at the posts.  Hodgson converted.  14-3.

Mark Cueto on the right wing and not far from touch moved out, drawing two Scots, before passing inside to Joe Worsley who got over in the corner.  19-3 after 27 minutes.

When Iain Balshaw was taken off on a stretch for a leg injury, Ollie Smith came on.

England's went left.  Hugo Southwell, rushed off his line and Mark Cueto, coming off the right wing, cut clean past him, drew Paterson and sent Josh Lewsey over for the try, which Hodgson converted.  26-3 after 33 minutes.

Just before the break the Scots played through many phases, centre Andy Craig made the running and Sean Lamont powered over for the try.  Paterson converted to make the score 26-10 at the break.

Scotland scored first in the second half, one of the very best tries of the whole RBS Six Nations.

Paterson collected the ball well inside his own 22, looked calm as if preparing to kick and suddenly was accelerating over the 22, past Martin Corry and into England's half.  He chipped and chased, Blair control an awkward bounce and fed Craig who galloped off to score a brilliant try.  Paterson converted.  26-17 after 45 minutes.

Two minutes later England mauled a line-out and played down the blindside where Ollie Smith sent Harry Ellis racing for the line.  Hodgson converted from far out.  33-17 after 47 minutes.

Then came a shock.

England won a line-out and Ellis was torpedoing his lads to the left when Simon Taylor intercepted and ran nobly nearly half the length of the field for a try.  33-22.

The next significant moment after this was Rory Lamont's indiscretion.

England attacked and attacked again through many phases.  Matt Dawson changed direction with a back flick and Noon surged over for his third try.  38-22 with 14 minutes to play.

Olly Barkley broke sharply and the ball went out to the right wing where Mark Cueto shook off Sean Lamont's neck-tackle to score.

The Scots then went through several phases but a knock-on by Gordon Bulloch ensured that it did not go far enough.

Man of the Match:  Chris Paterson was far and away the most exciting player on the field, but we name powerful Jamie Noon for his rare feat of a Calcutta Cup hat-trick.

Moment of the match:  Andy Craig's try and all that made it.

Villain of the Match:  Poor Rory Lamont -- he had a nanosecond in which to make a decision and made the wrong one.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Noon 3, Worsley, Lewsey, Ellis, Cueto
Cons:  Hodgson 4

For Scotland:
Tries:  S Lamont, Craig, Taylor
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pen:  Paterson

The teams:

England:  15 Iain Balshaw (Ollie Smith, 31), 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Josh Lewsey, 10 Charlie Hodgson (Andy Goode, 76), 9 Harry Ellis (Matt Dawson, 65) , 8 Martin Corry (captain), 7 Lewis Moody (Andy Hazell, 40), 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Ben Kay (Steve Borthwick, 13), 4 Danny Grewcock, 3 Duncan Bell (Mike Worsley, 51), 2 Steve Thompson (Andy Titterrell, 72), 1 Matt Stevens.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Rory Lamont, 13 Andy Craig, 12 Hugo Southwell, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg (Jon Petrie, 75), 6 Jason White, 5 Scott Murray (Stuart Grimes, 33), 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Gavin Kerr, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 1 Tom Smith (Bruce Douglas, 24).
Unused replacements:  16 Robbie Russell, 20 Graeme Beveridge, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Andrew Henderson.

Referee:  Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch-judges:  Mark Lawrence (South Africa) and Nigel Whitehouse (Wales).
Television match official:  Christophe Berdos (France)