England made it back-to-back Six Nations triumphs as they defeated Scotland 61-21 with a bonus-point at Twickenham on Saturday.
A hat-trick from outside centre Jonathan Joseph led the way for Eddie Jones' charges, with Anthony Watson, Billy Vunipola and Danny Care (2) also crossing as they move an impressive eight points clear in the table.
Scotland, who were a shadow of the side that beat Ireland and Wales, carded tries from Gordon Reid and Huw Jones (2) in a poor display.
They were immediately on the back foot, largely from their own doing, when hooker Fraser Brown was sin-binned for a tip tackle on England wing Elliot Daly.
The Wasps man was eventually permanently substituted for Watson and when Brown returned his side were 13-0 down.
The first England try came from quick lineout ball as fast hands led to Joseph slicing through from 30 metres out. Owen Farrell made it 7-0.
Farrell was on-target again on seven minutes when Scotland had come offside at a ruck, the penalty meaning England had a 10-point buffer.
That became 13-0 after hands in the ruck, before Daly eventually made way, with Scotland then losing Stuart Hogg and also his replacement Mark Bennett to injury soon after.
It had been a truly disastrous opening to the game at Twickenham for a Scotland side looking out of sorts.
England showed no sympathy and were over again on 25 minutes when slick handling saw Joseph ghost through for a 20-0 lead with the kick.
Fortunately for the Scots Reid barged over to get them on the board but England chalked that off when Joseph supplied Watson for 30-7.
The start to the second-half was a carbon copy of the first as Joseph re-opened his team's account, taking a short ball off Ben Youngs for his hat-trick and the bonus-point.
England were now motoring towards the Calcutta Cup and the Championship, with Scotland trailing by 30.
Slim hope arrived for Vern Cotter's charges on 50 minutes when a period of pressure in the England 22 led to Jones barging over for 40-14.
But it was short-lived as England turned the screw again at the hour mark, replacement number eight Vunipola crossing from a driving maul as England closed to within two points of the half century.
At this point they'd replaced captain Dylan Hartley and hat-trick man Joseph.
Scotland's own stand-out centre, Jones, was over again on 70 minutes with a strong finish but shortly after England struck back through Care, with Farrell's kick making it 54-21 before Care grabbed a brace late on.
Those tries helped to seal a comprehensive win and the title with a round to spare on a day of records; the most points England have ever scored against Scotland, as England matched New Zealand's Tier 1 win record of 18 victories in a row.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: Joseph 3, Watson, B Vunipola, Care 2
Cons: Farrell 7
Pens: Farrell 4
For Scotland:
Tries: Reid, Jones 2
Cons: Russell 3
Yellow Card: Brown
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Anthony Watson
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
No comments:
Post a Comment