Duhan van der Merwe fires Scotland to Calcutta Cup victory over England

A Duhan van der Merwe hat-trick helped Scotland keep their hands on the Calcutta Cup as they beat rivals England 30-21 in the Six Nations at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The powerful finisher scored twice against the Red Rose in last year’s match but went one better in 2024 as Scotland bounced back from the loss to France in Round Two.

England‘s two tries on the day came via George Furbank and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as they suffer a first loss of this Six Nations campaign in a major dent to their title hopes.

Remarkably, the Red Rose have now won only one of the last seven meetings with Scotland.

Led into battle by courageous captain Jamie George just over a week after he lost his mother to cancer, England made a strong start.

Having forced the Scots back from the outset, the Red Rose got themselves ahead in the fifth minute when Northampton full-back Furbank ― making his first start in almost two years ― bounded over gleefully from close range after being played in by Elliot Daly at the end of a brilliant move.

Scotland suffered a further setback moments later when Zander Fagerson had to go off for an HIA, although the influential prop was able to return to the fray in the 18th minute.

By that point, England had opened up a 10-0 lead, with Ford kicking a penalty in the 15th minute.

Scotland had been in a state of disarray for most of the opening quarter, but they suddenly sparked into life and got themselves back into the game in the 20th minute.

Huw Jones made a dash for the line on the right and after being dragged to the ground, the centre flipped the ball up into the path of Van der Merwe, who produced a superb piece of skill to find a gap and bolt over.

The early wind had been removed from England’s sails and Van der Merwe edged the Scots in front on the half-hour mark with a breathtaking score from his own half.

As the visitors mounted an attack, Ford’s heavy pass bounced off the face of Furbank and into the hands of Jones, who instantly offloaded to Van der Merwe 60 metres out.

The wing put on the after-burners and raced clear up the left, leaving a trail of white jerseys in his slipstream. Finn Russell added the extras before stretching the hosts’ advantage to 17-10 with a penalty shortly afterwards.

England were wobbling, but Ford kept his cool to reduce their interval deficit to four points with an opportunist drop goal from 35 yards out.

Scotland suffered what appeared to be a blow within seconds of the second half kicking off when Sione Tuipulotu limped off to be replaced by Cam Redpath.

However, the substitute centre was instrumental in the hosts going further ahead in the 45th minute when he burst through a gap on the halfway line.

A ruck ensued as Redpath was halted in his tracks, and Russell produced one of his trademark cross-field kicks out to the left for Van der Merwe, who burst over for his hat-trick and his 26th try for Scotland.

Ford reduced the deficit to 24-16 with a penalty in the 50th minute, but Russell put the home side firmly back in command with a couple of penalties either side of the hour mark.

England ― having offered little since the opening quarter ― gave themselves a glimmer of hope in the 67th minute when replacement wing Feyi-Waboso bolted over on the left.

Fin Smith ― with the chance to bring his side within a converted try of victory ― hit the post with the conversion, leaving the Scots nine points ahead and able to see out the remainder of the match in relatively comfortable fashion.

Not even a yellow card in the closing moments for a tip tackle could take the shine off Van der Merwe’s day.

The teams

Scotland:  15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:  16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Andy Christie, 21 George Horne, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Redpath

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Lawrence, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements:  16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

Referee:  Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Chris Busby (Ireland), Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Duhan van der Merwe double helps Scotland beat England

A try double from Duhan van der Merwe helped Scotland to a 29-23 win over England as they kicked off their Six Nations in style at Twickenham.

This was the Scots’ third successive victory over the Auld Enemy as they stunned their hosts, with Van der Merwe’s 74th-minute score sealing the victory.

Scotland‘s other try scorers on the day were Huw Jones and Ben White, with Finn Russell kicking nine points off the tee in a pulsating game throughout.

For England their new chapter under head coach Steve Borthwick did provide plenty of positives as Max Malins (2), and Ellis Genge crossed the try-line.

England were booed from the pitch after a limp defeat by South Africa in their last appearance, the climax to a dire 2022 that resulted in Eddie Jones being sacked, but this seven-try Six Nations thriller was very different.

They had won only one of the last five Calcutta Cup matches, and the early omens signposted that run continuing when Scotland centre Jones touched down Sione Tuipulotu’s grubber in the 15th minute.

Earlier in the move, Jones had raced through a wide gap in the midfield defence as Scotland struck off their first attack of the game having been on the ropes for the opening exchanges.

Apart from the all-too-familiar penalty count, there had been much to admire about England’s start, and in the 23rd minute, they were over, pouncing on the 15th phase of a sustained assault in the 22 when Malins produced a fine finish of Marcus Smith’s cross-field kick.

The brittle home defence was exposed once again as Van der Merwe, taking a pass from Kyle Steyn, left a host of white shirts in his wake as he weaved a path to the whitewash.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Ben White showing how lethal he is. 20-19 right now. #ENGvSCO pic.twitter.com/oYGLYjV5Zq

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) February 4, 2023

It was a classy individual score, but England showed their own flair to engineer a second for Malins as patient build-up and smart handling created a simple run-in on the right wing.

An Owen Farrell penalty gave the hosts a one-point interval lead, and they were over for a third time through Genge in the 48th minute after a succession of dynamic carries by their pack.

Scotland’s visits to the home 22 were rare, but they showed a ruthless streak when they arrived, with White taking advantage of an absent ruck defence to plunder a sharp try.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 SCOTLAND WIN AGAIN AT TWICKENHAM! #ENGvSCO pic.twitter.com/sxQVCBqBzV

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) February 4, 2023

Veteran prop Dan Cole came on for his first cap since the 2019 World Cup final and forced a penalty at the scrum in his first involvement of the match, giving England the platform to renew their attack.

Farrell landed his second penalty, and Russell replied in kind as a nailbiting conclusion approached.

Scotland kept pressing, and the breakthrough arrived with six minutes left as Van der Merwe showed his strength to bulldoze over in the left corner and keep the Calcutta Cup in Edinburgh.

Scotland edge past England in Murrayfield thriller

Scotland produced a superb defensive display to start their Six Nations campaign in outstanding fashion following a narrow 20-17 victory over England.

Gregor Townsend’s men were on the back foot for much of the first half but still went into the break 10-6 ahead thanks to Ben White’s try and Finn Russell’s penalty.

Marcus Smith kicked a pair of three-pointers for the visitors and then added another early in the second period to reduce the arrears to 10-9.

Smith then scored a try to take the Red Rose in front before he kicked a fourth penalty to put the visitors in control.

That was until a moment of madness from Luke Cowan-Dickie, who intentionally knocked the ball into touch, which led to a penalty try and yellow card.

With their opponents down to 14 men, the home side took advantage and Russell’s three-pointer proved to be decisive as they retained the Calcutta Cup.

There was a familiar look to the Scotland side, with 13 of the starting XV from the 2021 Six Nations victory in France last March selected by Gregor Townsend to face the Auld Enemy.

England, without key trio Owen Farrell, Courtney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi through injury, sent out a relatively inexperienced side, captained for the first time by 23-year-old Sale back-rower Tom Curry.

It had been a wet and blustery day in Edinburgh, but conditions subsided slightly by the time kick-off arrived.

England enjoyed a strong start, forcing Scotland on to the back foot for much of the opening 10 minutes, but they were unable to get any points on the board to show for it.

The Scots suffered what appeared to be a blow in the 12th minute when Ali Price had to go off for a head injury assessment, paving the way for London Irish scrum-half Ben White to enter the fray for his debut.

England eventually got the breakthrough their early dominance deserved in the 17th minute when Smith kicked a penalty from a central position after Jonny Gray was penalised for pulling in.

However, Scotland, who had barely been in the game as an attacking force, responded just a minute later by taking a quick lineout on the right, allowing Darcy Graham to jink his way forward before laying it on a plate for debutant White to dart clear and edge the hosts in front.  Russell made no mistake with the conversion.

After a remarkable cameo, the try-scorer left the field in the 24th minute to make way for the return of Price to the action following his Head Injury Assessment.

Despite holding the initiative on the scoreboard, Scotland continued to spend much of the first half absorbing pressure and making tackles.

On the half hour, the hosts were fortunate to see a cross-field pass from Smith sail just over the head of Slade, who would have had a free run to the line wide on the right.  Two minutes later, the Scots pulled off some defiant defensive work to hold England up over the line.

Smith reduced the deficit to one point with a penalty in the 34th minute after Scotland’s Jamie Ritchie was penalised for using his hands in a ruck.

But in the last action of the half, Russell kicked another penalty to ensure the Scots, who had been outplayed in all departments, somehow went in at the interval with a four-point advantage.

England made a strong start to the second period and got within a point again when Smith kicked another penalty in the 48th minute.

Smith continued his one-man mission to turn the game in England’s favour when he ran on to an offload from Ben Youngs and touched down to put his side in front in the 53rd minute.  The Harlequins fly-half blotted his copybook slightly when he missed the conversion.

In the 63rd minute, Smith kicked his fourth penalty of the match to put England seven points in front and seemingly on course for victory.

But, incredibly, the hosts drew level with a 64th-minute penalty try after Cowan-Dickie was deemed to have knocked on Russell’s crossfield pass as he batted the ball out of play volleyball style.

The Englishman was duly sin-binned and Scotland capitalised on their extra-man advantage as Russell won the game with a 72nd-minute penalty.

Scotland end 38-year wait with away win over England

Scotland celebrated the 150th anniversary of the oldest rivalry in rugby by stunning England 11-6 to claim their first victory at Twickenham since 1983.

The 38-year wait for success at the home of the reigning Six Nations champions finally came to an end as Finn Russell inspired the underdogs to a magnificent win.

Russell directed play masterfully, Cameron Redpath enjoyed an influential debut and Stuart Hogg was world class at full-back as strutting Scotland were given the freedom to roam Twickenham.

But Scotland lacked the points to reflect their dominance, Duhan van der Merwe’s try as part of an 8-6 half-time lead an inadequate return given they had put England into a straitjacket.

Russell was at the heart of their brilliant display, keeping the home defence guessing with an array of kicks and passes, but there also were erratic moments, most notably a trip on Ben Youngs punished by a yellow card.

Lions coach Warren Gatland was watching from the stands and he will view the Racing 92 magician as a clear winner in his duel with Owen Farrell.

Scotland’s mastery of almost every department continued after the interval yet they struggled to make the impact on the scoreboard needed to kill off England, who were bitterly disappointing.

Almost a fifth of Eddie Jones’ team had not played since France were edged in sudden death 62 days ago and while the inactivity of the Saracens contingent contributed to the lack of intensity, England had more pressing problems.

Conceding four penalties in the first five minutes alone, one of them resulting in three points for Russell, led to a dismal start and the indiscipline became a debilitating theme of the match.

Twice Maro Itoje charged down kicks by scrum-half Ali Price inside the Scots’ 22 as the visitors invited pressure, but they were rare positive moments for the Red Rose.

A historic win at Twickenham! 🏆

The first time since 1983 😃#AsOne pic.twitter.com/qN8Gf1MQcQ

— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 6, 2021

Redpath was already making his presence felt at inside centre, most notably by catching a long line-out throw and running hard into the heart of the home defence.

Russell was beginning to weave his magic with his passing already making a difference and there was another swing towards Scotland when he was chopped down by a swinging arm from Billy Vunipola, who was sent to the sin bin.

Showing no ill effects, Russell lofted the ball into the left corner where the bounce just deceived Van der Merwe, but soon after the wing’s powerful run swept him to the line and he was able to touch down.

The first half hour had been dominated by Scotland, but England clawed their way back into contention with successive penalties by Farrell.

Russell saw a yellow card for his trip on Youngs, his spell in the sin bin spanning either half, but when he returned the Scots were pounding away at the home line and he slotted a penalty.

Hogg weaved his way into space and the difference in attacking ability between the rivals was stark as England struggled to fire a shot.

Two huge touchfinders from Hogg pinned the champions back as rain began to fall, but the Exeter full-back was unable to land a long-range penalty that would have propelled his side eight points ahead.

It was not needed, however, as England could just not muster any meaningful response and Scotland’s players celebrated noisily when the final whistle blew.

Check out the video highlights from Scotland's 11-6 victory over England in London on Saturday.

England regain Calcutta Cup after turgid win

Ellis Genge's try proved decisive as England won the Calcutta Cup following a 13-6 triumph over Scotland at Murrayfield in rain-sodden conditions.

Swirling wind and driving rain turned the Round Two contest into a lottery as points became a precious commodity that were fought over ferociously in a dreadful spectacle beyond the tension created.

Penalties by Owen Farrell and Adam Hastings produced a live score of 3-3 entering the final quarter and it took until the 70th minute for England to engineer the decisive moment and lift the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2017.

They thought they had scored moments earlier when Farrell appeared to have capitalised on Stuart Hogg's hesitation under the posts, but the ensuing five-metre scrum began a barrage on the line that ended when Genge powered over.

Scotland started the second-half like a freight train but the collapse of their set-piece stripped away their foundations and England were ruthless in exploiting their weakness.

Victory ended the two-match losing run that was placing pressure on Eddie Jones while the Scots were at least able to secure a bonus point through a late penalty by Hastings.

Apart from an ill-advised up and under into the wind, England's early kicking was smart with Farrell drilling the ball low to prevent it being blown off course, although the captain was beaten by a gust as he attempted his first penalty.

A second attempt soon after was nailed and when Scotland applied pressure with the help of a George Ford clearance that was swept sideways, they escaped from their 22 as they continued to fall on the right side of referee Pascal Gauzere's whistle.

Impeccable from Ali Price and Jonny May!

Dealing with the windy conditions in sensational style 💨💨#GuinnessSixNations #SCOvENG pic.twitter.com/EkkFEmQAmj

— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 8, 2020

Chances to attack continued to fall the Scots' way but they yielded the ball repeatedly, albeit against English forwards who were jacking hard with Tom Curry and Sam Underhill producing steals on the ground.

The unpredictable conditions played their part again as a second Farrell penalty was dragged wide and, although Hogg was making huge ground with each clearance, his team persevered in inviting pressure on to themselves despite generally having the wind at their backs.

Hastings kicked the ball straight into touch and Jamie George was wayward with a line-out throw as both sides made errors in filthy weather that destroyed the game as a spectacle.

Pulses finally quickened as the second half got underway with a dummy by Rory Sutherland parting the white shirts and inviting the prop to make a marauding run downfield.

A sustained onslaught advancing towards the line failed to pierce the defence but Scotland were given a penalty for offside that allowed Hastings to kick three priceless points.

Knowing the difficulty of kicking into the wind, Hogg darted his way out of his 22 and when his run was coming to an end he sent the ball into touch to launch another wave of forward-led attacks.

Just as England appeared to have escaped the siege through a scrum penalty and rolling mauling, Ford sent the ball straight into touch once more and then Elliot Daly followed suit.

Scotland's set-piece had ceased functioning but Farrell, who had Genge holding the ball upright, could not make them pay from a penalty.

The pendulum swung when Hogg lacked conviction as he looked to gather a kick and, although a try was averted, he had conceded a five-metre scrum that allowed Genge to storm over with Farrell converting.

The respective kickers then traded penalties late on as the Red Rose bounced back from last weekend's defeat with a crucial victory.

📽️Impact! Replacement Ellis Genge finally breaks the deadlock#GuinnessSixNations #SCOvENG pic.twitter.com/PCxVaEozFH

— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 8, 2020

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Hastings 2

For England:
Try:  Genge
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg (c), 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Nick Haining, 21 George Horne, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Chris Harris

England:  15 George Furbank, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Tom Dunn, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Ben Youngs, 23 Ollie Devoto

Referee:  Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  James Leckie (Australia)

Check out the highlights from England's 13-6 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

England and Scotland draw Calcutta Cup thriller

A late George Ford converted try denied Scotland a famous come-from-behind Calcutta Cup win at Twickenham in a contest that finished 38-38.

It was a quite stunning 80 minutes on Saturday as the Scots appeared to have done the unthinkable when they came back from 31-0 down to go 38-31 in front with four minutes remaining on the match clock.  But with time up in the clash, Ford had other ideas to save English blushes.

England‘s other try scorers were Jack Nowell, Tom Curry, Joe Launchbury and Jonny May while for Scotland Stuart McInally, Darcy Graham (2), Magnus Bradbury, Finn Russell and Sam Johnson crossed in a match high on entertainment, bringing down 2019’s Six Nations curtain in style.

England were rampant from the off and raced into that big lead after half-an-hour courtesy of five crossings as Scotland were on the ropes.

They got the ball rolling with one minute played when slick handling and decoy runners allowed Henry Slade room to feed Nowell who finished well, cutting back inside off the right wing nicely.  Owen Farrell added the conversion and it wouldn’t be long before the tee was on again.

Their second came seven minutes later as a penalty nudged into the corner led to Curry burrowing over from a line-out rush to make it 14-0.

England were motoring and the only negative from the early stages was an injury to Ben Moon that saw him replaced by Ellis Genge.  The prop was immediately into the action and his carry and combination with fellow front-row Kyle Sinckler created Launchbury’s score on 14 minutes.

Farrell would then add a penalty to his conversion on 25 minutes as the lead was stretched to 24 points before a quickly taken penalty saw Slade race down the left wing before throwing a lovely inside pass to May who finished with ease.  Scotland looked in danger of a hammering.

Fortunately for Gregor Townsend’s men they would get on the board before half-time when McInally showed good pace to cross from 60 metres, this after he charged down Farrell’s attempted cross-kick.  The busy hooker intelligently changed his angle of running to get over in time.

Crucially for Scotland’s hopes of a revival they also scored first after the break when Graham finished well for 31-12 after good handling.  That was added to when Bradbury raced over on 51 minutes as suddenly Scotland had pulled themselves back into the match at just 31-19 down.

Indeed the match had now turned on its head at Twickenham and when the lively Graham raced over on 57 minutes on the right wing, Scotland had themselves a try bonus point to their name as it was now the English who were reeling, with head coach Eddie Jones stunned in his seat.

Amazingly, the game was tied at 31-31 on the hour when Russell intercepted Farrell’s loose pass before running under the posts from distance and the stunning comeback looked to be complete on 76 minutes, Johnson bouncing off would-be tacklers en route to the line for a 38-31 lead.

But England somehow managed to pick themselves up off the canvas and Ford’s last ditch try salvaged a draw to end an unbelievable meeting.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Nowell, Curry, Launchbury, May, Ford
Cons:  Farrell 4, Ford
Pen:  Farrell

For Scotland:
Tries:  McInally, Graham 2, Bradbury, Russell, Johnson
Cons:  Russell 2, Laidlaw 2

England:  15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements:  16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Brad Shields, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 George Ford, 23 Ben Te’o

Scotland:  15 Sean Maitland, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Chris Harris

Referee:  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Scotland claim Calcutta Cup

Scotland have ended 10 years of misery against the Auld Enemy with a 25-13 victory over England at Murrayfield on Saturday.

It brings to an end an eight-game losing streak for Scotland against England and represents Scotland's greatest triumph of the modern era.

Meanwhile, England's hopes of claiming a record third successive title have been cast into doubt while Ireland have now emerged as favourites following their convincing win over Wales.

Greig Laidlaw gave Scotland an early lead, making it nine from nine penalties in this year's Six Nations.

Owen Farrell levelled matters at 3-3 after 14 minutes but then out of nowhere Scotland scored the game's first try.  After driving a maul in to the 22, Finn Russell placed a well-weighted grubber kick through which bounced fortunately for Scotland, completely bamboozling Anthony Watson as Huw Jones pounced on the ball to run through and dot down for the game's first try.  Laidlaw's conversion made it 10-3.

England resorted to mauling as their primary weapon of attack and it was from here they won a penalty as Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist was penalised for pulling the maul down.  Farrell made no mistake from the tee, cutting the deficit to four with a quarter of the match gone.

Russell was pulling the strings on attack for Scotland and made two superb passes in the build-up to an excellent team try, the final pass a floater over the top for Sean Maitland to dive over in the corner.

Jones grabbed his brace, running a sublime line to scythe through the tackle of Nathan Hughes and still showed great strength to brush off the dual attentions of Watson and Mike Brown as he powered over the try-line with a truly world-class finish.

England immediately took the game to Scotland after the break, enjoying their best spell of possession of the game and the resistance was broken just four minutes in when Farrell ran a lovely line as Danny Care switched back to the blindside, catching the Scottish defence slightly off-guard.

A long period of no scoring ensued before Sam Underhill saw yellow in the 65th minute for a no-arms tackle.  Russell slotted the subsequent penalty to extend the lead to 25-13.

However, Scotland showed tremendous character on defence to deny England any further scores and secure an historic victory.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Jones 2, Maitland
Cons:  Laidlaw 2
Pens:  Laidlaw, Russell

For England:
Try:  Farrell
Con:  Farrell
Pens:  Farrell 2

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 David Denton, 21 Ali Price, 22 Nick Grigg, 23 Blair Kinghorn

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Jack Nowell

Referee:  Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO:  Simon McDowell (Ireland)

England claim Six Nations title

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)

England win to lift Calcutta Cup

England got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start at Murrayfield on Saturday, edging Scotland 15-9 to lift the Calcutta Cup.

Eddie Jones hinted it wouldn't be pretty but a victory is all the English wanted to start their new era on a positive note after a poor World Cup.

Tries were scored by second-row George Kruis and wing Jack Nowell, with Owen Farrell kicking five points to Greig Laidlaw's nine for Scotland.

It was a pulsating first-half in Edinburgh as England edged the opening quarter before Scotland finished strongly, making the 7-6 scoreline a fair reflection of the first 40 minutes.  Those points came via England lock Kruis' converted score and two Laidlaw penalties in reply.

However, Scotland would rue a Laidlaw penalty miss and also a 40th minute drop-goal attempt from fly-half Finn Russell that went well wide.

England had a pot shot of their own in the first opportunity of the game on ten minutes as George Ford sat back in the pocket.  That effort drifted just wide of the post but the visitors did not have to wait long before Kruis reached out after a series of close carries for 7-0.

At this point England were enjoying 80 percent of possession in decent areas so when Scotland came to life in the 17th minute, Murrayfield was full of relieved faces as their charges began to improve.  Laidlaw landed a penalty for some reward after Chris Robshaw didn't roll away.

It could have been 7-6 on the half-hour mark when Ford was penalised for not releasing under pressure from Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour.  But Laidlaw was off-target as Scotland had to wait until the 38th minute for their next points, this time Joe Launchbury the man not releasing.

As mentioned though, Vern Cotter's side would possibly feel they should have gone into the dressing room in front after that Russell miss.

The momentum continued to be with Scotland after the turnaround but once again they had little to show for their dominance, with a second crooked lineout throw from hooker Ross Ford not helping their cause, allowing England to clear their lines for a much-needed respite.

Enter Mako Vunipola whose fine form this season in club colours continued for his country, with lovely hands leading to Nowell racing over on the right wing.  Farrell though could not land the difficult touchline extras which meant Scotland remained within a score at 12-6 down.

It was predicted that England's powerful bench would have a say on proceedings and that proved to be the case coming up to the hour as they set up camp in the home 22.

Fortunately for Scotland a loose pass from Ben Youngs gave them a welcome escape up to halfway.  However, had that ball been kept in hand there was more than a chance of a breakout try.

The clearance wouldn't shield them from three key points in the game though as a scrum penalty led to Farrell sending one over to make it 15-6.

Scotland were gifted a route back into the game on 69 minutes when England replacement Courtney Lawes was caught offside from a Mike Brown kick, Laidlaw making no mistake from in front of the uprights as the gap was cut to six points with plenty of time still on the clock.

But England held on and deservedly won the match, seeing out the clash on the front foot as the Jones era began on a positive note.

Man of the Match:  A force throughout at number eight for England, Billy Vunipola gets the nod for our star man.  Scotland struggled to keep a lid on his power as Vunipola made good metres with his carries.  Despite a mixed day off the tee, and one careless penalty, centre Owen Farrell was also impressive.

Moment of the Match:  Maybe Scotland fly-half Finn Russell will be kicking himself for booting the ball upfield after intercepting a pass in his 22.  Had he looked to his left he would have found full-back Stuart Hogg who would surely have won a foot race with George Ford.  Costly.

Villain of the Match:  All in all, a clean game with no mischief.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Laidlaw 3

For England:
Tries:  Kruis, Nowell
Con:  Farrell
Pen:  Farrell

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements:  16 Stuart McInally, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Duncan Taylor

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Alex Goode, 23 Ollie Devoto

Referee:  John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO:  George Ayoub (Australia)

England pick up Calcutta Cup

England kept their hopes of lifting the Six Nations trophy very much alive, despite labouring past Scotland 25-13 in a sloppy showing on Saturday.

Victory leaves the English top of the standings on points difference — four ahead of Ireland and 25 up on third-placed Wales — ahead of hosting France next weekend in a fascinating final round of Championship fixtures.

But they will rue a plethora of missed opportunities in this game as Scotland battled well and stayed in touch until Jack Nowell's late try sealed the result.

Scotland were clinging on by their fingernails as early as the fifth minute as England came out all guns blazing, crossing early after Jonathan Joseph slipped a tackle from close-range.  That came moments after Luther Burrell could have set up Anthony Watson following a simple break.

England were so dominant in the opening 20 minutes that they made a whopping 260 metres as Scotland were falling off tackles, 11 in total.

However, the hosts had nothing further to show for their efforts before Scotland somehow managed to claw their way into the match.  A brief passage in the English half led to an intelligent line-out before the ball was moved out to centre Mark Bennett who crossed in the right-hand corner.

Greig Laidlaw slotted a wonderful touchline conversion and suddenly, despite having been under the cosh for so long, the Scots were level.

George Ford and Laidlaw then traded penalties in the 25th and 29th minute, but Scotland would be forgiven for feeling hard done to when referee Romain Poite did not show tighthead prop Dan Cole a yellow for cynically taking out Laidlaw at the base just one metre from England's line.

At 10-10 England continued to look threatening with ball in hand against a poor Scottish defence.  But fortunately for the visitors, Ford's pass 40 metres out that sent Burrell through before Watson finished over the line was called forward by Poite.  Somehow we were still tied.

And incredibly it was Scotland who would head into the break at Twickenham leading when an offside from England saw Laidlaw make it 10-13.

It didn't last as England, like they did in the first, started the second-half with real intent as they went over on 44 minutes, with Ford finding a gaping hole in the Scottish defence to cruise over from ten metres out.  His successful conversion put the English 17-13 in front.

That cushion was pushed out to seven points in the 51st minute when Rob Harley made contact with Courtney Lawes in the air at line-out time, Ford making no mistake as England looked set to turn the screw.  Indeed, Stuart Lancaster went to Tom Youngs and Geoff Parling as fresh legs.

Still the Scots would not be floored though as yet more English ball and opportunities to kill the game with tries were foiled by a mixture of knock-ons, forward passes or strong breakdown work from the visitors, the highlight being James Haskell's skew pass to full-back Brown.

But England would put the game to bed in the 75th minute when Nowell finished well in the left corner for a score that took them top of the standings, with Scotland meanwhile taking heart from a much-improved performance.

Man of the match:  Playing some excellent rugby for a youngster, Anthony Watson was impressive yet again on Saturday, running well and offering the ball well in or before contact.  Mike Brown also played well at full-back while openside flanker Blair Cowan and left wing Tommy Seymour were good for Scotland, but it has to go to metre-making England wing Jack Nowell, who deserved his late try in the corner.

Moment of the match:  While they created try-scoring opportunities, England's video session will look at what went wrong to leave them claiming only a narrow win.  In truth they should have put this to bed in the opening 20 minutes.

Villain of the match:  Nothing nasty to report.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Joseph, Ford, Nowell
Con:  Ford 2
Pen:  Ford 2

For Scotland:
Try:  Bennett
Con:  Laidlaw
Pen:  Laidlaw 2

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 James Haskell, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 David Denton, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21 Adam Ashe, 22 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 23 Greig Tonks.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees:  George Clancy (Ireland), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

England thump hapless Scots

Luther Burrell and Mike Brown both scored as England produced a simple 20-0 win over a dreadful Scottish outfit at Murrayfield.

It The pace was not perhaps as frenetic as we have come to expect from Calcutta Cup rugby, but tries from Burrell and the Man of the Match, Brown, were more than enough to secure victory for England in Test rugby's oldest fixture.

England arrived at Murrayfield with a point to prove after their late loss in Paris last week, but the hosts too were seeking a reaction having been blown away in forty minutes by an embattled Ireland side.

Stuart Lancaster's men hadn't lost three successive Tests since 2008;  the same year Scotland last claimed the Calcutta Cup, but this failed to prove an omen as the visitors blitzed their rivals with a combination of speed, precision and aggression.

It was the same maddening problems of old that hindered Scott Johnson's team.

The simple but painful truth is that Scotland cannot hope to play ball with the big boys in the Test rugby playground for as long as they fail to muster any sort of potent attack, consistently win quick ball at the breakdown, eradicate unforced errors, missed tackles and silly penalties, or shore up a set-piece that exerts a crippling influence upon their ability to build phases and threaten their opponents line.

To put things in perspective, they lost almost half of their lineouts versus England's near perfect record, and conceded a total of 16 penalties.

Not for the first time this season, each successful throw-in was greeted with an ironic cheer from the home crowd;  more unsavoury was the audible approval from sixty-thousand Scots as hooker Ross Ford was replaced just after half-time.

The Murrayfield pitch was in arguably its poorest state for decades, with the patches of churned up turf a glaring backdrop to an otherwise fantastic occasion;  on this evidence, the new hybrid surface can't come soon enough.

It was the English pack who made the most of these testing conditions.  They were a step ahead of the Scots at the breakdown as Ireland had been in Dublin, and their line speed was outstanding in the first forty minutes.  The Scots' attack is often static and passive, and its deficiencies were brutally exposed as players found themselves with no time on the ball, and no option but to brace themselves for the oncoming white charge.

The hosts suffered from a lack of accuracy early on as Duncan Weir floated his first kick from hand out on the full under no pressure, and the Scots gathered the ball from an offside position to hand Owen Farrell a simple opportunity for the game's opening points.  The fly-half did take his kick from one of the more pudding-like splotches of mud, but his miss from 25 yards out and straight in front of the posts was glaring nonetheless.

Danny Care got up to his old tricks again minutes later to spare his half-back partner's blushes.  With a penalty advantage being played, and England's maul on the home 22 going nowhere, Care struck his second drop-goal in as many weeks;  having achieved the same feat in Paris a week ago.

Greig Laidlaw was wide with his first of two fruitless attempts on ten minutes;  the scrum-half always likely to struggle into the breeze from over 40 metres.

The penalty count was rising against Scotland at the breakdown, and it was from a Jim Hamilton infringement that yielded the first try of the match.  Farrell booted play up to within ten metres of the Scots' line, and after the pack were held up short, centre Burrell picked a smart line off his fly-half to crash over for his second try in as many games.  This time, Farrell made no mistake from the tee.

Laidlaw had a chance to put Scotland on the board straight from the restart with another penalty effort, but he glanced the left-hand upright from right of centre.

Farrell should have punished Scotland again on 20 minutes after yet another infringement, but dragged effort wide from the 10m line.

That misfiring lineout is a constant bane for Johnson, and when Ford threw over the top of Hamilton, England won the ball and shortly after a penalty.  Farrell converted for a commanding 13-0 lead on the half-hour mark.

It was Farrell who cut through the home defence as England threatened again in the dying moments of the first half, finding Burrell with a smart inside ball.  The centre was held up inches from the line, and the Scots were off the hook with the clock red.

The second-half began in similar fashion;  England breaking the home line with simple rugby executed at pace.  Farrell missed with another penalty effort, but England were soon to win a numerical advantage from their dominance.

Jonny May raced clear down the left-hand-side, and was again halted within a metre of a first international try.  Centre Alex Dunbar clung onto him too long after the tackle, and promptly found himself watching the next ten minutes from a plastic chair on the sidelines.  Still, though, England could not press home their advantage, despite hammering the Scottish line with a series of mauls.

That all changed as the hour mark approached.  A smart runaround move off a lineout on halfway saw the visitors outflank the Scottish midfield defence.  It appeared the chance had gone when Stuart Hogg brought Jack Nowell down on the 22, but the ball found its way back to the winger, who showed good feet and timing of his pass to send full-back Brown round under the posts.

With that, the game was over as a contest, the knockout blow had been struck, and Scotland's aim switched from sending the Auld Enemy homewards tae think again to simply avoiding a second loss to nil on home soil this season.

Johnnie Beattie matched number eight Dave Denton's powerful ball-carrying, but he was one of precious few who consistently made yards against the English defence.

Instead, it was the visitors who continued to press;  Lancaster will in truth be irked that his charges did not rack up more points from their territory and possession in the closing stages.

It was telling that the biggest cheer of the evening was reserved for a kilted pitch-invader who evaded a swarm of stewards as the white jerseys continued to bludgeon their way into the home 22;  halted chiefly by their own errors.

And so it was to finish;  a game England never looked like losing, Lancaster's only gripe the win was not a more handsome one.  Much to ponder for Scott Johnson, but these problems are none he has not been faced with before.

Man of the Match:  The chief contenders for this one were unsurprisingly all in white, with Danny Care and Billy Vunipola in particular picking up where they left off in Paris.  The award was rightly handed to Brown, however, whose kicking was secure, running sharp with a whopping 114m gained, and bagged the try that killed the game.

Moment of the Match:  Brown's try was the killer blow;  silencing the last few spirited, optimistic souls in the home crowd, and

England see off Scotland

A strong performance from England saw them defeat Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham to retain the Calcutta Cup.

The hosts enjoyed large portions of possession in both halves and arguably should have come away with more points, despite racking up four tries through Chris Ashton, debutant Billy Twelvetrees, Geoff Parling and Danny Care.

Scotland were not without their moments — a brilliant break from full-back Stuart Hogg leading to the first try of the afternoon for the visitors — but they were forced into defence too often and conceded needless penalties at the breakdown when momentum was behind them.

Owen Farrell produced one of his best displays yet in international rugby, a long pass securing England's third try, whilst Twelvetrees lived up to the billing he has been given in recent weeks in the build-up to the beginning of the Six Nations.

The victory means that England will travel to Dublin with confidence, but also aware that there is plenty to work on if they are to finish this year's championship with a title.

A burst from Ben Morgan set England on their way early on, winning the penalty phases later which Farrell converted for a 3-0 lead after two minutes.

England controlled the opening phases, going close with attacks from Wood and then Ashton with little errors causing them to lose possession — but it was a stunning break from Hogg that brought Scotland into the game as he scorched though frozen English tacklers and ended up close to the line.

Scotland controlled possession metres out before Greig Laidlaw drew the tackle of Geoff Parling to put Sean Maitland in the corner to score on debut.

Farrell responded with a penalty to give England a 6-5 lead.  A loose pass from Richie Gray then put Scotland under intense pressure on their own 22, England winning the penalty at the breakdown for Farrell to add another three points.

England were immediately penalised from the restart for entering the side of a ruck, handing Laidlaw a penalty chance on the edge of the 22 which he duly converted to narrow the gap to a single point at 9-8.

The hosts struggled to convert several chances in the red zone before a chargedown off the back of Farrell created another opening — Twelvetrees gliding through a gap before Chris Ashton squeezed under two tacklers to score England's first try.

Neither side was able to establish a foothold in the opposition's half during the closing stages of the opening 40 minutes, until a high tackle on Morgan led to another penalty for Farrell to send through the posts.

Johnnie Beattie responded with a powerful run for the Scots which ended in a penalty nearly 30 metres out, Laidlaw converting to leave the score at 19-11 at the interval.

England started the second half with a bang — Billy Twelvetrees eventually crashing over for a try on debut after a great pass from Ben Youngs.

Farrell continued to turn up the pressure in an assured performance, pinning Scotland back into their half.  Any momentum generated by the Scots a few minutes later was then killed off for a simple penalty, putting England back on the attack.

The hosts fluidity and power eventually proved too much for Scotland to handle, with Joe Launchbury appearing to cross over for a third try before the play was called back for a high tackle.

A burst from Ben Youngs however threw England back into Scottish territory, Farrell spinning a brilliant wide pass to Geoff Parling to go over in the corner for England's third try.

Scotland's defence continued to struggle throughout the second half, but a turnover near their own life breathed life into their attack, Alex Goode was wrapped up by four blue shirts to concede a penalty in his own half with Jackson kicking to the corner.

Their efforts though were in vain as replacement David Denton knocked on heading for the try line.  The resulting scrum did not go England's way and Scotland had another chance, but their efforts once again were undone at the breakdown.

England continued to show the greater invention in attack but a breakaway score from Hogg gave Scotland hope — Maitland's kick gathered by the rapid Hogg who scored in the corner with Laidlaw converting.

An error from Mike Brown then saw him penalised for holding on inside England's 22, handing Scotland an opportunity with a five metre lineout which they failed to make the most of.

England switched the momentum back their way and finished things off with a fourth try in the 80th minute, replacement Danny Care sniping around the fringes to leave the final score at 38-18.

Man of the match:  Excellent handling, pace and kicking from Billy Twelvetrees on debut saw him cap it off with a try on debut.

Moment of the match:  After being disallowed a third try, Ben Youngs had Scotland scampering and ultimately led to the score from Geoff Parling, putting the game out of reach.

Villain of the match:  Scotland's 19 missed tackles meant that today was always going to be a struggle.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Ashton, Twelvetrees, Parling, Care
Cons:  Farrell 3
Pens:  Farrell 3

For Scotland:
Tries:  Maitland, Hogg
Cons:  Laidlaw
Pens:  Laidlaw 2

The teams:

England:  15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Courtney Lawes 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Toby Flood, 23 David Strettle.

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (capt), 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.

Scotland gift England Calcutta Cup

England profited from a self-destructing Scotland side to open their Six Nations campaign with a 13-6 victory at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Stuart Lancaster's new-look team claimed England's first win in the Scottish capital since 2004 but the result had less to do with a new-era of creativity that English fans had been hoping for than the hosts' inability to convert their chances into points.

Scotland led 6-3 at the end of a boring, error-strewn first half that saw both sides fail to seriously threaten the opposition tryline.  On the basis of those 40 minutes and the day's earlier game in Paris, neither England nor Scotland will travel to Rome confident of victory this year.

With both sides flooding the breakdown, attacking opportunities from quick ball were few and far between.  And rare chances to spread the ball were generally ruined by poor handling or aimless kicking.

An opportunistic try from England fly-half Charlie Hodgson just seconds after the restart sparked the game into life however.

A far more-exciting second period saw Scotland throw the kitchen sink at a well-disciplined English defence but the home fans were left frustrated as their team conspired to make a hash of a number of scoring opportunities.

A scrappy opening quarter ended the with scores locked at 0-0 as Dan Parks kicked most of Scotland's possession away and a series of handling errors and ruck infringements prevented England from finding any sort of rhythm on attack.

It took just over 22 minutes for the first points to be scored courtesy of the boot of debutant England centre Owen Farrell.  The hosts took less than three minutes to reply however as the visitors failed to stay on their feet and Parks slotted an easy penalty to restore the status quo.

The Scots began to ply the pressure and Parks split the uprights once again just after the half-hour mark to give his side a deserved lead which they held until the half-time whistle.

The game desperately needed a try and it came within seconds of kick-off when Hodgson charged down a lethargic Parks on the Scottish tryline before pouncing on the loose ball.

Farrell's extra's gave England a 10-6 lead, prompting Scotland up the tempo and the men in blue did most the playing in the second half, dominating territory and possession.

The introduction of Glasgow half-backs Greg Laidlaw and Mike Blair added extra impetus to their attack but the hosts continued to be the architects of their own downfall.

Laidlaw came within inches — literally — from grabbing the lead for Scotland after a kick and chase, but the TMO ruled he failed to touch the ball down ahead of Ben Youngs, while Ross Rennie butchered a fantastic chance to put Blair through.

A late penalty from Farrell settled England's nerves and secured a winning start to a new era.

Man of the match:  It's rare that a player from the losing side gets this award but number eight David Denton was a tireless grafter and a standout performer in Scotland's back row.

Moment of the match:  Scotland's match cam be summed up it one moment.  Ross Rennie's wasted opportunity when he failed to find the two runners on his outside and instead decided to hang on was classic example of the hosts' inability land the killer blow.

Villain of the match:  No rough stuff to report.

For England:
Try:  Hodgson
Con:  Farrell
Pen:  Farrell

Scotland:  15 Rory Lamont, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (capt), 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 John Barclay, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Graeme Morrison.

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Phil Dowson, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt) 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown.

Venue:  Murrayfield
Referee:  George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees:  Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official:  Tony Redmond (Ireland)

England scrape past brave Scots

England kept their Grand Slam dreams alive, but only just, after seeing off Scotland 22-16 in an unconvincing performance at Twickenham on Sunday.

It was by no means a performance to savour, but the result will be a relief for the home side.  It was another tight contest that could so easily have gone the way of the Scots, but England held on.

England manager Martin Johnson should be livid with his charges.  They produced a flat display in the first half, and were fortunate to head into the break with the scores all square at 9-9.

They played with more intensity in the second half though, but just couldn't convert their opportunities until replacement forward Tom Croft powered over for the match-defining try.

And although Scotland wing Max Evans crossed late on for the visitors to set up a nervous finale, the trusty boot of Jonny Wilkinson settled matters in the final minute.

Scotland enjoying an early lead after Chris Paterson got the first points on the scoreboard thanks to a fourth-minute penalty goal that barely made it over the posts.

England fly-half Toby Flood had a chance to level the scores, but pushed his relatively easy first attempt wide of the posts, but made amends with another straight-forward shot five minutes later.

The battle of the boot between the two pivots continued -- Paterson banging over his second successful penalty of the match to reclaim Scotland's lead, before Flood tied up the scores once more.

England went in front for the first time in a tight encounter ten minutes from half-time after Flood raised the flags once more with his third successful attempt.

The Scots threatened England's line twice but were denied on both occasions through some fierce defence from the home side, but Martin Johnsen's men couldn't keep out a perfectly struck drop goal from Ruaridh Jackson on the stroke of half-time.

Jackson's strike meant the sides went into the break all square at 9-9 all -- a fair reflection of a dull and uninspiring opening forty minutes.

As the teams ran out for the second half, it was interesting to see replacement Matt Banahan in for captain Mike Tindall, with word from the England camp putting it down to a 'tactical move'.

It nearly proved to be a masterstroke from manager Johnson as England came out firing from the restart, flanker Tom Wood getting hauled down inches from Scotland's try-line.  And Banahan's damage was already evident after powering into Kelly Brown, that would leave the Scotland number eight having to be stretchered off the pitch -- a horrible sight for any spectator.

Scotland continued to dig deep in pressure situations to hold out several England attacks, before John Barclay was sin-binned for an infringement close to the visitors' line -- a decision that was perhaps a wee bit harsh by referee Romain Poite on the Scottish flank.

Flood then put England back in front with the ensuing penalty, while Scotland made their way back for the restart 14 men down.

The game was interrupted moments later when referee Poite limped off with a calf injury to be replaced by touch judge Jerome Garces.

Scotland needed a last-ditch tackle from Paterson to deny Ben Foden a try in the corner, and with 15 minutes remaining Johnson sent on England's reinforcements, bringing on hooker Steve Thompson, lock Simon Shaw, Croft and Wilkinson.

The new blood had the required effect and on 68 minutes, Croft crashed over after being released by Mark Cueto with what looked like a forward pass.

Wilkinson converted and England looked to be poised for victory at 19-9 up.  However a clever individual try by Evans, chippping and gathering his own kick ensured a nail-biting finale before Wilkinson gave England a five-point cushion with a nerveless late penalty.

The win means that England will travel to Dublin next Saturday knowing that victory over Ireland will give them their first Grand Slam in eight years.

However England know they will have to improve significantly if they are to defeat the Irish at Lansdowne Road after a disjointed and error-strewn performance.

And as Scotland's 28-year losing streak at Twickenham continued, Andy Robinson's troops now face a must-win clash against Italy at Murrayfield to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.

Man of the match:  The official man of the match may have gone to England flank James Haskell, but we disagree.  Our vote goes to veteran Chris Paterson who showed there's an abundance of life left in those old legs yet.  The full-back made a superb try-saving tackle and other crucial defensive interventions, as well as being typically flawless with the boot.  It's just a shame he was on the losing side after a complete performance.

Moment of the match:  There weren't many in a rather dour encounter.  Whilst Tom Croft's try brought on the loudest roar at Twickenham, and Max Evans' five-pointer gave the Scots hope of an upset -- Paterson's try-saving tackle on Foden takes the cake.

Villain of the match:  A yellow card to Scotland flank John Barclay but no malice in it.

The scorers:

For England:
Try:  Croft
Con:  Wilkinson
Pens:  Flood 4, Wilkinson

For Scotland:
Try:  Evans
Con:  Paterson
Pens:  Paterson 2
Drop:  Jackson

England:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs , 8 Nick Easter , 7 James Haskell, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 Paul Doran-Jones, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Danny Care, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 Matt Banahan.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 6 Nathan Hines, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Richie Vernon, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Nick De Luca.

Referee:  Romain Poite (France)

Misery shared at Murrayfield

The Calcutta Cup will remain south of the border after England and Scotland ground out a turgid 15-15 draw at Murrayfield on Saturday.

This was the 18th time in the fixture's history that honours have been shared, but the 127th edition of international sport's most ancient derby will not go down in the annals as anything more than a footnote.

No tries, zero tempo, little ambition and errors galore, what the game lacked in finesse it made up for in the faint drama of the lead changing hands at regular intervals as the kickers traded shots at goal.

With a series of injuries allowing the introduction of some new blood during the later stages of the game, it seemed for a fleeting moment that the laborious foreplay would lead to an explosive climax.  Alas, it was not to be.

Both sides will say they should have won the game.  Scotland's claim probably carrying more weight.

Nothing summons up Scottish spirits like a visit from the Sassenachs and the locals deserved more from a gutsy performance.  Same old story, in other words.

Dan Parks, celebrating his 50th cap, punctuated a cagey start from both sides by opening the score via his boot after Dan Cole failed to roll away from a tackle.

England's response coughed and sputtered for a good ten minutes before Jim Hamilton came to their aid by flopping over the ball, and Jonny Wilkinson drew his side level with the resulting penalty.

Scotland's riposte was immediate and brutal, with Graeme Morrison knocking a hole in midfield.  Parks then found Max Evans out on the left with a fine crossfield kick.  The ensuing siege forced two penalties out of England, the second of which Parks slotted between the uprights.

Scottish tails were now well and truly up and they began to stitch width to their increasingly regular attacks.

But it was England who got the next points, with Wilkinson slotting a penalty after the locals strayed offside in defence -- three points that saw the England legend becoming the leading points-scorer in the Championship's history, knocking Ronan O'Gara from his lofty perch.

The setback didn't cause Scottish heads to drop and they carried on attacking with endeavour if not success.  With England looking comfortable in defence, Parks opted for a change of tack and drew the curtain down on a forgettable half of rugby by dropping a goal.

Two unchanged sides came out for the second half, and England won a penalty directly from the restart after Hamilton took a wild swing at the ball lying at Danny Care's feet at the base of a ruck.  Again, Wilkinson drew his side level off the tee.

It was to be Wilkinson's last contribution to proceedings.  Toby Flood joined the fray after England's number ten was forced to leave the field after taking a heavy knock in an attempted tackle on Evans.

And thus Martin Johnson's critics had the chance to test out their theory about the Leicester pivot.

So, did he manage to oil the wheels of England's wonky chariot?

Well, on this evidence, the jury remains out -- but his arrival did herald a few passages of inventive attack.

The pressure took its toll on the Scots and they soon conceded a penalty in defence, and the new arrival duly pocketed the points to put England ahead for the first time of the match.

But England's revival was short-lived.  Parks levelled the scores after James Haskell failed to release man and ball in the tackle.

Another error from England gave the half-tonner a chance to win back the lead, but his shot at goal rebounded off the post.

The Scots managed to regain possession and had England defending their line when a sickening clash of heads killed the raid and removed both Kelly Brown and Ugo Monye from proceedings.

The game restarted after a lengthy break with England debutant Ben Youngs one of the new faces on the field.

It was either the change of personnel or the fear of the large man waiting in the changing room or a combination of both, but England began to up the gears as the game moved into the last quarter.

Flood missed a shot at goal before sending a second effort into the corner for an attacking line-out.  The daring option might not seem like much, but in a match devoid of highlights, it felt as if Indiana Jones has swung in off the roof.

England were unable to add the cherry of a try to the top of their adventurous gambit, but Flood did managed to win back the lead after Scotland killed the raid illegal.

Again, England's reign didn't last too long.

Another shot at goal from Parks came off the post.  This time his mates decided to give chase and they almost got across the line after collecting the loose ball.  England managed to regroup, but not without conceding another penalty that Parks turned into the points that sealed the final score.

To their credit, both sides upped the tempo in the remaining minutes, but more in the manner of headless chickens than professional sportsmen.

Flood was handed a chance to win it at the death after Scotland replacement Scott Lawson was deemed to have held an Englishman back, but the fly-half's central, 48-yard shot at the sticks didn't have the legs.  A fitting epitaph for a game that limped along for the entire duration of its short and painful life.

Man of the match:  The athletic enthusiasm of Scotland's three buzzing Bs -- Beattie, Barclay, Brown -- rubbed off on those around them, with the collective spirit probably eclipsing any individual contributions.  Having said that, Hugo Southwell had one of his best games in a Scotland jersey and Max Evans and Chris Cusiter were constant thorns in England's side.  But it was straight-running, hard-tackling Graeme Morrison that caused the visitors the most problems.

Moment of the match:  It was a dismal spectacle, with the highlight probably being the sight of referee Marius Jonker conducting a scrummaging clinic after a full five minutes of collapsing set-pieces.  Nothing here will live long in the memory, so we'll nominate the moment when the Nimrod flew low over the stadium just before kick off.  It really was that bad.

Villain of the match:  The red mist descended all over Dylan Hartley after he got into shirt-pulling contest with Ross Ford.  Both can count themselves lucky that his haymaker didn't connect.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Drop:  Parks

For England:
Pens:  Wilkinson 3, Flood 2

The teams:

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Simon Danielli.

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 James Haskell, 5 Steve Borthwick, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements:  16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Lewis Moody, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Ben Foden.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official:  Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor:  Patrick Robin (France)

England recover Calcutta Cup

England followed up last weekend's earth-shattering improvement with a bitty 26-12 win over Scotland as they reclaimed the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham on Saturday.

It was hardly one for rugby's purists as frustrating handling errors coupled with both side's keenness not to lose scuppered the contest as Ugo Monye, Riki Flutey and Mathew Tait's scores ultimately proved the difference.

Judgement day for Frank Hadden had already been set pre-game and with their fifth-place finish just above the Azzurri falling below the board's minimum requirement, it could well have been the last time he led his loyal troops.

England, meanwhile, were left to consider what might have been after away defeats in Wales and Ireland cost them any chance of playing for the title this afternoon.

This may have been just a prelude to the day's main event in Cardiff but it was of no less importance to Martin Johnson in his attempts to rebuild "Fortress Twickenham".

Scotland, who had not won at Twickenham since 1983, started both halves well and kept in touch with three penalties from Chris Paterson and a long-range strike from Phil Godman.

Hadden's men succeeded where France failed last week, by absorbing England's early attacking threat and briefly turning the tables to ask questions of Martin Johnson's men.

Mark Cueto had a break snuffed out by Max and Thom Evans down one wing and Delon Armitage, whose pace ripped France to shreds last weekend, was expertly shepherded into touch by Paterson.

In between time, Paterson had given Scotland a 3-0 lead after Harry Ellis was penalised for not rolling away and Thom Evans came within a metre of scoring a brilliant breakaway try.

The Glasgow winger sprinted clear after Ellis had tried to snipe down the blindside.  He left Flood in his wake and looked for all the world like scoring a 70-metre special.

But Evans had not banked on the electric pace of England's former schoolboy sprinter Monye, who raced diagonally across field and pulled off one of the great tackles to deny him in the corner.

England conceded five penalties in the first sixteen minutes and they also lost Phil Vickery and Ellis to injuries.

Vickery looked dazed when he went off but play was halted for around ten minutes after Ellis was knocked out in a tackle on Simon Danielli and eventually taken off the field on a stretcher.

He required stitches to a gash behind the ear but was back on the England bench smiling before the end of the game.

England would not have asked for a break under such circumstances, but they made the most of it and emerged from their huddle to dominate the rest of the half.

England soon took the lead with a slick move featuring Flutey and Flood creating the chance for Monye to slip out of Paterson's cover tackle and score his first Test try.

It had taken just over 22 minutes but England had regained their swagger from last week and they scored again after Scotland made a mess of a lineout just five metres out.

England spread the ball left and Flutey cut between two defenders and wriggled his way to the line for a try confirmed by the television officials.

Mike Blair then wasted a golden opportunity for a quick Scotland reply when he failed to spot Danielli screaming for the inside pass having spun clear of England's defence.

It was a only brief respite for Scotland.  Simon Shaw charged down a kick from Blair and Flutey injected some pace into the attack before being hauled down just short of the line.

The forwards took over but Julian White was ruled to have been held up after a tunnelling drive for the line before England finished the half with a penalty for Flood.

The half-time statistics did not make happy reading for Scotland.  England had enjoyed 62 per cent possession, 68 per cent territory and won ball in their opponent's 22 on 22 occasions to Scotland's nil.

And with Johnson urging England to "out-work and out-enthuse" their opponents, nor did the full-time figures show Scotland in a good light.  England made twice as many passes and forced Scotland into twice as many tackles.

England, though, lost the penalty count again -- poor discipline has cost them dear in this championship -- and that allowed Scotland to chip away at their lead in the second half with Paterson slotting two more efforts to finish the tournament with a 100 per cent record.

Godman joined in on the act with a long-range strike but Scotland could not get close enough to England.

Care slotted a drop goal to make it 21-12 and Tait rounded off the victory with a neatly-taken try in the corner.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Monye, Flutey, Tait
Con:  Flood
Pen:  Flood 2
Drop:  Care

For Scotland:
Pen:  Paterson 4

England:  15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Julian White, 18 Nick Kennedy, 19 James Haskell, 20 Danny Care, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Mathew Tait.

Scotland:  15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Scott Gray, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Jason White, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements:  16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Hugo Southwell.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Christophe Berdos (France), Simon, McDowell (Ireland)
Television match official:  Carlo Damasco (Italy)

England pay the penalty

English rugby, after the high of Paris, sunk to a fresh low on Saturday with Scotland ending their Six Nations chances by beating the auld enemy 15-9 in Edinburgh.

In a terrible game, the Scots simply kept their heads and plugged away as England, and Jonny Wilkinson in particular, gifted Scotland far too much easy possession and only once threatened the Scottish line.  In the end it came down to discipline and mental strength, and Scotland were, by and large, far superior in that department.

Both sides went into this one proclaiming that it didn't matter how they got the win, as long as they got it.  How true that proved to be.  The weather also didn't care, showering the players with sheet after sheet and blowing the sheets for good measure.  As a result, England rarely had any third phase possession, an error or a kick inevitably punctuating phases one and two.  Scotland rarely had any territorial gain, with a blinkered runner or a kick punctuating what ball came their way.  Anyone suffering insomnia should be prescribed a good dose of this game.

Jonny Wilkinson did, in the end, surpass Neil Jenkins as the world's top points-scorer in Test rugby, but it was a day he will want to forget.  That one record-breaking kick aside, Wilkinson's boot was used to gift possession away.  Kick after aimless kick fell upon the solid Hugo Southwell like the rain that fell on Edinburgh.  It was, by quite a way, Wilkinson's worst performance in the white shirt.  Danny Cipriani anyone?  Oh, that's right, he wasn't there...

England's woes are generally deeper though, and the finger of accusation will point with unerring straightness at Briann Ashton.  Was it upset in harmony in the camp that caused England to look so uninterested?  It isn't as if they would normally be deterred by a cold wet day.  Given the manner in which they put pay to France, you would have thought England's confident pack would have eaten the Scots like so many porridge oats.  But they all trotted around the field, hitting the tackles, rucks and mauls but never really clearing them.  A tactic or game-plan was never apparent.  One step forward two weeks ago, two steps back this time.  Why?  Time for someone at the RFU to answer that one.

Anything to say about Scotland?  Not much.  They took their chances and defended excellently, not least when the English pack drove at their line for five minutes in the first half immediately after Rory Lamont had been taken from the field with a serious-looking head injury.  That was England's one real threatening moment in the whole game.  Scotland never got to the English line once, but then with a stream of needless penalties coming their way, they didn't need to.  The win certainly won't blunt the knives being quietly sharpened for Frank Hadden, but at least his players scrapped and fought for the cause.

Scotland took an early lead as a result of the third penalty in a row conceded at a Scots line-out by England's pack after nine minutes.  Then finally, after a quarter of utter torpor, England got a couple of penalties near the Scots line.  Wilkinson kicked for the corner, as is England's frequent wont, but fully four minutes of driving later all the English pack had gained was a scrum in the middle of the field.  Euan Murray slipped his binding at the scrum, and Wilkinson broke the record to equalise at 3-3.

But discipline was missing.  Andy Sheridan was fortunate not to connect with Nathan Hines's face more sharply with his elbow, and even more so being as he had been the man with hands in the ruck that had given Paterson the chance to give Scotland back the lead.

On the half-time whistle, Paterson landed another to make it 9-3, with more hands being spied by referee Kaplan in the ruck.

It got worse after the break.  Right from the off, Simon Shaw was caught coming in at the side and Paterson made it 12-3.  Seven minutes and one unidentified pair of hands in the ruck later it was 15-3, Dan Parks this time doing the damage from distance.

Within five minutes it was 15-9, Wilkinson kicking two goals of his own as Scotland eased off the pressure slightly, and conceded one penalty for offside and one for going over the top.

Then the rot truly set in.  Kick after kick boomed down the field, with no semblance of tactic from either side.  The kicks were not even quality touch-finders or hanging up-and-unders.  They were just the actions of bored people who didn't want to play.

Eventually England swung it wide on 65 minutes to Paul Sackey, who never once slipped away from anyone.  England built up a head of steam with some better picks and drives.  Then they turned it over.

With four minutes to go, Jason White put in a hit on Sackey that drove the winger some eight metres back, with a verve and passion that English players never once looked like showing.

With one minute, one minute to go, Charlie Hodgson, presumably on for Wilkinson in order to add some spice and lift to the dough, received the ball from a ruck and kicked it fully 50 metres down field.  One minute to go, his team six behind, and he did that.  What on earth goes on behind England's scenes?  Scotland got the ball, and never gave it back to England again.  England didn't deserve it.

Man of the match:  In a match ruined by so much kicking, at least Hugo Southwell caught the ball well, ran it well, and kicked constructively for his team.  His entire team gathers a group award for its defensive effort as well.

Moment of the match:  Not a single one.

Villain of the match:  None of these either.  Even the niggle was passionless.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 4, Parks

For England:
Pens:  Wilkinson 3

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Rory Lamont, 13 Simon Webster, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Chris Paterson, 9 Mike Blair (c), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Allister Hogg, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements:  16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Craig Smith, 19 Jason White, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Rory Lawson, 22 Dan Parks.

England:  15 Iain Balshaw, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Lesley Vainikolo, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Steve Borthwick, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements:  16 George Chuter, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Ben Kay, 18 Luke Narraway, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Mathew Tait, 22 Charlie Hodgson.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch-judges:  Marius Jonker (South Africa), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official:  Tim Hayes (Wales)

Old guard brings new England home

Jonny Wilkinson notched a personal haul of 27 points -- including one highly dubious try -- as England roared back onto the international scene with a 42-20 win over Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday.

This was the dawn of a new era for England under the watchful eye of Brian Ashton for the first time, but there was so much of the old England on display -- the England who won the World Cup in 2003.

There was the powerful surging mauls from the forward pack, a fluidity to the back-line play that has been missing for so long, and then there was that familiar name all over the score sheet again, Jonny Wilkinson.

On his first game back in an England shirt since he dropped that goal in Sydney in 2003 Wilkinson produced an impeccable display of goal kicking, helping himself to a personal haul of 27 points, including a highly controversial try.

England fans the world over will be asking themselves, "what if Jonny had been fit for the last three years?".  His goal kicking alone justified his selection in the side, after just 43 minutes of rugby since his latest injury.  But there was an air of the old Wilkinson as he settled back into the shirt he made his own for so long before injuries separated him from it.

However it was not just a case of Wilkinson winning England the game, despite being involved in all that was good from the men in white, as England looked a different side from that which plummeted into the depths last November.  Vickery was an inspiring captain, ever ready and willing to lead by example, Corry looked revitalised at the base of the scrum, and Joe Worsley was close to his marauding best.

Then there was Andy Farrell.  So much had been made of his move to rugby union and after a long awaited debut in his new code many felt he was not the answer England were desperately searching for.  His display today may have been overshadowed by Ellis and Wilkinson but if anything that suited him perfectly.

He was able to quietly go about his business, and how he went about it.  His running was direct and he made crossing the gain line look easy.  With Wilkinson kicking so effectively it allowed Farrell to concentrate on his distribution, an asset he used to full effect in midfield releasing those outside of him.

The spotlight may have been on Wilkinson but it was his half back partner Harry Ellis who stole the show, if that is possible when Wilkinson is involved.  Ellis made countless breaks around the tired Scotland fringes racking up the yards in the process.  He also offered England a useful kicking option, which resulted in a Jason Robinson try, albeit after Sean Lamont had made a hash of grounding the ball.

Scotland came to Twickenham in confident mood, but will leave with their tails firmly between their legs after they were outclassed.  Having given the home fans an early fright through a Simon Taylor try, they slowly faded from the game as legs became heavy and missed tackles came more often.

There would have been a sense of déjà-vu for England fans, as Wilkinson kicked three penalties and a drop goal in the first half, effortlessly resuming where he last left off in an England shirt.  So too did Jason Robinson, who bagged a brace of tries, although he seems to have lost a yard of pace since coming back from retirement.

The first of his tries came at a crucial time.  Leading by two points with half time approaching Robinson dummied the drifting defence before scooting over the whitewash.  The try was made by Farrell's direct running and a superb flick on by who other than Jonny Wilkinson.

Trailing by just seven points at the break Scotland would have felt that they were still in touch of England, and when a Chris Paterson penalty reduced the gap to just four points English nerves would have been jangling.  That was before Wilkinson continued his onslaught in the second period.  Two more penalties eased England further ahead before Robinson was in again.

As they did all day England's forwards laid the platform with a dynamic rolling maul before Ellis slid a clever grubber kick in behind Sean Lamont.  With Robinson bearing down on him Lamont seemed to have the kicked covered, and then he seemed to slip and lose his footing, allowing Robinson to apply the downward pressure for the easiest of tries.

With Wilkinson adding the touchline conversion one could sense the Scottish heads drop as they admitted defeat.  As if he hadn't done enough already Wilkinson rounded off a perfect afternoon for England and himself by adding a try to his collection of kicks.  Ellis laid the foundations with a sharp break before finding Wilkinson in support.  As he dived for the line it appeared as if his foot was in touch at the time of the grounding.  The TMO was called upon and despite all of the technology available to him failed to see the stray foot and allowed the try -- a truly shocking decision.

By this stage Scotland were tired and defeated, which is probably why they failed to see Magnus Lund lurking on the blindside of a maul allowing him a simple try to compound Scotland's woes.  Wilkinson missed the conversion but it was insignificant by this stage, England had announced their reemergence on the international stage.

Content with their efforts England switched off in the closing stages to allow Rob Dewey in for a consolation try, a just reward for their efforts as while they were outclassed they never threw in the towel.  David Callam was outstanding in fighting a losing battle, and Chris Cusiter was a thorn in the England rose.

But the day will belong to England, their new coach, Brian Ashton, their new captain, Phil Vickery, and their same old Jonny Wilkinson, as they reclaimed the Calcutta Cup in some style.

Man of the Match:  A mention for Scotland as they had star performers, but not enough to spoil the party.  David Callam was in superb form, tackling himself to a standstill.  Chris Cusiter gave his all behind a struggling pack and Dan Parks kicked with aplomb.  But it is no surprise the award goes to an English man, but which one?  It is hard not to be drawn to Jonny Wilkinson and the way he shook off three years of injury heartache and produce a masterful display.  However we have gone for his half-back partner Harry Ellis.  Ellis was in sensational form, sniping around the fringes and making breaks at will.  He bossed his forwards to great effect and turned in a superb performance in general.

Moment of the Match:  Rather than a single moment we have gone for a collective group.  In his first game back in an England shirt for almost four years Jonny Wilkinson provided a superb kicking display to keep England ticking over all afternoon.

Villain of the Match:  With both teams intent on playing rugby there was nothing of note from the players.  Instead it was Donal Courtney, the TMO, who scooped this award when he mysteriously awarded Jonny Wilkinson a try.  Everyone could see his foot was clearly in touch before the ball was grounded.  Yet despite seeing replays from several angles on more than one occasion he somehow awarded the try.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Robinson 2, Wilkinson, Lund
Cons:  Wilkinson 2
Pens:  Wilkinson 5
Drop goal:  Wilkinson

For Scotland:
Tries:  Taylor, Dewey
Cons:  Paterson 2
Pens:  Paterson 2

The teams:

England:  15 Olly Morgan, 14 Josh Lewsey, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Andy Farrell, 11 Jason Robinson, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Martin Corry, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Joe Worsley, 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Phil Vickery (c), 2 George Chuter, 1 Perry Freshwater.
Replacements:  16 Lee Mears, 17 Julian White, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Tom Rees, 20 Peter Richards, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Mathew Tait.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andrew Henderson, 11 Chris Paterson (c), 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Callam, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Simon Taylor, 5 James Hamilton, 4 Alastair Kellock, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Scott Murray, 19 Allister Hogg, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Rob Dewey, 22 Rory Lamont.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Alain Rolland (Ireland), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official:  Donal Courtney (Ireland)
Assessor:  Paul Bridgman (England)