Scotland 31-20 England: Steve Borthwick’s side implode in bruising Calcutta Cup defeat as Six Nations campaign suffers major setback
In the Edinburgh skyline, Arthur’s Seat and the Pentland Hills were covered in snow. It was not a day for climbing mountains in the Scottish capital and England slipped flat on their faces.
Their 12-mach winning run is over and the Grand Slam dream is dead. Finn Russell lives for these Calcutta Cup specials and Scotland’s master craftsman led his team to their biggest win since 2018.
Steve Borthwick looked increasingly restless in England’s coaching box as his team’s gameplan unravelled. He watched his players slip off 20 tackles in the first half as they scrambled after lost kicks.
Henry Arundell was sent off following two yellow cards and the Flower of Scotland swirled around Murrayfield. For all of England’s recent successes at Twickenham, away scalps remain few and far between.
They have not won in Scotland since 2020 and the long wait continues.
Confidence was low as the locals watched Scotland’s bus arrive behind a band of bagpipes. ‘Nae chance,’ was the unofficial verdict. ‘Not after last week in Rome.’ Gregor Townsend stepped off the bus and pumped his fist to the crowd in defiance.
England were stunned by Scotland at Murrayfield in the Calcutta Cup on Saturday
Huw Jones broke the record for most tries scored in this fixture with his score in Edinburgh
The Scots came out fighting following their defeat by Italy in the opening round
At some stage, Townsend will move south of the border to take up a position with the Newcastle Red Bulls. He has already been consulted around a new high-performance centre on the land surrounding Kingston Park, which could serve as a hub for all of Red Bull’s athletes based in Europe. Yet for now, on the back of his fifth Calcutta Cup win in six years, his future north of the border looks a little safer.
The noise surrounding the long-serving coach has been turning toxic yet he cut a relaxed figure in his coaching box, eating Haribo and laughing with his assistants before kick-off. As the final whistle blow, he clenched a fist of defiance.
Scotland’s coaches were expecting England to kick. They had been discussing it all week in private. They were braced for Arundell to palm back contestable kicks – rather than attempt to claim them cleanly – and they were waiting in the tap-back zone to steal the scraps after Alex Mitchell’s first box kick.
Sione Tuipulotu ran hard at George Ford from the lineout as England’s discipline creaked from the start. They were penalised at the breakdown and Russell kicked the opening points as the Scots went on an early charge.
Ben White thrives in the Calcutta Cup. The scrum-half was released by Steve Borthwick as a youngster at Leicester Tigers and has never let him forget it. He fed the ball into the wide channels where Scotland found easy wins. Kyle Steyn was relentless from start to finish.
Scotland left out their English nemesis, Duhan van der Merwe, and the selection paid off. Steyn beat Freddie Steward in the air, before Arundell was shown a yellow card for not releasing Rory Darge in the tackle.
The Scots fixed their malfunctioned lineout from Rome and launched a seven-phase attack. Tom Roebuck flew out the line to shut down Russell but the wily Scot was too sharp. He spotted Maro Itoje as the last defender and tapped the ball to Huw Jones to score.
England conceded three early penalties and they paid the price. Luke Cowan-Dickie was penalised for a no-arms tackle on Zander Fagerson and gifted the Scots easy possession. Their wingers moved from one side of the pitch to another to create overlaps, leaving Jamie Ritchie in acres of space to score off Tuipulotu’s long pass.
England were unable to recover after a nightmare first half in which the Scots scored three tries
Henry Arundell was given his marching orders following a nasty collision in the opening half
The scrum was the only area where England found dominance. They won set-piece penalties yet their driving maul was held up and turned over. Scotland muscled up in defence and England were made to work for their try in the 22nd minute, when Arundell scored off George Ford’s shoulder.
Ford kicked a penalty but the Scots kept coming. Russell and Steyn played off the cuff, evading tackles and taking on defenders. Russell hacked a kick out of the tackle and Ellis Genge failed to gathered the ball four metres from his own line, allowing White to pounce.
The Scots brought energy and conviction. England brought inaccuracy and ill-discipline. Arundell chased one of Mitchell’s box kicks but did not jump to compete and wiped out Steyn in the air. ‘That’s dangerous, really dangerous,’ protested Tuipulotu before Arundell was shown a 20-minute red card.
England were error-ridden. Maro Itoje knocked on the ball in Scotland’s 22 and Genge was turned over as England resorted to Ford’s boot. The No 10 kicked a penalty and disaster struck when his drop goal was charged down by Matt Fagerson.
Before the 2023 World Cup, Borthwick ordered an entire research paper on drop goal strategies but this one went badly wrong. There was little disguise as Ford shaped to kick. he was flat and offered little protection.
Fagerson gobbled up the ball and sent Jones clear for a counter-punch try that sent the home crowd into delirium. The likes of Henry Pollock and Jamie George arrived from the squad but England’s Pom Squad were left with a job of damage limitation.
Fin Smith finished the match in England’s midfield as the combination of Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman were outplayed.
Mitchell fumbled the ball over the try line and Ben Earl was held up as the crowd cheered every moment. Scotland’s defiance stirred the soul of the locals and possible saved the soul of Townsend. Earl scored in the 78th minute, but it was not enough to secure a bonus point or spare England’s bloody nose.
