ENGLAND GET VANDER MERDERED!
Scotland winger bags a hat-trick of tries as Borthwick’s error-prone men are handed a rugby lesson
FOR the final minute, Steve Borthwick stepped out of the security of his coaching box and watched, arms folded, from the back of the west stand, in close confines with the crowd. One by one, each Scottish fan took their chance to goad him. They waved sarcastically, cheerio and thanks for coming, after watching his team suffer a slow torture in a bed of thistles.
England delivered a performance that lacked skill and ambition. There was error after error, aimless kick after aimless kick. This is the first time that England have suffered four consecutive Calcutta Cup defeats since 1896 and the giddy Scottish fans were even heckling for their opponents to be kicked out of the Six Nations. Tongue in cheek, of course, because they would sorely miss their annual victory over the Auld Enemy.
Once again, Duhan van der Merwe proved to be England’s nemesis. Scotland’s giant winger ran riot, looking like a different species as he rampaged his way to a hat-trick. He lurked on Finn Russell’s shoulder like a henchman before setting off on another night of wild celebrations on Princes Street.
This was a fork in the road fixture for England’s campaign. Win and the unlikely Grand Slam dream continues, lose and they are staring at two wins from five for a fourth consecutive year. They have been cut a lot of slack for being a work in progress but this felt different.
‘My wee mate Finn will score a couple,’ a Scottish fan told an Englishman as he watched his team get off the bus behind kilted bagpipers. True to form, their No10 was the last one off the coach, feet up at the back of the bus, before leading his team through a wall of noise. The cheers quickly turned to boos as England arrived a few minutes behind them. Locals waved their saltire flags over the stairways, doing their best to drown the brass band that belted out their take on DJ Sammy’s Heaven. But at times, it felt as if England were being sent to rugby hell.
Sitting up in the coaching box, England’s defence coach Felix Jones looked on with little emotion as his players flew up in their much talked-about blitz defence in the early exchanges. He watched on like a master of destruction as Scotland were forced into touch, before Maro Itoje forced Pierre Schoeman to knock-on on his 22.
England wore black armbands in honour of Jamie George’s late mother, Jane. The most engaging and articulate England captain for years, George already had a nation’s goodwill behind him before his mother passed away last week. He bared his soul at Thursday night’s press conference in Edinburgh, showing a vulnerability and emotion that was always going to inspire England to a fast start.
And with six minutes on the clock England executed their best strike play of the competition. Ben Earl picked from the base of the scrum and Ollie Lawrence, on his comeback from injury, ran a hard dummy-run that drew the eyes of Scotland’s defence. The ball went through the hands of Danny Care, George Ford and Elliot Daly for George Furbank to score the opening try. ‘We gave you that one to give you a chance!’ a Scottish fan shouted. Ford kicked a penalty to give England a 10-point lead but that was as good as it got.
There was handling error after handling error from both sets of players. England’s attack was clunky and they failed to fire in the opposition 22. Rory Darge repeatedly stepped up to frustrate them.
Scotland struck back. With so much focus on Russell’s attacking threats, he bamboozled the defence by hiding behind the first-wave attack. Sione Tuipulotu stood at first-receiver at the scrum and twisted his hips as if he were going to pass to Scotland’s playmaker. With a whiff of deception, and all eyes on Russell, Huw Jones ran a hard line off Tuipulotu and offloaded for Van der Merwe’s first try.
And the Scotland winger soon scored his second. Furbank spilled the ball in contact and Jones quickly moved it to the dangerman.
Van der Merwe eyed up
Earl, beating him for speed on the outside before leaving Henry Slade for dust on the left wing, running teasingly close to the touchline, embarking on a spectacular 65-metre charge of pure athleticism.
England’s experienced half-backs were kicking poorly and Russell’s penalty edged the hosts further ahead. Ford kicked a drop goal just before the break but England trailed at half-time for the third time in as many matches.
With 45 minutes on the clock, after England were turned over at the lineout, Cameron Redpath broke through the line and Russell’s cross-field kick set up Van der Merwe for the hat-trick.
England were stripped in the tackle and turned over. Ford and Russell exchanged penalties, before Borthwick unloaded Fin Smith and Manny Feyi-Waboso in search of a miracle. Feyi-Waboso added an attacking flash when he ran off the ruck for the final try but Scotland remained two scores clear, even with Van der Merwe ending the match in the sin-bin.
Flower of Scotland echoed around these dear old stands for one final time, ringing sweet in Scottish ears, as Borthwick was sent home with plenty of thinking to do.