INTO WAYNE’S WORLD
The Scots came back from 31-0 down to threaten their first win at the home ground of their rivals since 1983 by taking the lead through Sam Johnson’s try with four minutes left, only for George Ford to save the day in injury time and snatch a draw.
But captain Owen Farrell admitted afterwards he is alarmed at the way England crumbled under the Tartan onslaught after surrendering healthy leads against South Africa last summer, New Zealand in the autumn and Wales in this championship.
“I’d say it’s definitely mental,” said Farrell. “We showed in the first 20 minutes how good we are physically.
“When they did come back it probably shocked us a bit too much. We talked about staying calm but it didn’t quite work out that way.
“We got into a momentum rut and we couldn’t get out of it. They played some good rugby and when they got some momentum they punished us but the disappointing thing was we fed that.”
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend admitted he had given up on victory at the interval only to see his side retain the Calcutta Cup at the final whistle.
“We set a goal of winning the second half not winning the game from 31-7 down but it’s amazing how momentum can swing and ultimately we are the team that’s disappointed to draw the game,” said the former Scotland player.
“It was a unique game. I’ve never been involved in a game like that as a player or a coach.”
After Wales landed the Grand Slam earlier on with a comfortable 25-7 win against Ireland in Cardiff, England knew they were only playing for second place.
But what a show the two sides put on as the game ended in the highest-scoring draw in Test history.
In the first half, England picked up where they left off against Italy last week with another dazzling attacking display, storming into a 31-0 lead with only 29 minutes on the clock.
After all the fuss over Joe Cokanasiga’s exclusion, it took Jack Nowell just 66 seconds to show why Eddie Jones had recalled him with his first try, followed by other offerings from Tom Curry, Joe Launchbury and the championship’s leading try scorer Jonny May.
But Scotland captain Stuart McInally kick-started an extraordinary fightback from the visitors with a breakaway try after charging down Farrell’s kick and winning a 65m race to the line.
Three touchdowns in the space of eight minutes after the break, two from winger Darcy Graham and the other from Magnus Bradbury after a chip and regather from Ali Price, and suddenly Scotland were back to within seven points.
One interception try from man of the match Finn Russell later, as he picked off Farrell’s pass, and Scotland were all square heading into the final quarter.
The England captain was substituted shortly afterwards and looked on in disbelief as Johnson took Russell’s brilliant flat pass and raced through a gaping hole before stepping Nowell and holding off Elliot Daly to give Scotland the lead with minutes remaining.
England had one last chance to rescue the match with the clock dead and after the Scots had repelled a series of attacks on their own line, Farrell’s replacement Ford dummied his way through and converted from in front of the posts to draw a crazy game. the autumn. He is notoriously hard to please and Eden knows that more than most, having played under him with Brisbane.
Eden failed to get any first-team action in his first season in 2015, before finally winning his debut in the World Club Series game against Wigan the following February.
But he played only six more games before returning to England and Castleford.
Eden added: “I have played for him before so he will know what to look for and how I need to improve. I was in the Elite Training Squad in 2017 and it was pretty upsetting when I didn’t make the final squad because I thought it was my best chance.”
Eden’s 2017 heroics saw him score 38 Super League tries – two short of the record – and 41 in all competitions which was one shy of the Tigers’ club record.
He said: “We will have to prepare well for Salford because they are playing well.”