This was a surrender, a humiliation CHIEF SPORTS WRITER AT TWICKENHAM
It was supposed to be an England victory forged in fire against a new model Scotland, a real Calcutta Cup classic, instead...
IT was supposed to be a victory that would be forged in fire. It was supposed to be a challenge worthy of allowing England to prove that they deserved to equal the world record of 18 consecutive victories held by the All Blacks. It was supposed to be a Calcutta Cup classic but it was nothing of the sort. It was, instead of all these things, a one-sided embarrassment.
In that sense, it dignified England’s equalling of New Zealand’s record. Eddie Jones’ side showed just how far ahead they were of the opposition. They are clear of their rivals in the northern hemisphere and giving the All Blacks pause for thought. They always find a way to win and they will be favourites to claim the record outright against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday when they go for a second successive Grand Slam.
So this was not Bannockburn. This was Culloden. It was a rout. It was a surrender. It was a good oldfashioned chasing. And it was a day when no mercy was shown by the conquerors. Right to the end, they ground Scotland into the turf — Danny Care flying in for one last try in the last minute to make the score 61-21.
It was a day that had begun with their supporters talking up Scotland’s chances of ending the 34-year wait for a victory at Twickenham. It ended with their players fleeing the field having conceded more points to England than any Scottish team in history.
No Scottish side has lost by a greater margin, either.
We were supposed to be witnessing a new dawn of Scotland rugby but they were humiliated here. There is no other word for it.
‘We’ve been pottering along,’ Jones said before the game, ‘but I think you will see an improvement in our performance today.’ The England coach called it right, just as he always seems to call it right.
England are so far ahead of the rest that this victory meant they retained their Six Nations crown with a match to spare.
Either the Scots froze or they are not nearly as good as their admirers had suggested. On this pathetic showing, they barely belonged on the same pitch as England.
‘It’s a horror show,’ Scotland great Gavin Hastings said at half-time. ‘I sit here dumbfounded by the way Scotland have played. It literally is like men versus boys.’
When second-half replacement Billy Vunipola rumbled over for yet another try to make the score 47-14, it was starting to feel like cruelty.
England’s victory meant they equalled the world record for consecutive, tier-one victories set by the All Blacks between August 15, 2015 and November 5, 2016. That run came to an end in Chicago when New Zealand fell to a stunning defeat by Ireland in front of 60,000 fans at Soldier Field.
The New Zealand Herald found a predictably pointed way of previewing the Calcutta Cup clash. ‘The Australian-coached and New Zealand-captained England rugby team are one victory away from matching the All Blacks,’ the article suggested, before declaring the All Blacks’ record-breaking run superior in every way.
They stressed the All Blacks had bigger victories, bigger margins of victory, scored more points and more tries and held their opponents to lower totals. They also said that England’s run was devalued because it did not include a victory against New Zealand.
New Zealand’s didn’t include victory against England, either, but victory against England might reasonably be said not to carry quite the same kudos as taking the scalp of the All Blacks. Nevertheless, the stakes were high at Twickenham. There was no disguising that, even if Jones had done his best to do so during a press conference last week when his answers ranged from succinct, to evasive, to combative.
Sensitive about England’s halting attempts to deal with Italy’s unconventional tactics in their previous game and eager to avoid conversation about the attempt to match the All Blacks, Jones was masterful in his deflection of questions.
It was staccato stuff. When he was asked how Owen Farrell sustained a leg injury, he said: ‘He ran into my dog.’ When he was asked if he was worried the Scots might copy Italy’s tactics, he said: ‘They will participate in the spirit of the game.’
When he was asked what he was drinking from the glass in front of him, he smiled at last. ‘Elixir of life, mate,’ he said. ‘It keeps old 57-yearolds going.’
Jones was also dismissive of concerns that England had made slow starts in their Six Nations matches. ‘It’s an 80-minute game,’ he said. ‘All that concerns me is that we’re ahead at the end.’
As it happened, England started superbly. Maybe they owed something to the early indiscipline and over-exuberance of their hosts, too. In the opening exchanges, Fraser Brown tip-tackled Elliot Daly near
halfway and drove him down into the turf, injuring his head and neck. Brown should have been redcarded but escaped with a yellow.
Scotland still paid the price. With Brown in the sin-bin, England took immediate advantage.
A slick passing move found Jonathan Joseph and he took the ball confidently to burst through the Scotland line, sprinting over for a try. Farrell, his leg strapped, kicked the conversion.
Daly was allowed to come back on to the pitch after his head injury assessment but it was clear that he was still struggling from the severity of the blow and, after a hiatus, he was replaced permanently by Anthony Watson. The confusion highlighted yet again the problems that remain with treatment of head injuries in the game but did nothing to interrupt England’s momentum.
Soon, we stopped counting the tries but, for what it’s worth, Joseph scored three in a sublime performance of beautiful running and clever appreciation of angles.
He was unstoppable. Farrell was almost perfect with the boot.
Scotland were simply dire, devoid of ideas, predictable and stolid.
Ireland will provide a sterner test next Saturday.
It would be nice if England could set a new record in style. It would be nice if Ireland could give them a match. Because this was a no-contest.