Van der Merwe magic helps Scotland
Winger strikes again against Auld Enemy, becoming first Scotland player to score hat-trick in fixture
AHAT-TRICK from Duhan van der Merwe, the first by a Scot in the fixture, helped Scotland recover from 10-0 down to retain the Calcutta Cup for the fourth year in a row and keep their championship dream alive.
The visitors raced in front through a try from recalled George Furbank.
But from there, it was all Scotland, and largely all their left wing, who closed in on Stuart Hogg’s tryscoring record to take the game away from Steve Borthwick’s side despite a try from Exeter wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso late on.
Here are five things we learned from Scotland’s victory at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
Scotland’s fourth win in a row over England equalled their best record in the fixture, which had stood since 1973. One of those wins in 1971 was in a match to mark the centenary of the first rugby international, played between the two sides at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh.
Scotland’s best results against England in the Home Nations/ Five Nations/Six Nations were a run of four wins between 1893 and 1896, and they can now add triumphs of 2021 to 2024 to that esteemed list.
Scotland had attempted to talk down the fact they were considered favourites going into this match, but they must now accept they have a hold over England like we have rarely seen. This was an England side who had finished third at the World Cup and had a year to work with Steve Borthwick, but they rarely threatened after the break, Feye-Waboso’s opportunist maiden international score apart.
His tries moved the big winger clear into second place in Scotland’s alltime try-scoring charts with 25 from his 37 caps. He is now moving in on Hogg’s record of 27 from his 100 caps, and it feels only a matter of time before he breaks that. He has now scored in three of the last four meetings against England.
In terms of importance, with his side 10-0 down, his first yesterday will rank highly among his Test scores.
You will get short odds on the Edinburgh man breaking Hogg’s record before the end of the championship, particularly with Italy still to play in Rome in two weeks’ time.
Scotland had backed themselves to score tries against France, repeatedly turning down opportunities at three points in favour of putting the ball into touch or opting to scrum. It proved costly and they were not about to repeat that mistake. Each time the home side won a penalty within Finn Russell’s range, on to the field crept assistant coach Pete Horne with the kicking tee, and Russell duly slotted the ball between the posts to keep the scoreboard ticking over. It meant Scotland were always well ahead and forced England to chase the game. When Feyi-Waboso’s try dragged the visitors back into the game with just under quarter-of-an-hour to go, the importance of those penalties became clear. There is nothing wrong with showing ambition but in Test rugby there is always a place for the pragmatic approach and Scotland got the balance just right yesterday. They might be kicking themselves at not securing a bonus point, but the win keeps their championship dream alive heading into the final two rounds.
Co-captain Russell spoke during the week about Scotland not dealing with the South Africa blitz defence when they met at the World Cup, and his side showed signs early on of the same panic they had exhibited in Marseille.
Within the first five minutes, Pierre Schoeman had dropped a ball under pressure from Maro Itoje, while Blair Kinghorn and Ben White found only the touchline with their passes under huge pressure from England’s blitz.
Russell then threw a wild pass to Scott Cummings who was not expecting the ball and dropped possession as he attempted to off-load.
However, as the home side grew into the game there were opportunities to exploit. England flew out of the line in the run-up to van der Merwe’s first try and were caught out by Sione Tuipulotu’s short ball to Huw Jones.
Cam Redpath also delivered some nice touches in the face of stern English pressure, some of which relieved the pressure on Russell and put doubt in the minds of the visiting defenders.
For all the talk during the week by the visitors about nullifying Russell, the Bath fly-half arguably comes second in Scotland’s most important players to Fagerson, pictured, whose departure within the opening exchanges was a costly one.
His replacement, 31-year-old Northampton prop Elliot MillarMills, was winning just his second cap. He immediately shipped a penalty under pressure from Ellis Genge, then gave away another three points from which George Ford gave the visitors a 10-point lead. Scotland coach Gregor Townsend will have been breathing a sigh of relief when he returned in the 16th minute.
By the time Millar-Mills re-appeared, replacing Fagerson permanently on the hour, Scotland had wrestled back control. The Glasgow tighthead had been a big part of
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