Horror show as Scots see England turn into zombies
THIS was one of the most amazing Calcutta Cup matches of all time, and very nearly the biggest capitulation on home soil in English rugby history.
An England side that eventually finished as Six Nations runners-up appeared to have wasted one of the biggest half-time leads in the tournament, at 31-7, as Scotland made an extraordinary comeback to take a 38-31 lead thanks to a Sam Johnson try, converted by Greig Laidlaw, with only five minutes remaining.
However, as the match built to a nail-biting crescendo in added time, England found a saviour in George Ford. The Leicester 10 had come on for the faltering Owen Farrell and, as the home side launched a desperate last gasp-attack which saw Jack Nowell halted in the corner, the ball was moved in-field by Ellis Genge and Ford nipped through to score under the posts.
It dug England out of a huge hole of their own making, because with Ford converting his own handiwork, they had a share of the spoils they barely deserved. However, given that Scotland held the Calcutta Cup going into the match, they retained the trophy – and given the excellence of their second-half display it was fully merited.
This was not so much the marker Eddie Jones had called for from England before the World Cup as an almighty blot on the landscape, as Scotland shook them to the core.
If going to sleep for 20 minutes in Cardiff was bad enough, gifting Wales the Grand Slam they clinched yesterday against Ireland in the Principality Stadium, this time England appeared to go into a zombie-like trance at the start of the second-half.
Wrapped in the security blanket of their half-time lead, with a bonus point secured by four tries from Nowell, Tom Curry, Joe Launchbury and Jonny May, England went into meltdown mode in defence – and Scotland, working off front foot ball and injecting tempo into their game for the first time, ran them ragged.
A Scottish side that had been blowing in the wind after being battered by an impressive English assault, scored four tries in a brilliant 13 minute spell which put them level at 31-31 with the final quarter left to play.
This time, reeling after two tries by the electric young Sottish winger Darcy Graham, with touchdowns by No.8 Magnus Bradbury and fly-half Finn Russell sandwiched in between, it was England who were hanging on by a thread.
The first of Graham’s tries came when a sustained attack finished with Ali Price and Sam Skinner linking to give the winger a narrow opening, which he took by eluding Genge’s tackle to dot down.
With Russell missing the conversion it was 31-12, but the Scots sniffed that England lacked the focus and authority they showed in the first-half, and no-one was sharper to exploit it than their half-back pairing of Price and Russell.
Almost from the restart a Price chip and chase punctured England, with the scrum-half showing great athleticism and balance to get to the bounce first before slipping it to Bradbury. The young Edinburgh backrower hit the ball at full tilt to score from 30m out.
When Russell added the extras the Scots were on a roll, and although there was a brief interlude as Manu Tuilagi stormed in to the visiting 22, the respite for England was only momentary, as the away side went on the offensive again.
By this stage Russell had grabbed the conductor's baton off Farrell, and when his huge pass gave Sean Maitland the beating of May, he found Graham on his outside. The Edinburgh danger-man was like greased lightning as he outpaced Elliot Daly to score in the corner. Although Russell missed the touchline conversion England were reeling, with their lead slashed to 31-24. Russell is an arch ‘confidence player’, and with the stuff coursing through his veins he read a Farrell pass intended for George Kruis before it left his hands.
Fifty metres later he touched down one of the great pick-pocket tries, and then converted to level the account. With the final quarter left to play England were in desperate need of a rallying point, but Farrell could not give them the leadership they needed.
Instead, he nearly gifted the lead to Scotland, conceding a long range penalty for a late body-check on Graham – and although he was reprieved when Laidlaw’s attempt drifted wide, Jones hooked his captain and brought Ford on.
The Scots then delivered their final body-blow, with Russell turning a Billy Vunipola knock-on into gold-dust to send Johnson hammering towards the England line from half-way. He reached it thanks to a combination of his own determination and dire English defence, with Nowell, Daly and Ben Spencer all falling off tackles before he planted the ball between the posts.
Laidlaw’s conversion put the Scots tantalisingly within reach of one of their greatest victories, but, profiting from a penalty and kicking for the corner, England held their nerve for probably the only time after the interval.
When Nowell’s stab at the line was foiled, they worked the ball towards the posts and, after a couple of pickand-drives, Curry dug the ball out of the ruck for Ford to knife through.
Before the Scottish pyrotechnics it appeared to have been a smart psychological tweak of Jones to tell his squad during the week that irrespective of whether Wales clinched a third Grand Slam for Warren Gatland, their mission against Scotland was to make a statement of World
Cup-winning intent.
Initially, England could not have responded to Jones’ clarion call with greater urgency, scoring the opening try through Nowell after just 66 seconds, thanks to a slick passing move which saw Kyle Sinckler, Farrell and Daly link with Henry Slade, whose pass saw Nowell cut back against the grain of the defence to score.
When Curry muscled over for try from a snap 5m line-out drive on Vunipola a few minutes later, with Farrell converting both of them, England led 14-0. With Joe Launchbury adding a third try after an impressive Genge offload sent Sinckler stampeding into the Scottish 22, and Farrell again adding the extras before kicking a penalty for a 24-0 advantage, England seemed to be in total control.
Nothing illustrated their superiority more than when a long pass by Ben Youngs sent Slade racing down the tramline before putting May clear on his inside with an inspired onehanded reverse pass.
The Twickenham crowd were still feasting on Slade’s sleight-of-hand when Stuart McInally fired a lone Scottish salvo before the break, racing in from half-way after charging down a Farrell kick and stepping out of May’s track-back tackle.
At that stage no-one in the ground would have bet a penny on this lone act of Scottish defiance building into a storm which came within an inch of leaving England, and Jones’ World Cup plans, scattered to the four winds.