Superb Scotland stun title favourites
SCOTLAND 25 ENGLAND 13
Apre-match scuffle in the tunnel set the tone as Scotland stunned the Six Nations favourites.
Tempers apparently flared as both sets of players left the pitch after the warm-up with England talisman Owen Farrell reportedly having to be dragged into the dressingroom by his team-mates.
And that had an impact both on and off the paddock as the fervent BT Murrayfield crowd heard of the stramash and booed both Farrell and every attempt by the England fans to start their Swing Low anthem.
On the field of play, there was a real edge to proceedings and things threatened to boil over throughout a breathlessly dramatic 80 minutes.
England’s discipline was dreadful as they racked up 13 penalties, got involved in several stooshies and had replacement No.8 Sam Underhill sinbinned for a cynical and dangerous no-arms tackle on Jamie Bhatti.
This was only the second time in 26 games in charge that England coach Eddie Jones has tasted defeat and man of the match Finn Russell will haunt his dreams for days to come.
After two poor games on the trot, the eyes of the rugby world were on the Dark Blues’ fly-half, but he played like a man without a care in the world as he guided his side to a famous and wholly-deserved win.
Gone was the headless chicken act of Cardiff, replaced by cool game management as he scanned the ranks of the Red Rose brigade, probing for weaknesses and varying his game beautifully.
Gone was the horribly wayward kicking game against France as each kick landed exactly where he intended.
Gone, too, was the non-existent defence as he tackled like a demon, stopping bigger men in their tracks.
This was as complete a team performance from Scotland as we’ve seen for a long time but Scotland skipper John Barclay had the game of his life, dominating the breakdown and single-handedly forcing England four penalties.
One of the things we discovered yesterday was that Scotland tries at home against England are apparently like the No.16 bus.
You wait ages for one, and then three arrive in the space of 22 wonderful first-half minutes.
The Dark Blues had only scored two tries against the Auld Enemy in the Six Nations era, the most recent coming way back in 2004.
But in the 16th minute Huw Jones added his name to those of Simon Danielli and Duncan Hodge as he chased a Russell grubber through the England cover.
Jones sclaffed it on a bit more and then gathered to notch his ninth try in 14 caps, and he added a second on the stroke of half time when he collected a pass and steamed up the pitch.
Nothing was going to stop Jones and he dragged England’s Mike Brown and Anthony Watson over the whitewash with him.
Those scores bookended an absolute belter, created when Russell floated a pass out to Jones who made the hard yards before being hauled down.
The ball was shifted across the paddock, Stuart Mcinally made another big push and finally Sean Maitland finished off a breathless passage of play by diving in at the corner.
Greig Laidlaw added seven points with the boot, Russell three with a second-half penalty which was Scotland’s only score after the interval.
That came after Farrell, who scored all of his side’s points, had spotted a gap in the Scots’ line and dotted down before converting his own score just after the break.
Scotland – Hogg; Seymour (Kinghorn 65), Jones, Horne (Grigg 72), Maitland; Russell, Laidlaw (Price 63); Reid (Bhatti 56), Mcinally, Berghan (Nel 69), Gilchrist (Swinson 56), Gray, Barclay (Capt.), Watson, Wilson (Denton 69). Unused – Lawson.
England – Brown (Nowell 56); Watson, Joseph, Farrell, May; Ford (Te’o 65), Care (Wigglesworth 72); Vunipola (Marler 69), Hartley (Capt.) (George 56), Cole (Williams 65), Launchbury (Kruis 72), Itoje, Lawes, Robshaw, Hughes (Underhill 55).