‘We WILL be better next time’
STEVE BORTHWICK admitted his first game in charge had been a painful one after two stunning tries from Duhan van der Merwe helped Scotland to victory.
The new England head coach was left to reflect on the worst possible start to his reign, as the Scots won back-to-back Tests at Twickenham for the first time in their history.
“We’re clearly disappointed at the result,” said Borthwick. “We were playing against a Scotland team that have controlled this fixture in recent years and I thought they were very good today.
“They didn’t get an awful lot of chances but they took them ruthlessly.
“The team looked like they had points in them. We had try-scoring potential.
“But we want to be a really successful team that wins a lot of Test matches – when you get to that level, you don’t give teams the opportunities we did.
“It’s part of the growth of a team. You’ve got to go through some pain. And we’ll make sure we’re better next week.”
England wing Max Malins scored his first two tries for his country.
“We showed great fight out there and I think we controlled most of the game,” he said. “But there were a few thunderbolt moments where we let them off the hook and ultimately paid the price for it.”
One of them was Van der Merwe’s incredible solo try from his own half which took out five England defenders.
“It was incredible,” said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend.
“It reminded me – for everyone of a certain age – of when you play Jonah Lomu Rugby game, and press a certain button, and suddenly one person can go quicker!”