Dallaglio hits out at poor England performance
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio led the condemnation of a “clueless” 11-6 defeat by Scotland as Eddie Jones’ champions launched their title defence in dire fashion.
The magnificent Scots orchestratedtheirfirstvictoryat Twickenham since 1983 to reclaimtheCalcuttaCupthrough a dominant performance that was blunted only by their failure to score more points.
Dallaglio, who won 85 caps from1995to2007,wasscathing inhisassessmentastheCalcutta Cup was taken back to Edinburghonthe150thanniversary of international rugby’s oldest fixture.
“England looked clueless. Notjustforpartsofit,allgame,” Dallaglio said. “Whatever the cause, it’s got to be sorted out quicklybecausethatwasasbad as it gets. This is not me being overcritical. It was there for everyone to see.
“I’vegotnothingbutrespect for these England players but you’ve got to keep earning respect and they didn’t do that in this game.
“The players need to take a very long, hard look at themselves and come up with some answers. I thought England didn’t fire a shot.
“I felt there was a mindset problem. England hadn’t anything like the same energy and hunger that Scotland had.
“Of course the team were without a number of key performersbutthat’snoexcusefor an abject performance.”
England’smostcappedfullback Mike Brown was damning of the attacking failings – a recurring fault of Jones’ team since the autumn.
“Eddie Jones talks about giving the English rugby public something to smile about in thecurrentclimate,butpeople can’tbeenjoyingthisEngland,” Brown said.