Six Nations Review - England 38 - 22 Scotland

If you found yourself at Twickenham on Saturday evening as the hordes of beer-saturated supporters trudged into the Richmond night, you may have been forgiven for thinking that the RFU had slipped a tenner inside every match day programme, such was the look of genuinely pleasant surprise on the face of nearly every fan.  A lot of people, myself included, predicted that this match would be a bit of an anti-climax.  England would win a tight game that would be about as entertaining to watch as a televised paint drying competition hosted by Gordon Brown.  As it was, this was a game dominated by clean breaks, offloads and even moments of sumptuous skill from both sides.  Following on from the epic opening match between Wales and Ireland, it would be easy for this game to have ended up floating under the radar, but far from it; though England controlled the vast majority of the game, both sides contributed to a fast paced and entertaining contest which, though it ended in defeat, would have given encouragement to even the most pessimistic of Scots.

 England picked up where they left off against the All Blacks, with big Ben Morgan trucking through 6 Nations debutant and Lions hopeful Tim Visser and scrum half Greg Laidlaw, taking play up to the Scottish 22.  England continued to apply the pressure and a Scottish infringement meant fly half Owen Farrell could slot 3 early points to settle things down.  The men in white came straight back from the kick off, with Tom Wood scything through the defence, only to be brought down 4 metres short.  It was apparent from early on that England were intent on offloading as much as possible and it brought them close to the Scottish line only for Billy Twelvetrees, who otherwise enjoyed a fine debut, to try something a tad too flash (it is still England, after all) and lose the ball.  The English, however, seemed in complete control.

After 10 minutes though, the Scots ripped up the script.  Mike Brown, playing on the left wing, took a relatively innocuous clearance deep in his 22 and, under no pressure, shaped up to kick.  For some reason, he didn’t go for touch (that, or produced a slice that deserved a healthy accompaniment of custard). Instead, he kicked infield to one of the most dangerous runners on the park, Stuart Hogg.  Brown had no chasers with him, and only prop Dan Cole plodding across to try and support him, and Hogg ghosted through the defenders to produce a scintillating 50 metre break which, when the ball was recycled, led to debutant Sean Maitland diving over for a try in the corner.  Laidlaw missed the conversion, giving a score of 5 – 3 to Scotland.

As Twickenham shuffled nervously, an old England may have started to panic after that – how could they have dominated the opening exchanges and be behind?  But not this England team.  Recovering from the shock of seeing Scotland score a try, England took the game right back to the Scots.  With Robshaw, Tom Youngs and Morgan making dents in the Scottish line, England were getting plenty of go-forward ball and Farrell was playing flatter than usual to bring the backs into the game, who were enjoying the open space.  Despite good defence from Scotland captain Kelly Brown, Richie Gray and Sean Lamont, the Scots conceded two quick penalties which Farrell duly stroked over.  Laidlaw managed to pull one straight back though, after England got too clever in trying to clear their lines, with Geoff Parling getting himself isolated which led to Tom Youngs arrowing in from the side.

England were not to be denied however, as they once again laid siege to the Scottish 22 – and this time they got their reward.  Twelvetrees and Ben Youngs made the initial surges, before the outstanding Joe Launchbury took a lovely pop from Joe Marler to get within 3 metres of the line.  The ball was recycled quickly and Chris Ashton, who had been lively throughout the half, popped up like a cheeky northern jack-in-a-box to burrow over for his 17th international try.  Farrell's faultless kicking display continued, making the score 16-8 to the home side.

Scotland did finish with a flourish however, with Beattie fielding a kick before swatting aside Parling to rampage deep into English territory.  With the Scottish playing on the front foot, Tom Wood conceded a penalty, which Laidlaw converted on the halftime whistle to leave the score 16-11, with everything to play for.

There was a feeling that Scotland, despite not really being in the game, could really get England sweating if they could score first after the break.  Unfortunately for them, the men in white displayed a ruthless streak that hasn't been seen for a decade.  Charging out of the blocks, England made headway straight away into Scottish territory following an expert turnover by Launchbury on prop Euan Murray.  From the lineout, Morgan once again barrelled his way close to the line, before debutant Twelvetrees slammed onto Ben Youngs' fizzing, flat pass to crash over the line.  Some debut. 

 The Scots couldn't catch a break, despite desperate defensive work by Gray and Brown in particular, and the set piece was beginning to creak.  England thought they had scored again through Launchbury after the otherwise quiet Alex Goode bobbed and weaved his way up to the line, but the try was disallowed after it transpired Tom Youngs had cleared out Murray at a ruck by his neck.  It was merely delaying the inevitable.  Haskell, on for Morgan, ripped the ball off Matt Scott in midfield and fed Ben Youngs, who streaked past Hamilton to take play into the Scottish 22.  From there, Farrell, who had been adventurous all day, threw an exquisite miss-7 (roughly) pass out to Parling, who went over for his first try for England.  Disgracefully, Farrell missed the conversion (his first of the day).

 England then ran the changes and the game started to break up.  Toby Flood and Courtney Lawes both nearly went through, before an excellent turnover on his own line from Kelly Brown on Danny Care led to Dave Denton, anonymous since replacing Strokosch in the first half, carrying the ball out and offloading superbly to Maitland.  The ex-Canterbury wing kicked ahead, where Hogg burned past the chasers to control the ball superbly and dive over for a sublime try under pressure from Flood.  Jackson nailed the difficult conversion.  But England were to have the last say, with Danny Care digging his way over from a metre out.  It gave the scoreline a gloss that England probably deserved, but even the Scottish fans were applauding by now.  It was that sort of game.

 

England Player Ratings

Marler – 6 – played his part in a progressively dominant scrum, but didn't carry as much as he would have liked.

T. Youngs – 6 – Lineout was solid, considering his targets were 4 inches shorter than their opponents.  Some great work in defence, but needs to watch silly penalties.
Cole – 7 – Began to take apart the highly rate Ryan Grant as the game wore on.  Chipped in with a couple of trademark turnovers too.
Launchbury – 9 – Another fantastic performance from the youngster.  Carried well, rock solid under the high ball and a menace in the loose.
Parling – 8 – A busy day yet again for the second row, getting a deserved try in the process.  Would have got a higher mark but getting bounced off Beattie like a Hairy space hopper will hurt him.
Wood – 7 – Becoming the glue that holds the back row together.  After a great thrust in the 1st half, was fairly quiet, but still effective at the breakdown.
Robshaw – 9 – Absolutely everywhere.  Linkman, carrier, tackler, turnover king and all-round-nice-bloke, his work rate was off the chart.  Inspirational.  (Man of the Match)
Morgan – 8 – One of his busiest days in a white shirt.  Contributed with a couple of colossal carries before going of injured.  England will be praying it's not serious.
B. Youngs – 8 – Some of his decision making was iffy, but was constantly looking to attack and try things.  Great pass for Twelvetree's try, outstanding break for Parling's.  Quick service, too.
Farrell – 9 – Answered a lot of critics.  Could still do with being flatter on occasion but a huge improvement.  Goal kicking was fantastic as always and pass for Parlings try was world-class.
Brown – 5 – Poor, by his standards.  Awful decision/kick led to the first try and another bad decision to run from his own line nearly led to another.  Needs to stop trying to do everything himself.
Twelvetrees – 8 – As a good a debut as he could have wished.  A try, some direct running and some good offloads.  Needs to make sure he doesn't try the Hollywood offload when it's not on though.
Barritt – 6 – Solid performance by the Saracens man.  Won't appreciate being knocked over by Gray but the rest of his defence was excellent as usual, and a couple of decent carries.  Still questions over his handling skills.
Ashton – 7 – Bristling, lively performance in the 1st 40. Earned his try well, but then seemed to drift out of the game slightly – hopefully not because he thought his job was done.
Goode – 6 – A couple of good jinking runs but his hands weren't as crisp as usual, perhaps due to the injury layoff.

Subs Used

Vunipola – 5 – largely anonymous in the time he was on.

Hartley – 6 – A welcome return for the Saints captain.  Acted well as link man in the build up to Parling's try.
Wilson – Not enough time to make an impact
Lawes – 6 – A promising return for big hitter.  A couple of powerful carries showed he's hungry for his place.
Haskell – 7 – A great cameo from the Action Man.  Two key turnovers led to England attacks, one of them leading to a try, and carried aggressively.
Care – 6 – Turnover over twice in good positions before sniping well to get his try.  Also put in an important tackle on Visser.
Flood – 6 – A couple of decent breaks for the fly half but nowhere near enough to get his 10 shirt back
Strettle – 5 – largely anonymous in the time he was on.

 

Scotland Player Ratings

Grant – 5 – Acquitted himself well early on but found himself going backwards in the scrum later and unable to make an impact in the loose

Hall – 6 – lineout was a bit suspect at times but busied himself in defence impressively
Murray – 5 – Like his fellow prop, did not enjoy his day in the set piece and was not quick enough round the field
Gray – 7 – One carry of note and a sterling defensive effort, but struggled to shine with little front foot ball.  Could do with getting nastier.
Hamilton – 4 – The enforcer was anonymous throughout.  For a man who prides himself on his physicality, getting outmuscled by smaller opponents will hurt.
Strokosch – 5 – Unable to make an impact in the short time he was on before leaving with a facial injury
Brown – 8 – Brave performance from the Scotland captain.  Put in tackle after tackle and didn't stop competing at the breakdown.
Beattie – 7 – Drifted in and out of the game but a thunderous charge and booming kick highlighted he can still be a talisman.
Laidlaw – 6 – Got precious little front foot ball to play with but kicked his goals well.  Needs to start bossing his forwards.
Jackson – 4 –The flyhalf didn't seem confident and made too many mistakes, but to be fair he was consistently going backwards.
Visser – 5 – We all know about his running talents but was unable to see any ball and questions will still be raised about his defence.
Scott – 5 – The centre defended manfully and didn't take a backward step, but offered as much bite as a sponge in attack.
Lamont – 6 – Like his centre colleague, never gave up in the tackle and also competed at the breakdown, but did give away penalties
Maitland – 7 – Decent debut.  A well taken try and a good kick to set up Hogg's.  Will be praying for more possession next time to show off his speed.
Hogg – 9 – Everything he did, he did very, very well.  Superb kicking, outstanding break for the first try and great footballing skills for the second.  A real prospect.
 
Subs Used

Ford – 6 – Solid in the lineout but couldn't stop the tide of white shirts in the second half.

Denton – 5 – We didn't see any of his trademark carries and through one awful pass that led to a period of English pressure.  Partly made up for this with a good offload for Hogg's try.
Pyrgos – No time to have an impact.
Evans – No time to have an impact.