England battle past Scotland and Storm Ciara
England defied the treacherous conditions brought to Murrayfield by Storm Ciara to edge Scotland 13-6 and relaunch their Guinness Six Nations title quest.
Swirling wind and driving rain turned the round two contest into a lottery as points became a precious commodity that were fought over ferociously in a dreadful spectacle beyond the tension created.
Penalties by Owen Farrell and Adam Hastings produced a scoreline of 3-3 entering the final quarter and it took until the 70th minute for England to engineer the decisive moment and lift the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2017.
They thought they had scored moments earlier when Owen Farrell appeared to have capitalised on Stuart Hogg’s hesitation under the posts, but the ensuing five-metre scrum began a barrage on the line that ended when Ellis Genge powered over.
Scotland started the second-half like a freight train but the collapse of their set-piece stripped away their foundations and England were ruthless in exploiting their weakness. The victory ended the two-match losing run that was placing pressure on Eddie Jones while the Scots were at least able to secure a bonus point through a late penalty by Hastings.
(Continue reading below…)
Andy Farrell and Johnny Sexton react to Ireland’s win over Wales
Apart from an ill-advised up and under into the wind, England’s early kicking was smart with Farrell drilling the ball low to prevent it being blown off course, although the captain was beaten by a gust as he
attempted his first penalty.
A second attempt soon after was nailed and when Scotland applied pressure with the help of a George Ford clearance that was swept sideways, they escaped from their 22 as they continued to fall on the right side of referee Pascal Gauzere’s whistle.
Chances to attack continued to fall the Scots’ way but they yielded the ball repeatedly, albeit against English forwards who were jacking hard with Tom Curry and Sam Underhill producing steals on the ground.
The unpredictable conditions played their part again as a second Farrell penalty was dragged wide and, although Hogg was making huge ground with each clearance, his team persevered in inviting pressure on to
themselves despite generally having the wind at their backs.
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Hastings kicked the ball straight into touch and Jamie George was wayward with a line-out throw as both sides made errors in filthy weather that destroyed the game as a spectacle. Pulses finally quickened as the second half got underway with a dummy by Rory Sutherland parting the white shirts and inviting the prop to make a marauding run downfield.
A sustained onslaught advancing towards the line failed to pierce the defence but Scotland were given a penalty for offside that allowed Hastings to kick three priceless points. Knowing the difficulty of kicking into the wind, Hogg darted his way out of his 22 and when his run was coming to an end he sent the ball into touch to launch another wave of forward-led attacks.
Just as England appeared to have escaped the siege through a scrum penalty and rolling mauling, Ford sent the ball straight into touch once more and then Elliot Daly followed suit. Scotland’s set-piece had ceased functioning but Farrell, who had Genge holding the ball upright, could not make them pay from a penalty.
The pendulum swung when Hogg lacked conviction as he looked to gather a kick and, although a try was averted, he had conceded a five-metre scrum that allowed Genge to storm over with Farrell converting.
– Press Association
WATCH: How Jim Hamilton previewed Scotland’s clash with England
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments