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Scotland player ratings vs England | 2021 Six Nations

By Gavin Harper
(Photo by Getty Images)

Scotland player ratings: Scotland have waited 38 years to win at Twickenham. This afternoon that wait came to an end as they toppled Eddie Jones’ side 11-6 to reclaim the Calcutta Cup.

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A winning margin of five points did not reflect Scotland’s dominance – they had more than 60 per cent possession – but in difficult conditions they did enough to emulate the team of 1983 and end their 38-year wait for a victory at the home of English rugby.

Here is our Scotland player ratings after a historic afternoon.

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Jonny Wilkinson and Gregor Townsend | All Access | Calcutta Cup memories

15. STUART HOGG – 8
Pinned England back time and time again with his siege gun right boot, while looked as lively in attack as he’s been for a long time. Linked well with Redpath and Russell, and led the team well to close out victory.

14. SEAN MAITLAND – 8
Put England under pressure through his relentless chasing of every Scottish kick, while showed a couple of nice touches in attack. Nearly latched on to a Russell grubber early on, but an impressive outing on his return.

13. CHRIS HARRIS – 7
Led the defensive effort and organised the Scottish back division well, while also getting his hands on the ball. Outplayed his opposite number Henry Slade.

12. CAM REDPATH – 8
A fantastic debut for the man courted by Eddie Jones and England. He looked at home in the international game and made a couple of lovely breaks – one notably in the first half where he linked well with Russell. A bright future. Lovely half-break early on after linking with Russell.

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11. DUHAN VAN DER MERWE – 7
A superb finish for the game’s opening try, but Scotland need to find ways to get the big Worcester-bound wing into the game more. A quiet second half.

10. FINN RUSSELL – 8
Some lovely touches in attack, including a cross-kick for van der Merwe. Linked well with Redpath but guilty of over-playing deep inside his own half on a couple of occasions. On another day, the yellow card could have been costly, but Scotland coped well without their talisman.

9. ALI PRICE – 7
Early box-kick wobbles knocked his confidence, but he responded well and linked with old mate Russell to orchestrate the Scottish attack.

1. RORY SUTHERLAND – 8
Conceded a couple of scrum penalties, but in between times he put Will Stuart under pressure. Added 24 metres from his eight carries. Has become a real mainstay of the pack over the past 12 months.

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2. GEORGE TURNER – 8
Carried well, especially in close quarters, to give Scotland go-forward ball. Well-timed pass to put Duhan van der Merwe away for the decisive try and 100% accuracy at the lineout.

3. ZANDER FAGERSON – 8
After an early wobble, Scotland got on top at the scrum and caused England some real problems in that area. A constant carrier.

4. SCOTT CUMMINGS – 7
Another physical showing from the Glasgow lock, who chipped in with 10 tackles. An impressive engine saw him shift to the back-row for the final quarter of an hour and played his part in closing the game out.

5. JONNY GRAY– 7
Caused England’s lineout problems and pinched a couple at crucial times. Defensively excellent.

6. JAMIE RITCHIE – 6
Worked tirelessly and improved discipline from the autumn, while also a valuable lineout option in attack. Stole one lineout late in the first half that stopped England’s momentum.

7. HAMISH WATSON – 8
A constant threat at the breakdown – including the match-winning penalty – while he contributed 11 tackles to the defensive effort.

8. MATT FAGERSON – 6
Some tough carries in heavy traffic when Scotland needed go-forward ball, but won’t have enjoyed a couple of wobbles under the high ball that coughed up possession.

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J
Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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