Scotland player ratings vs England | 2023 Guinness Six Nations
A pair of outstanding tries by Duhan van der Merwe saw Scotland retain the Calcutta Cup for a third successive year.
The big winger beat five defenders en route to a stunning first half try, before showing all of his power to barge over late on. Huw Jones and Ben White scored the visitors’ other tries as they recorded a bonus point win at Twickenham.
Here is how Gregor Townsend’s side fared in another historic win at the home of English rugby.
15. Stuart Hogg – 6.5
The former skipper had been a doubt with a heel injury and wasn’t at his world-class best. A mixed bag – he won a superb jackal penalty in the first half and a lovely break in the second, but by and large wasn’t able to escape the clutches of the hosts.
14. Kyle Steyn – 6.5
The Glasgow skipper – in for the injured Darcy Graham – was pivotal in creating his wing colleague’s late try. Had another couple of chances that he couldn’t take, but was defensively sound and can be pleased with his day’s work.
13. Huw Jones – 7
The eye-catching selection ahead of Chris Harris, the Glasgow man showed his attacking prowess with a scything break before scoring his fifth try in as many games against England. Has been questioned defensively in the past, but kept ex-Quins colleague Marchant well-marked throughout.
12. Sione Tuipulotu – 7.5
Recovered from a ropey start where he was sat down by Steward and put Jones over with a deft grubber. Linked well with Russell and did well without the ball, particularly against the dancing Smith.
11. Duhan van der Merwe – 8.5
Hasn’t played this year due to an ankle injury but you wouldn’t have known as he ripped England apart twice. The first was a solo try for the ages and his second was a terrific show of power.
Scotland just love playing at Twickenham #ENGvSCO #SixNations2023 pic.twitter.com/ewVCLMRrjl
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10. Finn Russell – 7
Another mixed bag from Scotland’s mercurial talisman. Some lovely moments in attack, where he linked brilliantly at times with Tuipulotu and Jones, but some errant moments from the Bath-bound fly-half.
9. Ben White – 7.5
In fine form for London Irish and brought the same composure to his first Six Nations start. Took his try – his second against England after scoring on debut last year – superbly well and marshalled his pack confidently.
1. Pierre Schoeman – 7.5
Outstanding work rate as usual from the Edinburgh prop, both with ball-in-hand and led the defensive effort with 14 in the first half. Won’t want to see Dan Cole’s first scrum again, and departed shortly after.
2. George Turner – 6.5
Always puts himself about in defence and carries hard – including one over the top of Jack van Poortvliet. Lineout throwing can be a concern, but it went well today.
3. WP Nel – 6.5
The Edinburgh veteran turns 37 in April and isn’t the force he once was, but matched Genge in the scrum. Guilty of giving away the penalty that saw England lead at the break, but otherwise a solid showing before departing on 58 minutes.
4. Richie Gray – 7
Another busy afternoon for the veteran, who was Scotland’s go-to man at the lineout. Put England under pressure too, but gave away one silly penalty.
5. Grant Gilchrist – 6.5
Does a lot of unseen hard graft, which included a really important tackle on Dombrandt early on with England 10m out. Like his second-row colleague, put England’s lineout under pressure.
6. Jamie Ritchie – 6.5
Without his club-mate Hamish Watson, the skipper was a jackal threat but got caught narrow defensively as opposite number Ludlam put Malins away for his second try. Led from the front and won the crucial penalty that sealed victory.
7. Luke Crosbie – 6
The former Livingston and Currie man has been in fine form for Edinburgh, but he wasn’t able to impose his route-one game on the hosts. Worked hard though and joint-top tackler (14) with Schoeman.
8. Matt Fagerson – 8
Another who worked hard, and made metres in close quarters while adding to the defensive effort. But doesn’t have the same impact in the wide channels as someone like Faletau, or his opposite number Dombrandt.
Replacements
16. Fraser Brown – 6
One of four subs who also came off the bench in the remarkable 38-all draw in 2019 and competed well at the breakdown after replacing Turner.
17. Jamie Bhatti – 5
Didn’t have the same impact as Schoeman.
18. Simon Berghan – 6
Another of the 2019 squad who benefits from Fagerson’s injury. Replaced Nel on 58 minutes, and worked hard off the ball.
19. Jonny Gray – 6.5
Wasn’t in original Six Nations squad but has made it back in, and replaced Gilchrist late on. A couple of dymanic carries from the Exeter lock.
20. Jack Dempsey – 7
A terrific impact from the former Wallaby who added go-forward and dynamism with ball in hand. Should come into contention to start against Wales.
21. George Horne – 6.5
The livewire half-back was given the final 10 minutes and brought his trademark pace to the game.
22. Blair Kinghorn – 7
Played at fly-half in the autumn, but back at fullback for the closing stages in place of Hogg. Nearly set an attack clear and did superbly to recover from a Youngs clearance.
23. Chris Harris – N/A
Scotland’s defensive linchpin on late to see the game out, but no time to make a real impaxct.
Comments on RugbyPass
What a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
1 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
3 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
15 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
15 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
3 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
15 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
15 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to comments