Scotland vs England: England Player Ratings
The 125th edition of the Calcutta Cup played out today and, with little surprise, it duly delivered a fascinating rugby spectacle.
Scotland ended their long wait for the trophy, beating England 25-13 at Murrayfield, inflicting upon England just their second loss under Eddie Jones.
For England, it will herald two weeks of introspection, as they examine just why they were second best right across the field in Edinburgh.
We rated the performance of the 23 England players earlier today.
- Mike Brown – 5
An errant pass when Anthony Watson had an overlap, a missed tackle on Huw Jones for his second try and a quiet performance in general was not the response Brown wanted to his excellent showing against Wales at Twickenham. Made an impressive try-saving tackle on Sean Maitland in the second half in England’s bid to salvage the game.
- Anthony Watson – 6
Did well to get out of trouble when pinned inside his own 22 and facing three Scottish defenders but was feeding off scraps for much of the game. Could have done better when Jones broke through the English defensive line for his second score, but did redeem himself with a busy second half, where he looked for work throughout.
- Jonathan Joseph – 5
Outshone by his opposite number in Edinburgh, with few opportunities to influence the game and his usually excellent defensive work made to look less effective by the marauding Jones.
- Owen Farrell – 7
Of all the English backs, Farrell was most noteworthy, thanks in part to the more regular ball he received. Ran a nice line for his try and was proficient as a ball-handler throughout, but didn’t manage to control the game as well as he did against Italy or Wales.
- Jonny May – 5
Like Watson, May was feeding off scraps for most of the game. One of the few times he got involved in the game, he was stood on the touchline as he received the ball.
- George Ford – 5
The fly-half struggled with his kicking in the first half, failing to find touch or space and delivering the ball down the throat of the Scottish players. He couldn’t pull the strings in the way his opposite number did, and it was largely a game to forget for Ford.
- Danny Care – 6
Care struggled again to exert the control on the game from the opening minute that Ben Youngs regularly does. His neat kicking game, which regularly catches opposition sides out, was nowhere to be seen at Murrayfield. Did make a precise wider pass to send Farrell through for England’s opening try, though.
- Mako Vunipola – 6
Not quite the dominant and energetic performance that he turned in during the opening two rounds of the tournament. Scrummaged well but couldn’t keep England moving forward in the same way he did in previous games.
- Dylan Hartley – 7
Hit his jumpers on all seven of his lineout throws and captained well, particularly when he made referee Nigel Owens aware of Scotland being offside at a ruck. Defended efficiently in the loose, without offering too much in attack.
- Dan Cole – 6
The tighthead looked to have benefitted from the scrummaging session against the Georgian pack and anchored the English scrum well at Murrayfield. Didn’t have too much influence in the loose, however.
- Joe Launchbury – 5
The Wasps man couldn’t match the work rate and impact he had against Wales. His carrying was largely nullified and his defensive work, with England trailing for most of the game, wasn’t enough to deliver them momentum or swing the result. Conceded a couple of costly penalties, too.
- Maro Itoje – 6
A couple of powerful carries early caught the eye, but he couldn’t keep up that impact throughout the game. Like most of the English pack, he struggled to dislodge Scottish fetching threats such as John Barclay, Stuart McInally and Grant Gilchrist.
- Courtney Lawes – 7
A needless penalty in the second half for kicking the ball out of the scrum-half’s hands aside, Lawes stood out among the rear five forwards. He was the go-to lineout option, particularly when England were under pressure inside their own 22, and delivered a couple of his trademark thumping tackles during the game. He also pressured the Scottish throw on multiple occasions and disrupted well at the maul.
- Chris Robshaw – 6
It wasn’t a bad performance from Robshaw, but with England chasing the game, it was not a scenario he was built for. His tireless defensive work, without being a consistent threat to turnover ball, wasn’t particularly suited to getting England the scores they needed to win the game.
- Nathan Hughes – 6
A hit and miss game on his return from injury. He looked dangerous with ball-in-hand, if a bit tentative when running from deep, but seemed off the pace in the defensive line and Scottish ball-carriers targeted space and dog legs around him.
Replacements
- Jamie George – 6
Fluffed his first lineout throws in his previous two games but nailed his jumpers at Murrayfield. Struggled to involve himself in the loose as much as you would expect of him.
- Joe Marler – 6
The English scrum stuttered late on following the arrival of WP Nel and there were few opportunities for Marler to make an impact.
- Harry Williams – 6
Like Marler, Williams had few opportunities to influence the game, but he was hungry for work and popped up as a carrier multiple times.
- George Kruis – 6
Came on late and had little time to impact the game.
- Sam Underhill – 5
Won a turnover at the breakdown with his first action of the game and tackled ferociously. Mitigated this by making a no-arms tackle and getting himself yellow carded minutes later.
- Richard Wigglesworth – 6
Came on late and had little time to impact the game.
- Ben Te’o – 6
A couple of strong carries but by the time he came on, England were looking to get out and around Scotland, needing two scores to change the result, something which doesn’t suit his game.
- Jack Nowell – 6
Looked busy after coming on but frequently ran himself into defenders and confined spaces. Impressive footwork, but it was not enough to cause Scotland’s defence any problems.
Comments on RugbyPass
Naaaww boys will be boys! Now run along ya wee scamp! Don’t let us catch you at again😏
1 Go to commentsGreat to have Ethan Blackadder back in the Crusaders in the last few weeks. One of the best all round loose forwards around. He played so well last week against the Rebels. Fantastic attitude Ethan has and his comments are spot on.
2 Go to commentsThe author is 100% right. The Springboks know that they don't have near the natural attraction, mana, skill and mystic the All Blacks have. So, Chasing the sun 1 & 2 was concocted to overblow the Boks image on the back of a corruptly obtained “win". It's marketing ploy to force the Boks delusion as the World's Best. I guess World Rugby is also not to be believed when it came out with an apology about how the final was officiated. And if the 2023 final such a superb game by the Boks, then the Boks crying about Referee Bryce Lawrence for decades is also deserves a laugh. Chase the sun and get burned like a moth. A very well written literary piece that tore the Boks and Chasing the sun farce to shreds. 🖤All Blacks🏉
142 Go to commentsI’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
142 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
142 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
142 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
142 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
142 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
142 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
142 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
142 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
142 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
142 Go to commentsHo hum.
142 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
142 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
142 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
142 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to comments