Scotland's gloriously ugly Calcutta Cup win must now be backed up
It is hard to know which caused more bluster in Edinburgh this past week: the meteorological chaos of Storm Corrie, or the arrival of Eddie Jones and his one-man verbal maelstrom.
England would be ‘going after’ Scotland, he said. Could the Scots handle the pressure of being ‘red-hot favourites’, he pondered. On Saturday night, his question was answered.
Jones likes talking about pressure and expectation when this grand old fixture rolls around. And seldom has such pressure been heaped upon a set of midfield scrums. Seldom have a perpetual slew of set-pieces been so engrossing to so many. With each trampling step of the English cavalry, every twitch of Ben O’Keeffe’s right arm, Murrayfield held its breath. The sixteen heaving, exhausted blokes in the trenches dug deep and then dug some more. Oh, there was pressure, alright.
This is what defines the Six Nations: savage competition, microscopically fine margins. Some day soon, it might be what defines this Scotland team. For the tournament has never been more ruthless.
When Stuart Hogg prematurely plucked the Calcutta Cup from its plinth before the Princess Royal had officially presented it to him, it was England’s day in microcosm. To Jones, and the players who bossed large swathes of the contest, this must feel like a heist.
England had 54% possession and 62% territory. They spent nearly twice as much time attacking in the home half as Scotland did in theirs. They almost trebled the amount of time Scotland had the ball in the English 22.
By half-time, three of the Scottish pack were into double figures for tackles. The rest were not far behind. They had made 83 to England’s 47 in total. They had spent a grand total of seven seconds in the English 22 and scored seven points. For all their ball, their prime real estate and their impetus, England trailed 10-6.
Too often, Scotland have been cut adrift in these tight affairs, left with a mountain to climb and a big score to chase against teams too wise to be reeled in. In years gone by, they would have buckled.
But there’s a belligerence about them these days. Jones promised England would come out swinging and in that opening half they went at them and went at them some more. They didn’t just chuck the kitchen sink at Scotland; the microwave, toaster and dining table were thrown in for good measure.
In those moments, Scotland defended terrifically. Steve Tandy has transformed them from a side with the defensive sturdiness of damp tissue paper to a snarling, diligent unit that seems to relish their periods without the ball. Yes, they were made to attempt 140 tackles, but how many did they miss? Six.
Tandy’s appointment in 2020 was part of a wider acknowledgement that Scotland’s ‘fastest-rugby-in-the-world’ blueprint needed a heavy infusion of pragmatism. Scotland had the best defence in the championship in his first campaign, and the joint-best in his second. Scottish rugby folk knew little of Tandy’s pedigree, but they are now lining up to hurl palms at the Welshman’s feet.
To live with the heavyweights, as momentum tilts to and fro, you must roll with the punches. You must stay in the battle. There were moments in Saturday when you wondered if Scotland had it within themselves to pivot from the ropes land a combination of their own. When the English scrum got a nudge on, you winced. When Scotland shipped dull penalties, you felt a grim sense of deja vu descend. When Marcus Smith screamed away to put England five clear, you worried if the Scottish attacking pulse would only grow fainter, their grip on the game looser.
But when their opportunities arose, how Scotland seized them. Some eye-catching stats have emerged from the Murrayfield tumult, but here’s one of the most telling: this was Scotland’s lowest time in possession in an opposition 22 for 15 championship matches. Only twice in that period have they bettered Saturday’s haul of three points per visit. One minute in the English red zone was all they needed to score 17 of their 20 points.
There was Hogg’s sharp pass, Darcy Graham’s slaloming burst and inside ball to Ben White. The London Irish scrum-half, a typically cute Gregor Townsend selection, will cherish his debut forever. White’s support line was clever, his control and maturity in the final throes excellent.
And then there was Finn Russell, directing heavy traffic with the nonchalance of a matador. Russell tends to shape Test matches with his hands rather than his boot, but his glorious array of probing grubbers, cross-field parabolas and steepling up-and-unders hauled England’s back-field out of shape. Smith scored more points, but it in the much-heralded duel of the play-makers, it was Russell whose influence burned brighter.
For Luke Cowan-Dickie wasn’t left stranded and vulnerable on the left touchline by accident. Russell swung the play viciously from one flank to the other, a pair of magnificently weighted kick-passes that put Duhan van der Merwe steaming away and then stressed Cowan-Dickie in to a wounding volleyball cameo.
Russell was a huge performer out there. Graham, too, scrapped and harried out of possession and beat six defenders with it, as many as the entire England team combined. It was he, a tiny ferret in a land of wolves, who pilfered English ball with the clock red. Matt Fagerson – whose numerical contribution totals 16 tackles and five metres per carry – was colossal. For all Magnus Bradbury’s domestic brilliance, the number eight jersey will be Fagerson’s again in Cardiff. It was a coming of age for the Glasgow man as an international back-row.
Above all, there was such belief coursing through Scotland. At the endgame, as 60,000 Scottish hearts turned their owners’ rib cages into mosh pits, WP Nel shook his head and grinned before burying it in another match-deciding scrum. That – more than the defensive stubbornness, the attacking nous, the canny kicking and the impressive set-piece effort – was most striking. It felt like a towering hurdle to clear.
In some ways Jones was right to question Scottish bottle, for the favourites tag has hobbled them many times in the past. The burden and the pressure and the expectation that comes with their clear status as Scotland’s finest group of the millennium. Nobody doubted their ability, but their mettle? That was another matter. Game by game, scalp by scalp, their character grows. England have been seen off home and away, France beaten in Paris for the first time since 1999, the Wallabies defeated again, and Wales downed in Llanelli.
Hoodoo after hoodoo has been obliterated by this team. Not since 1984 have Scotland won back-to-back Calcutta Cup matches. They have three victories from five against Jones and his side, sustained success that was nigh-impossible to envisage when Townsend took over.
It is easy to forget that as recently as 2020, the coach’s position looked decidedly shaky. The mortifying pool-stage exit from the World Cup in Japan heaped rancour and criticism upon him. He recognised Scotland’s high-octane style – a style he instilled and loved – required surgery. Others in his position may not have been so disposed to change.
This was a poignant day for Townsend, his 50th game at the helm and 132nd as player or head coach. A 29th victory took his win rate to 58%. Nobody – not Stern Vern Cotter, not the great Sir Ian McGeechan, not even Jim Telfer, the totem of Scottish rugby – has a better record.
Townsend is a perfectionist, though, and he will know his team were far from perfect. There were too many silly errors in possession. Even Russell threw in a customary missed touch from a penalty – purely to keep things interesting, you imagine.
A count of thirteen penalties is several too many, and a good number were shipped in maddening fashion. Zander Fagerson couldn’t resist another nibble at a breakdown contest he had already lost. Van der Merwe couldn’t help but haul his gargantuan frame off the deck for another rumble when he had already been tackled. Jamie Ritchie had a needless tug at Maro Itoje’s arm when he had been beaten to a line-out throw. Poor Grant Gilchrist was bamboozled by Graham on a kick-return and wound up being done for obstruction.
But for all the inaccuracies and all the self-harm, Scotland found a way to win. That is a precious skill, and in the end, it is all that matters. What a lift. What momentum they carry now to Cardiff.
What composure Scotland must bear too, for they have been in this movie before. It was only last year they smote England at Twickenham and led the Welsh handsomely at Murrayfield, when their brains fell out and the match was lost. As sweet as champagne tastes when you’re supping it from the Calcutta Cup, it is no use if you cannot back up the glory. The Principality will be packed out and seething after what Ireland visited upon the defending champions in round one. Scotland cannot cede these gains, allow the feelgood to dissipate and another championship to slip away. Consistency is the true mark of greatness.
It had gone 7:30pm, nearly an hour after Hogg hoofed the ball into the North Stand, before the last revellers streamed out of Murrayfield on a wave of euphoria. From the raucous bowl to the cobbles of the Old Town, the booze will flow and the hope blossom anew.
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 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.
6 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.
22 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
22 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.
8 Go to comments