Watch: Farrell's alpha moment backfires as Scotland break 10-year Calcutta Cup drought
England’s 2018 Six Nations campaign ended disastrously with their lowest ever finish in 5th place, but heading into the Round three clash at Murrayfield, Eddie Jones’ men were flying high with two wins from two.
With Scotland’s Calcutta Cup drought entering its tenth year, there was nothing to suggest England would be troubled. They had pounded Scotland 61-21 the year prior at Twickenham and had similar ambitions in mind.
With back-to-back Six Nations titles in the bag, Eddie Jones’ side was at the top of the rugby world having won 24 of their last 25 matches and wanted Scotland to know it.
In a display of physical intimidation, England inside centre Owen Farrell caused a stir when he sparked a tunnel scuffle pre-match. The England star pushed his way through the Scottish side leaving the field, exerting his dominance as the alpha male in an effort to try and get to the changing rooms first.
New footage of the incident in the tunnel before Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash between @Scotlandteam and @EnglandRugby has emerged –
Read: https://t.co/2IuGs9nwC7 pic.twitter.com/peKVLnwR2t— THE OFFSIDE LINE (@theoffsideline) February 26, 2018
The incident at Murrayfield between Owen Farrell and Ryan Wilson must be clarified. Rugby is not Football. #SixNations #SCOvENG
— Jürgen von Töpfer (@jurgenvontopfer) February 26, 2018
Will Owen Farrell be cited for making absolutely unnecessary contact with most of the @Scotlandteam running off the pitch after the warm up though ? #rugbyunited #SCOvENG #NatWest6Nations https://t.co/Tt3JG8YcHo
— Bucks RFU Referees (@BucksRFURS) February 26, 2018
That Owen Farrell does love a jostle. Likes it best when an opponent's running past him, without the ball, chasing a kick. Cannae resist a playful nudge. https://t.co/3ytK7gOeB4
— Aidan Smith (@aidansmith07) February 26, 2018
Sorry but Owen Farrell touched Ryan Wilson first. He was the one that started it in my eyes, don't care if anything was said. He should never have touched him like that.
— McFly Fan (@Mrs_Poynter98xx) February 26, 2018
The incident, unfortunately for England, ‘poked the hornet’s nest’, rousing Scotland to stand up and deliver a memorable performance on the back of some mesmerising play from flyhalf Finn Russell.
Gregor Townsend’s free-flowing wide-running rugby hit England in the face almost immediately.
Locked at 3-all in the early stages, a fortuitous Finn Russell grubber kick confounded England’s backfield to fall in the path of Huw Jones. The Scottish centre hacked the loose ball ahead to score under the posts and send Murrayfield into party-mode as Scotland scored the first try of the match.
It was clear that Owen Farrell was after Finn Russell with the England centre ensuring Russell felt the turf after the kick. As Russell ran past to celebrate with his teammates, he made sure to let Farrell know whose day it would be with a rub on the head.
Loved the wee pat on the head from @finn_russell to Farrell after Farrell had tried to take him out after the grubber kick for the first Scotland try. Farrell and co given a lesson in all departments on Saturday. #SCOvENG #Scotland
— Lemon (@matthewlemon) February 26, 2018
A short while later Finn Russell threw what many called the ‘greatest pass ever’ with a miraculous long floater sailing over the head of Jonathan Joseph and enter the waiting arms of Huw Jones.
The perfectly-thrown pass set Jones away downfield and with some quick organisation, Russell put Maitland over out wide for Scotland’s second try.
Is @finn_russell left handed or did he throw the greatest pass I've ever seen at Murrayfield off his weaker side? #AsOne
— Jack Mysyk (@JackMysyk) February 26, 2018
#SCOvENG was great. Scotland on fire. That Russell pass to Jones is the best/maddest I've seen since Quade Cooper/Carlos Spencer. And Huw Jones did the best re-enactment of O'Driscoll since BOD himself. England didn't deserve to score 1st half. (Legal not moral call.)
— Michael West (@m_r_west) February 26, 2018
? | Here's a look back from above at Sean Maitland's try and THAT pass from Finn Russell #AsOne pic.twitter.com/aIhVVGY6UZ
— Scottish Rugby (at ?) (@Scotlandteam) February 26, 2018
Scotland’s first-half rampage wouldn’t be finished there.
A hard flat line off halfback Greig Laidlaw saw Huw Jones burst through England’s front line between Farrell and Nathan Hughes. With 50-metres to run, the centre pierced the gap between fullback Mike Brown and winger Anthony Watson, shrugging off both to score Scotland’s third try.
England struck back first in the second half with an Owen Farrell try but the deficit was too much to overcome and Scotland claimed back the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2008.
After the match, England coach Eddie Jones said it was ‘a great lesson’ and describe his players as only human.
“We’re human beings. Human beings aren’t robots. We prepare to be intense, we prepare to be aggressive, but for some reason, we weren’t.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments