Scotland reclaim the Calcutta Cup with an electric win over England in the second weekend of this year’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
Both nations had everything to play for coming into round two of this year’s Men’s Six Nations, Scotland hoping to bounce back from a disappointing loss in Rome last week, and England hoping to achieve a second win following their decisive victory in Cardiff.
It only took four minutes for the scoreboard to open up with a penalty for Scotland in front of the sticks after England failed to roll away from a tackle (3-0, 4mins). An electric attack along the right touchline from Scotland’s Steyn, Jones, White, and Darge brought Murrayfield Stadium to life, and ultimately resulted in a yellow card for England’s Arrundell after deliberately using his hands in the ruck. Scotland continued to build their momentum, spinning the ball out to Russell who, with little time to act, used a single hand to bat the ball on to Jones who outpaced England’s captain Itoje to score an epic opening try (10-0, 10mins).
England handed Scotland another scoring opportunity after a no-arms tackle from Cowan-Dickie. The lineout was safely secured by Ritchie, and some nice play from Russell, Dobie, and Steyn kept the team moving towards the touchline. The ball eventually found captain Tuipulotu, who chucked a fifteen metre pass to Ritchie, resulting in a second try for Scotland. Russell’s boot could do no wrong, and he added the extra 2 points with a massive kick from the left touch-line (17-0, 15mins).
England’s first try of the match came barely 5 minutes later. Scotland did their best to repel the score by holding up their opposition’s maul, but Arundell eventually crossed the line for a simple finish following a great feed from Ford (17-7, 21mins). England added another 3 points following an offside from Ritchie, taking the score to 17-10 at 25 minutes.
Scotland quickly bounced back with another rapid attack that defined the game. Russell managed to chip the ball away under pressure, and a fumble from England’s Genge allowed White to scoop up the ball and score his fourth try in five matches against England. Russell added the extra 2, making the score 24-10 (28mins).
Arundell’s redemption was short-lived, as he took Scotland’s Steyn out in the air in competition for a high ball, resulting in a 20-minute red card for the winger. This brought the exciting first half to a close.
If Scotland take away one negative from this game, it is in their scrum, giving away another penalty four minutes into the second half, which Ford capitalised on to take the first points of the half (24-13, 44mins). England continued to dominate despite being a man down, but a charge down by Matt Fagerson on a drop goal attempt from Ford turned the tide Scotland’s way again. Fagerson offloaded to Jones, who scored between the posts (31-13, 53mins).
Graham came close to adding another try to Scotland’s total, opting for a tap and go, but was brought down close to the try line, and the ball was turned over. Though his effort at a try was unsuccessful, his try-saving tackle on England’s Steward only minutes later made up for it.
England had the final say in the game with a try from Earl (31-20, 77mins). Despite their efforts, with only 3 minutes left on the clock, it wasn’t enough to interfere with Scotland’s decisive victory and reclamation of the Calcutta Cup at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
