Scotland reclaimed the Calcutta Cup and eased the pressure on Gregor Townsend with a 31-20 win, ending their rivals’ 12 Test winning streak and unleashing the Murrayfield nightmare on England once again.
Chasing their first victory at Murrayfield since 2020, England arrived in Edinburgh full of expectations on the back of a year-long winning streak, only to be confronted with a harsh and all-too-familiar reality.
An early sin-bin from Henry Arundel meant England had a disastrous first half. Scotland, led by the inspired Finn Russell, grabbed tries from Huw Jones and Jamie Ritchie within the first 15 minutes and there was no turning back.
Arundel looked to have ignited England’s fightback in the first half with a try returned from the bottle, but Ben White capitalized on an error from Ellis Genge to strengthen Scotland’s lead, and Arundel were given a second yellow and then a red in the 20th minute for bringing down Kyle Steyn in the air.
Scotland kept England on a level playing field in the second half, with Matt Fagerson keeping out George Ford’s drop goal and releasing Jones for a second try, with Scotland scoring their fourth try for a bonus point and putting the game to bed for good.
Scotland’s reaction to their opening game loss to Italy was so elated that Ben Earl’s late goal was little consolation for an England team that had been comprehensively defeated for the first time in a while.
Scotland give England a Murrayfield nightmare
If Finn Russell’s early penalty broke Scotland’s nerves, Arundel’s failure to release in the tackle gave them further momentum. By the time Arundel returned, Scotland had scored 14 unanswered points.
Scotland made the most of their numerical advantage as Russell’s brilliant off-the-cuff flick sent Jones tumbling into the corner and Sione Tuipulotu’s looping pass fell Ritchie unscathed.
Huw Jones scores Scotland’s first try
England were leading 17-0 within the first 40 minutes when a shocked England started clawing at the canvas.
Ford’s penalty gave them the lead, but the fly-half’s deft hands saw Arundel fall under the posts minutes after returning to the field.
Scotland’s Ben White celebrates after scoring his third try (centre left)
But just when England seemed to be making a comeback, Scotland once again asserted their dominance. The fleet-footed Russell evaded a number of missed tackles to advance, and Genge’s spill found scrum-half White to score Scotland’s third try.
The nightmarish first period didn’t end there as Arundel were shown a second yellow and a 20-minute red card for an unfortunate and unintentional challenge on Scottish winger Stein in the air.
Henry Arundel was shown two yellow cards in the first half.
Another Ford penalty gave England their first goal of the second half, but Scotland used their numerical superiority to keep the score at bay, before scoring the game-deciding fourth try.
After England lost their attacking momentum, Ford threw the ball away, but substitute Fagerson scored a drop goal, who picked up the rebound and found Jones, who raced across half the field, to score a fine run-away goal.
And while there was no turning back for England, who saw Earl’s late try deny Scotland their biggest win in 40 years, it was too late to wake up from their latest nightmare at Murrayfield.
Jones’ runaway second put Scotland out of sight.
Tuipulotu: We followed the coach.
Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu: “Beyond pride, I’m proud of everyone involved. I see everything that goes on behind closed doors that no one can see.
“I stand by what I said this week and I’m glad I had the support of my coaches to put in a performance I’m proud of today.
“The main message at half-time was to come out here and press them, and we pressed them.
“I want to have fun with my teammates tonight, but I have no doubt that everyone will give it their all. We will prepare as hard as we can to back up this performance.”
Scotland have won five of their last six matches against England in the Calcutta Cup.
“Some of the best rugby we’ve ever played” – Townsend
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said: “Very emotional. I’m very proud of the way we played tonight. The first 20 minutes were the best rugby I’ve ever played and that’s all you want as a coach.”
“We really fought for each other and the supporters. We were true to ourselves. We played the ball away from contact, we played aggressively in contact and we played with speed.”
“The decision-making at half-back was excellent. It was one of Finn Russell’s best performances for Scotland.”
“The work rate, overall effort and cohesion was great. I’m really happy to get the win. It’s a huge relief for the coaches, but joy for the players.”
“A tough day at the office”
England captain Maro Itoje: “It was a tough day at the office. We didn’t get as many shots as we wanted, but that’s the nature of the beast.
“We have to learn our lessons and move forward. We didn’t get off to a good start and we weren’t as accurate and precise as we would have liked. We need to improve in all these areas, especially in the scrum.”
“I think over the last 12 months we’ve been good at riding waves and finding our way, but today it didn’t work out for us. We’ll learn from that.”
What’s next?
Scotland will look to continue their winning streak when they take on Wales in the third leg of the Six Nations on February 21 at 4.40pm, while England will aim to bounce back when they host Ireland at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on February 21 at 2.10pm.
