England’s latest Murrayfield nightmare left more questions than answers as Scotland reclaimed the Calcutta Cup with a convincing Six Nations victory. Sky Sports looks at what went wrong when their 12-game winning streak came to a shocking halt.
Bad discipline comes at a cost
England spent 30 of the first half’s 58 minutes and were reduced to 14 men following an early sin-bin for Henry Arundel’s failure to break a tackle, followed by a red card in the 20th minute for contact with Kyle Steyn in the air.
England had little room to complain about referee Nika Amashkeli’s second decision, given how clear the protocols regarding aerial challenges are.
While it may be debated how early the Georgia referee issued the first yellow, the reckless manner in which Arundel collided with an opposing player when he already had a card was indefensible.
Steve Borthwick, in typical diplomatic fashion, refused to agree with either decision, but had no choice but to acknowledge how influential Arundel’s multiple sackings were.
“Obviously we played a large part of the game without a winger against a team that moves the ball that much. That hurt us and ultimately we had too much to do in the second half,” the England head coach said.
Henry Arundel was shown two yellow cards in the first half.
Murray field effect
England have squeezed past all the powerhouses over the past year, including New Zealand, France and Argentina, but face a real litmus test of their progress when they arrive in Edinburgh.
Murrayfield, home of their oldest rivals, has not been their happiest hunting ground for the past decade, but there was nothing about this visit to suggest that the run will change anytime soon.
England, who had been brave until then, stiffened under Scotland’s early onslaught. Mistakes piled up, Murrayfield smelled blood and Scotland looked to score.
The numbers tell their own story. Scotland have now played five of their last six Calcutta Cup matches at home and seven of their last nine.
Ben White scores Scotland’s third try after Ellis Genge spills.
Russell is a master at his job.
Fly-half Finn Russell proved to be a master at his job, leading the backline to score two excellent tries in the first phase, scoring a follow-up for Ben White, helped by a crucial error from Ellis Genge, and teeing off like a dream, landing all five from all angles.
Head coach Gregor Townsend singled out Russell as particularly noteworthy in his postgame thoughts. “The decision-making at half-back was excellent. It was one of Finn Russell’s best performances for Scotland.”
“It’s very emotional. I’m very proud of the way we played tonight. The first 20 minutes were some of the best rugby we’ve ever played.”
The maverick fly-half firmly established himself as one of the world’s best Test playmakers for the British & Irish Lions in their 2-1 series victory over Australia in the summer, and was purring in Edinburgh on Saturday as England failed to contain his influence.
Scotland outperformed England in every aspect that mattered and Finn Russell proved brilliant.
Statistically, Scotland is the best in England.
In some ways this was a strange test, with everything going well for Scotland, both in attack and in defense at the end, and little for England.
However, simply describing it that way would undermine the fact that while Scotland’s attack proved exceptional when needed, England’s performance was significantly poorer.
Ben Earl was the only England forward with double-digit carries, while the visitors committed a whopping 18 turnovers to Scotland’s just five. Not only were England the best at the breakdown, they also committed far too many knock-on errors, both forced and unforced.
Scotland won more meters in the Test, made twice as many line breaks as England (10 to 5) and beat 25 defenders to England’s 19. Defensively, Scotland also had a better tackle success rate than England, 90 per cent to 83 per cent.
England dominated Scotland’s scrum, but the home side’s lineout was also solid and they were unable to dominate in other areas on the day.
Sione Tuipulotu lifts the Calcutta Cup after Scotland beat England 31-20 at Murrayfield
England are always playing catch-up
It may sound strange given the one-sided final score, but if England review the tape of this latest Murrayfield ordeal, they may find evidence of missed opportunities.
They enjoyed superior possession, ground, attacking time and, importantly, a clear advantage in the scrum, but were unable to convert any of this into meaningful scoreboard pressure.
That waste was compounded by Scotland’s talent for changing momentum at exactly the right moment.
Ben White’s try came just at the moment Arundel gave England a glimmer of hope. Matt Fagerson’s charge-down to George Ford and assist to Huw Jones were another decisive blow.
In the end it produced a 10-point swing and England were unable to recover it even after reverting to 15-a-side a few minutes later.
What’s next?
Scotland will aim to follow up on their victory when they travel to Wales in the third round of the Six Nations on February 21 at 4.40pm. England will look to make a comeback when they host Ireland at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on February 21 at 2.10pm.
