Lancaster wanted more points

Editor

England boss Stuart Lancaster's only disappointment after his side's win over Scotland was that they didn't score more points.

England boss Stuart Lancaster's only disappointment after his side's dominant 20-0 win over Scotland was that his side didn't score more points.

The visitors enjoyed far superior territory and possession statistics to their oldest rivals, but only managed two tries – one of which came while the Scots were down to fourteen men.

“We were delighted to get the win; this is always a difficult place to come,” acknowledged Lancaster.

“I was pleased with a lot of aspects out there, but were probably frustrated in the end that we didn't turn more opportunities into points.

“Certainly in the second half we dominated and there were chances there that we didn't take.

“We left a lot of points out there. Going in at half-time 13-0 up, we dominated the terrirtory in the second half, played some really good stuff, we kept getting awarded penalties. But it's about the detail and execution.

“That said, I still thought some of our attacking play was really good in difficult conditions; Scotland had to defend desperately and had to commit a guy to the sin-bin to stop us scoring.”

Lancaster, alongside defence coach Andy Farrell, was also pleased that England had managed to keep their hosts from scoring any points of their own.

“Defensively, we spoke at half-time about not committing too many men to the breakdown, and on a pitch like that, it's always going to be difficult to play multi-phase rugby,” confirmed Lancaster.

“By keeping our feet and our discipline, and making good decisions at the breakdown, we got to situations where they had to kick the ball back to us and that brought our back three into the equation.”

The former Scotland U19 and U21 representative lauded the work of assistant coaches Farrell and Mike Catt for the impact they have had on centres Billy Twelvetrees and Luther Burrell.

The latter bagged his second try in as many games with an astute but powerful line from close range, and made a total of three clean breaks; while Twelvetrees' handling and vision created opportunities aplenty for speedsters Jack Nowell and Jonny May out wide.

“The work that Faz and Catty have done with Luther and Billy is really beginning to pay off,” revealed Lancaster.

“The timing and the number of options coming into the line was excellent. Luther's try is a case in point: we had four or five players in motion, and the timing and depth was good.

“We're definitely pleased with how those two are going; they're developing especially well given they've only trained together as a partnership for two weeks.

“It's a partnership that will continue to develop, and we'll have a good week with them this week ahead of going up against the Irish centres, who obviously are world class.”

When asked whether he felt England could go on to claim the Championship as Wales did last year following a Round One loss, the coach was firm.

“Definitely,” he announced.

“We've always felt that even though we lost last week, the games were having their likely outcomes. It does set us up for a very important game against Ireland next week; they've played very well and won two games.

“We're confident, but it's going to be a key game.”

By Jamie Lyall @JLyall93 at Murrayfield