Winning start: England captain Chris Robshaw
England profited from a self-destructing Scotland side to open their Six Nations campaign with a 13-6 victory at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Stuart Lancaster's new-look team claimed England's first win in the Scottish capital since 2004 but the result had less to do with a new-era of creativity that English fans had been hoping for than the hosts' inability to convert their chances into points.
Scotland led 6-3 at the end of a boring, error-strewn first half that saw both sides fail to seriously threaten the opposition tryline. On the basis of those 40 minutes and the day's earlier game in Paris, neither England nor Scotland will travel to Rome confident of victory this year.
With both sides flooding the breakdown, attacking opportunities from quick ball were few and far between. And rare chances to spread the ball were generally ruined by poor handling or aimless kicking.
An opportunistic try from England fly-half Charlie Hodgson just seconds after the restart sparked the game into life however.
A far more-exciting second period saw Scotland throw the kitchen sink at a well-disciplined English defence but the home fans were left frustrated as their team conspired to make a hash of a number of scoring opportunities.
A scrappy opening quarter ended the with scores locked at 0-0 as Dan Parks kicked most of Scotland's possession away and a series of handling errors and ruck infringements prevented England from finding any sort of rhythm on attack.
It took just over 22 minutes for the first points to be scored courtesy of the boot of debutant England centre Owen Farrell. The hosts took less than three minutes to reply however as the visitors failed to stay on their feet and Parks slotted an easy penalty to restore the status quo.
The Scots began to ply the pressure and Parks split the uprights once again just after the half-hour mark to give his side a deserved lead which they held until the half-time whistle.
The game desperately needed a try and it came within seconds of kick-off when Hodgson charged down a lethargic Parks on the Scottish tryline before pouncing on the loose ball.
Farrell's extra's gave England a 10-6 lead, prompting Scotland up the tempo and the men in blue did most the playing in the second half, dominating territory and possession.
The introduction of Glasgow half-backs Greg Laidlaw and Mike Blair added extra impetus to their attack but the hosts continued to be the architects of their own downfall.
Laidlaw came within inches - literally - from grabbing the lead for Scotland after a kick and chase, but the TMO ruled he failed to touch the ball down ahead of Ben Youngs, while Ross Rennie butchered a fantastic chance to put Blair through.
A late penalty from Farrell settled England's nerves and secured a winning start to a new era.
Man of the match: It's rare that a player from the losing side gets this award but number eight David Denton was a tireless grafter and a standout performer in Scotland's back row.
Moment of the match: Scotland's match cam be summed up it one moment. Ross Rennie's wasted opportunity when he failed to find the two runners on his outside and instead decided to hang on was classic example of the hosts' inability land the killer blow.
Villain of the match: No rough stuff to report.
For England:
Try: Hodgson
Con: Farrell
Pen: Farrell
Scotland: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford (capt), 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 John Barclay, 20 Mike Blair, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Graeme Morrison.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Brad Barritt, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Phil Dowson, 7 Chris Robshaw (capt) 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Geoff Parling, 19 Ben Morgan, 20 Lee Dickson, 21 Jordan Turner-Hall, 22 Mike Brown.
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official: Tony Redmond (Ireland)
Comments
rugby_rockstar says...
The scratch england XV were as green as I expected but to their credit they fought hard got into the scottish faces and scotland really did blow it!
Everyone knows the story of the tortoise and the hare. Scotland shoud never have lost yet with all those dropped balls they metaphorically found a tree 5m from the finish line and decied to have a kip while england's excellent endevour had them plodding over for the win. Italy will be just as tough and I see the azzurri edging it unless england capitalise on this 80 minutes of experience they've got under their belts. Scotland will be furious with themselves so watch out wales, especially as wales were lucky to beat ireland. Wales have to keep their feet on the ground and realise that things went their way in dublin. As for ireland, they were genuine contenders for a grand slam this year but they choked on a 1point lead let wales boss that last 5 minutes. the france game is MASSIVE! a win and they still have every chance of winning the championship, lose and they'll never shake that choker tag. Brilliant side, shame about the lack of belief.
Posted 13:21 08th February 2012
crunchfit says...
I have respect for the TMO and I was respectful. I didn't insult him or go any further than saying it was a try. I just said that according to the current version of the rules, that touchdown was a try. He was blatantly wrong on that call. Also, unlike the actual match referee, he wasn't making the call on the pitch, under intense pressure, with only a single viewing in real time, from a distance, with multiple players blocking his view. He had plenty of time, much less pressure and he could view the incident multiple times in real time and in slow motion and from multiple angles and I think he should be given less sympathy than a normal ref. I'm still not insulting him, it was just a bad call. It has nothing to do with being a Scottish supporter, because I am not one.
By the way, my username has an "h". It's "crunchfit", you've misspelt it 3 times now. And I didn't write that the game was dull or boring.
Posted 18:43 07th February 2012
melkdave says...
For all those people knocking England well remember last year during the RWC warm up matches .The 2nd Wales V England match in Cardiff -England dominated and should have won easily but Wales won with a good defencive performance and a bit of luck .England have a simlar game and result against Scotland with an even more inexperianced team than Wales yet posters here slate them .Remember this is just a 1st step in along road for England so cut them a little slack just like you did for Wales last year
Posted 17:48 07th February 2012
crunchfit says...
Meant to say should have been a penalty.
Posted 01:36 07th February 2012
crunchfit says...
@wazsere
I'm not a Scottish supporter. Did you not read that? And Scotland were terrible. I admit that. I'm just reading the rules and using common sense to judge that it is a try. It's doesn't really require training. I'm am reading the rules out of the rule book and the Scottish player did press the ball down. I can see that clearly, although it was only slight downward press on the ball. According to the rules though, that is a try. If Laidlaw committed a foul before that, then fair enough, it shouldn't have been a a penalty. I didn't notice a foul though. But looking at the touch down alone, it is a try. And relax man, no need to get so het up. There's no conspiracy theory and I'm not challenging the foundations of the sport. It's only a commenting section on a sports website.
@jamesliveinhope
What you can tell for sure is that he touches the ball. That would mean he would be pressing down on the ball, most likely with a minuscule force, but he would still be pressing the ball down to some small degree and according to the rules, that would seem to count as a try. Anyway, a Scottish win would be papering over the cracks.
Posted 01:34 07th February 2012
Carpelone says...
7ton
Exactly, he even forgot to award the Scots a penalty.
Posted 16:05 06th February 2012
APV1 says...
Read the arrogance of the English players and supporters!
Oh, sorry. That was what I had expected people to write but actually, as usual, we are generally quite self-critical.
We won. Thank Goodness for that. Although I still hold my belief that we are not here to win the games in this 6N, but to develop the squad, team and players. And I think we did.
Defensively we were epic. To manage to keep their structure and keep Scotland down to 6 points was an achievement in itself. Was it the best looking rugby? Certainly not. Was there a lot of flair from the backline? No, hardly any. Is that surprising, considering the inexperience of the squad? Absolutely not.
Whilst I agree that Scotland squandered some chances, we took ours. It's all about who has the most points on the board at the end of the game and we did. And that wasn't just due to Scotland not exploiting their opportunities; nor just about England's luck. It was all of the above and more.
We weren't expected to win, but we did. And for that I'm pleased. But to put a team of youth and inexperience together in a couple of weeks and win away to a more experienced Scotland - at Murrayfield - was a good result.
So who cares whether it was dynamic, exciting and pretty? Not me. I'm glad that we have the first game together under our belts and have learned plenty. And we still have a long way to go, but every journey starts with a single step and we've just taken our first leap forward.
Stop slating England for the manner in which they won and stop slating Scotland for their efforts. Let's learn from the match and look forward to the next.
Try or not? TMO said no, and he makes the decision. Back for the original penalty to Scotland, or reverse it for the foul on Youngs. The ref decided on a 22, and he makes the decision. The bleating about the ref is starting to make you sound like football supporters or BVD!
Posted 10:58 06th February 2012
ThinkingGame says...
There are two ways a player can ground the ball:
(a) Player touches the ground with the ball. A player grounds the ball by holding the ball and touching the ground with it, in in-goal. ¿Holding¿ means holding in the hand or hands, or in the arm or arms. No downward pressure is required.
(b) Player presses down on the ball. A player grounds the ball when it is on the ground in the in-goal and the player presses down on it with a hand or hands, arm or arms, or the front of the player¿s body from waist to neck inclusive.
It looked to me far more likely that he touched it, and the benefit of the doubt should have been enough to give the score. Having said that, I can understand why it wasn't given since no frame clearly showed a touch, just a suggestion of a touch and the way the ball seemed to stop.
Awful conditions to be a side with little confidence and too many new faces. Shame for the spectacle that there were two of them.
Posted 10:45 06th February 2012
chinstan says...
Anyone suggesting it was a try should rewind a few seconds and look at how Youngs was pulled back and then climbed over! Should have been disallowed for that along!
Thought the game went as expected. Scotland must be kicking themselves! England can draw some positives out of it but we fell off some of those tackles far too easily and the "sarecans squeeze defence" always gave the Scots a chance on the outside which made me nervous. Also on the few occasions we did get the ball and a bit of go forward we gave it away far too cheaply either knocking on or Younbgs box kicking (don't think he'll start this week). Thought that Dowson had a poor game and Morgan was far more encouraging.
A lot needs to happen before we play Italy but if we can come through that in good shape and with the introduction of Manu, Courtney, Wood et al we should be fighting fit to face the others and at least be competitive. Still think we are on course for 4th with one good result against Ire, Wal at home
Posted 09:04 06th February 2012
jamesliveinhope says...
Bored with the "better team lost" argument (not just in this instance but whenever its rolled out), let's not forget the objective of the game is to score more points than the opposition.
The try/no try argument is also pointless, @crunchfit you are quite correct in your interpretation of the rules the argument is not how much contact with the ball is needed but whether it actually happened, first up in real time I thought he did but the slow motion stuff made it inconclusive (remember the expression about never letting a rugby ball bounce) you cannot assume that the rugby ball stopped because of contact with the arm because bouncing rugby balls stop like that anyway so the TMO had to judge whether there was contact with the arm or not, he didn't and I agree with him.
I have to say that the Scots need to look at their game plan and perhaps their coaching, no tries in that many of their meaningful encounters is not good (Andy Robinson had a similar barren spell when he was coaching England). The problem is, if your skill levels aren't up to the job, then they will break down under pressure. The Scots weren't exerting their expected dominance in the set piece and so the ball was having to go through the hands and, to be honest, they didn't look up to it.
Thought Parks had a shocker and, even ignoring the try, his territorial kicking was poor (another reason for the ball having to go through the hands).
England are obviously work in progress, thought the defensive effort was good but saw nothing else to get excited about. Thought the pack went well in the set piece but looked a little lightweight in the contact. Backs were anonymous and I suspect that they will look a little more threatening when Flood and Tuilagi return.
Posted 08:58 06th February 2012
lawynd says...
@crunchfit - I didn't hear the exact explanation for why the try was ruled out (noisy pub), but whilst I agree it was touched down I felt that Ben Youngs was pulled back to do so, which would have ruled it out anyway.
Posted 23:04 05th February 2012
Jediboy says...
Whilst the performance from England was poor, what were we really expecting. It's been said for a while now that this is a 'new' England team and they won't become world beaters overnight. It will take time, it's going to be a long journey. But this is the first step on the long journey and hopefully things will improve with time.
Posted 19:27 05th February 2012
crunchfit says...
@justice_4_all
It does. He is touching the ball and the ball is touching the grass. He is pressing the ball down, even if it is very very lightly. The rule doesn't say you need to press with a certain amount of pressure, just that you need to press down and that is what happened.
@wazsere
He was wrong. Anyway, I watched it more than 6 times so does that make me more correct than him? Here is the rule here:
"...the player presses down on it with a hand or hands, arm or arms, or the front of the player¿s body from waist to neck inclusive."
The player did press down on the ball. I'll admit, he didn't have control of it or get much of a touch on the ball, but he certainly managed to press the ball down slightly, and the rules say that that is a try. It doesn't say you need to grip the ball or gain control or press it down with a certain amount of pressure, just that you press it down.
By the way, I am not correcting the referee or the two linesmen. I am correcting the TMO. He is the one who said it was a try. I don't see why it would matter that I'm on a message board. Unlike the ref / TMO, I can actually use the rule book and take time to make up my mind over the matter with no pressure. Why am I doing it? Well, I'm not Scottish, or a Scotland fan. I just know that the decision was wrong.
Posted 19:22 05th February 2012
zambokke says...
Denton looked great. Its sad to think how good Zimbabwe could have been with Pocock at 7 and Denton at 8 etc. Mujati and the Beast at props, Ngwenya and Tchavanga on wings etc. Good to see Zimbos doing well though. When England are re-enforced by Lawes and Tuilagi etc they may get very good. Scotland just had a scrappy day and possibly didn't select the best pairings to play England. Not a top quality game, but a good first outing for England - Scotland can only get better and may take a scalp or two.
Posted 19:20 05th February 2012
brownie says...
oh sweet jesus how embarrising was that for NH rugby!!! hopefully ireland and wales put on a good show today Ireland by 7 would do nicely
Posted 14:06 05th February 2012
ShamanSheep says...
Plus crunchfit is right - that was a definite try, no doubt about it
Posted 13:47 05th February 2012
ShamanSheep says...
Plus crunchfit is right - that was a definite try, no doubt about it
Posted 13:47 05th February 2012
ShamanSheep says...
I actually quite enjoyed that, it was played at the standard it was always going to be played at, which wasn't great but what were you all expecting? Parks at 10 with instructions to kick, barritt, a crash ball 12 making an international debut at 13.
Scotland are being unfairly slated - a few tweaks here and there and they're scoring tries. Obviously they'll be gutted but it's not the end of the world, I'd be more worried about England - some international players of quality may emerge from this group but if your going to play Hodgson you've got to have someone with a bit about them for him to pass to
Posted 13:46 05th February 2012
KiwiJoe says...
Easy entertaining game to watch, a bit scrappy but it is the first and all teams are the same wherever.
I think the new England team will do OK with time, at least they beat Scotland at home which the other lot with all those hopeless hangers on never managed for years.
[not Jonny I hasten to add, that guy's an all time legend]
Scotland looked much improved with fitness, speed, more than usual ambition and intent.
Their sheer number of appalling basic handling errors makes you wonder if AR isn,t a fifth columnist planted by the RFU...
Scotland should have won this and they will know it.
Posted 13:37 05th February 2012
ruckman says...
Utter dross - two very poor teams, things can only get better....can't they?
Posted 13:04 05th February 2012