Scotland v England: Five takeaways as hosts blow Red Rose away with ‘typical Murrayfield performance’
England flyer Henry Arundell heads to the sin bin (inset) and Scotland skipper Sione Tuipulotu lifts the Calcutta Cup.
Following Scotland’s impressive 31-20 victory over England in their Six Nations Test at Murrayfield on Saturday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.
The top line
England lost this match in the opening 20 minutes and spent the remaining sixty watching it disappear over the horizon.
The turning points were numerous, but the rot started as Henry Arundell received a yellow card for a ruck offence eight minutes in as Scotland attacked the space immediately and Huw Jones grabbed the opening try at 10 minutes. Four minutes later Jamie Ritchie crashed over after Tommy Freeman bit in hopelessly out of position. Scotland led 17-0 before England woke up and the floodgates had already opened before the Red Rose realised how leaky their defence was.
Arundell returned from the sin bin and scored almost immediately at 22 minutes, powering through Scottish tacklers to give England hope at 17-7. But worse was yet to come; 24-10 at half-time and Arundell’s second yellow card for another dangerous tackle in the air became a red. England faced the second half with 14 men and no realistic path to victory.
Finn Russell and Ben White at Murrayfield against England, regularly transcend expectations. Russell operated in dimensions that shattered England’s defensive system, as he unpicked a disrupted defence whilst White controlled the tempo like the Top 14 elite nine he is. Together they turned Scotland’s selective amnesia about losing to Italy into historically implausible superiority over one of the form teams in World rugby. Huw Jones added his second try in the second half while Ben Earl scored a consolation late on but it merely confirmed what everyone already knew.
Scotland finished with four tries to England’s two but the scoreline flattered England’s competitiveness. Arundell’s indiscipline and England’s conservatism destroyed their 12-match winning streak and their systematic superiority meant nothing when played with 14 men at Murrayfield against opponents who refused to lose.
Where the game was won and lost
Scotland, who lost their Six Nations opener to Italy in a Roman monsoon seven days earlier, turned up at Murrayfield and played like they had spent the week watching William Wallace kill Englishmen at Stirling Bridge. They turned pressure into tries whilst England turned pressure into three-point decisions as the gap between ambition and caution decided the Calcutta Cup.
The aerial battle was once again key; Kyle Steyn and Tom Jordan won 12 of 17 aerial contestables because they understood winning in the air meant controlling territory and every lost high ball compounded into field position which Scotland converted into scoreboard damage that England never really recovered from.
The midfield battle exposed England and the Freeman experiment completely, but in fairness, that was partly down to the card situation as Sione Tuipulotu’s physicality paired with Huw Jones’s pace unpicked the big Saint throughout. His defensive positioning disintegrated under the pressure Scotland applied in waves. Ben White’s box work controlled tempo at every scrum and ruck, denying England the quick ball their system demanded while giving Scotland front foot ball that accelerated their attack.
The host’s breakdown speed turned England’s possession into Scottish opportunity and in defence, they completed 88% percent of their tackles to England’s 77% as they pressured the visitors into errors whilst absorbing pressure themselves. When Scotland won their own ball they recycled it before England set their defensive line with Ben White working at elite pace, but when England won theirs Scotland slowed it enough to reset and punish the next phase.
Arundell’s red card at 37 minutes meant England played 60 minutes with 14 men at Murrayfield, a mathematical impossibility dressed as rugby contest. And in fairness, Nika Amashukeli refereed flawlessly and made England’s implosion entirely their own work, and the scoreboard confirmed what red zone efficiency and aerial dominance had already decided.
England’s momentum killers
England’s insistence on playing Rahul Dravid cricket when the situation screamed for Virat Kohli strokeplay and when they were well behind on the scoreboard once again demonstrated their palpable lack of appreciation of momentum and emotional intellect. Down to 14 men, trailing by 17 points at a ground they had not won at since 2020, they responded with algorithmic precision in a tweed sportsjacket rather than the Scots’ ambition in armour. Kick penalty, kick penalty, attempt drop goal. Three points when they needed 28; the scoreboard demanded aggression, the moment screamed for tries, and Steve Borthwick’s England consulted their spreadsheets.
This was robotic decision making divorced from reality; England needed to understand emotional heartbeat and they failed. When Fagerson was on a yellow card scrum warning and Scotland’s scrum creaking, England kicked for goal under the posts. The Springboks would have scrummed again and watched another yellow card arrive, sensing blood and pressing the advantage until something broke. Instead England chose three points over a penalty try and territorial dominance. The drop goal attempt came with 20 minutes remaining and needing two converted tries, a 10-point momentum swing and cataclysmic stupidity dressed as game management.
Scotland read the moments; Russell’s chip for Ben White’s try arrived because he understood chaos beats system and England’s system was already broken. Ritchie’s score exploited Freeman hopelessly out of position, biting in when England were already down a man. Luke Cowan-Dickie’s no arms clear out came because England never adjusted their physical intensity to match Scottish directness. The faster Scottish breakdown and more direct running exposed England’s inability to read the temperature of what was unfolding.
The momentum killers cascaded from there. Arundell’s brain-dead red card gave way to Ellis Genge knocking back Russell’s kick through like a fat boy fumbling a doughnut as Scotland set fire to the board whilst England tried to play considered chess.
Scotland’s emotional mastery
Murrayfield does more than create home advantage against England, it generates historic perspective and the crowd compressed centuries of grievance into 80 minutes that made systematic advantage irrelevant. This was Wallace winning at Stirling Bridge, Robert the Bruce triumphing at Bannockburn through terrain advantage and bloody-minded refusal to accept inevitable defeat.
The Scottish tries came from reading temperature and grabbing the moment with emotion and passion rather than structure. But there was precision too; Jones scored because he ran straight at the hole Arundell’s absence created and Itoje could not live with the pace across the gainline, only one winner in that collision. Ritchie’s try exploited Freeman hopelessly out of position because Scotland saw him biting in and punished the decision before England realised the space existed.
The breakdown told the story Scotland wanted told and they reigned supreme, with Jamie Ritchie delivering a magnificent first half until he hobbled off. They operated faster and more directly because they played the game in front of them rather than the one they prepared for.
The back-row of Ritchie, Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey hit rucks with intensity that said this mattered more and was more to them than just a stage of development, which is how England played. Steyn won the aerial battle because he refused to lose it, and Scottish forwards disrupted just enough phases, won just enough turnovers, created just enough chaos that England’s form advantage never compounded into scoreboard dominance.
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Implications
Scotland have taken the heat off their beleaguered coach, Gregor Townsend, and delivered their typical Murrayfield performance against England, something they can build the remains of their campaign around. For England the questions compound into crisis management.
They host Ireland next Saturday at Twickenham carrying attacking and defensive doubts they thought they had answered. The 12-match winning streak evaporated into Scottish superiority and exposed deficiencies that victories over Wales and Argentina had masked. Ireland will arrive with more pace, more ambition and considerably more emotional intelligence than England demonstrated at Murrayfield and Steve Borthwick has seven days to solve problems that compound when pressure arrives.
On the plus side, Alex Mitchell and Ben Earl emerge with reputations enhanced. Mitchell’s service remained sharp under pressure and Earl carried tirelessly when others faded and deserved his score. Everyone else requires examination.
But the tactical questions run deeper than personnel. England scored only three tries against 15 Welsh players last weekend and managed two against 14 Scots. Their attacking ambition evaporates when opposition refuses to collapse, but their intellect in when to pull the trigger is holding them back. Ireland will not offer the same charity and Andy Farrell’s team understands emotional heartbeat and seizes moments rather than calculating through them.
England possess the playing resources to beat Ireland, but Murrayfield exposed the gap between systematic competence and championship mentality.