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Up to date:
Feb 6, 2023
England 23 v 29 Scotland
Twickenham is draped in tartan but once more. The Scots have back-to-back wins for the primary time at HQ, which now not represents an impenetrable fortress. It was extra like a playground on Saturday as Scotland edged a pulsating Calcutta cup match. It was a minimum of the Scots deserved; they performed with confidence and composure, exhibiting ruthlessness and effectivity in assault. There was an actual zip to Scotland’s play, their passing crisp and correct, stretching England’s defence and taking part in on the quick tempo that Townsend covets. Individually, there have been stars in blue throughout the entire discipline, however none extra so than the sensible Duhan Van der Merwe, who scored one of many best tries Twickenham has ever seen, skipping by 5 gamers with a mix of tempo, energy, and electrical footwork. It was a compelling sport of rugby, with the distinctive mix of ability and drama that solely the Six Nations can present.
For England, there have been indicators of encouragement, seeds of restoration from a tough autumn. There was larger creativeness to England’s play, and Nick Evans’s affect was abundantly clear, even when all of the items aren’t fairly there but. England’s forwards carried with larger objective, with Ollie Chessum being a menace all afternoon, overshadowing his second-row companion, Maro Itoje. Nevertheless, some wounds have but to heal, and England’s again play nonetheless regarded slightly confused; as soon as once more, questions will probably be posed in regards to the performance of Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell taking part in collectively. Kevin Sinfield will probably be disenchanted to have conceded 4 tries, and England’s line velocity might be accused of being passive at instances.
The sport acquired off to a cagey begin, with England profitable the early kicking battle, Max Malins, who had a wonderful sport, was notably useful on this space, whereas England harried Finn Russell properly. Nevertheless it was Scotland who struck first after an revolutionary line-out transfer left Huw Jones galloping into an enormous open house. Scotland ultimately recycled, and Sione Tuipulotu put Jones in below the posts with a fantastically weighted grubber kick. England responded properly, and with their forwards beginning to make some sizable dents, they narrowed up the Scottish defence. Marcus Smith noticed this and put in a cross-field kick to Malins, who completed beautifully.
Scotland hit again in spectacular vogue, as Jack van Poortvliet’s clearance kick did not make contact, and Duhan Van der Merwe determined to take flight. It was an excellent rating from the winger, his ambition equalled by his execution, exhibiting super tempo and energy, simply keeping off Alex Dombrandt to complete. Scotland made 6 line breaks to England’s 2 within the match, a sign of their larger particular person risk and confidence and the sometimes porous nature of England’s defence. Russell missed a simple conversion, and England began to take management in the direction of the tip of the half. Some good attacking form and dealing with led to a two-on-one, and the industrious Lewis Ludlam fed Malins for a simple rating. Farrell missed a equally straightforward conversion, however English strain in the direction of the tip of the half allowed him to fit a penalty and provides England a half-time lead.
England flew out of the blocks within the second half, Ellis Genge scoring a attempt after some battering carries from the English forwards off the again of a line out. Dombrandt punched the preliminary gap with an excellent line, dragging in three Scottish defenders earlier than the remainder of England’s again row rampaged across the nook. Nevertheless, it was Dombrandt’s failure to take care of the restart which gave Scotland a platform from which to reply. The Harlequins man had a blended sport, selecting some beautiful traces off Smith however was let down by his fingers a number of instances. Scotland made the a lot of the alternative that they had been given; Ben White (who totally justified his choice) reacted rapidly to a unfastened ball and sniped over after Ben Curry’s missed sort out. Scotland confirmed a much-welcome medical edge all through the sport, averaging 4.1 factors per go to to the opposition’s 22 in comparison with England’s 2.1.
A Farrell penalty edged England 4 factors forward, and with swathes of expertise arriving from the bench, you felt England would possibly nick it. This sense was strengthened when Scotland butchered a try-scoring alternative after Kyle Steyn’s glorious break. Scotland misplaced quite a few tight video games final yr, however they continued to play and acquired their rewards as England began to look slightly drained heading into the final ten minutes. It was an excellent attempt that summed up each factor that was good about Scotland; Russell figuring out the house earlier than some fantastic fingers from Fraser Brown and Richie Grey set Matt Fagerson free. Fagerson fed Van der Merwe, who nonetheless had a lot to do however completed excellently. England got here again exhausting, however fittingly it was Scotland’s captain, Jamie Ritchie, who had the ultimate say, profitable a turnover that sealed the win.
Hopefully, this isn’t one other false daybreak for Scottish rugby. Subsequent weekend represents a chance to put down a marker, to go from hopefuls to contenders. Scotland have struggled to again up main outcomes up to now, however they face a Welsh aspect in transition subsequent week. Scotland have by no means gained their opening two Six Nations matches earlier than, and subsequent week represents a golden alternative. It was removed from the entire efficiency, however Townsend would have been vastly heartened by Scotland’s larger medical edge, profitable the sport regardless of having solely 29% territory. There have been some excellent particular person performances, with Van der Merwe fairly rightly being awarded participant of the match, whereas Sione Tuipulotu had a storming sport, providing a triple risk alongside the spectacular Huw Jones, who justified his inclusion over Chris Harris. Within the pack, Matt Fagerson made a staggering 27 tackles, Richie Grey acquired by a mountain of labor, and George Turner made a mockery of his lineout-throwing doubters.
For England, there’s a lot to be optimistic about; they actually performed with larger freedom and creativeness. There was a larger readability to England’s play, with a transparent want to play at tempo. Their set piece was fairly stable although Borthwick made some telling feedback about England’s maul after the sport. England struggled to make exhausting yards in the course of the pitch, the place their lack of energy within the midfield was uncovered. Ollie Lawrence impressed when he got here on, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him begin towards Italy. Ben Earl was equally spectacular off the bench, England struggled to disrupt Scotland on the breakdown, and Earl would possibly discover himself parachuted in from the beginning towards Italy. The large query is at fly-half; England’s most threatening moments got here when Smith had the ball in hand, together with his capacity to threaten the road. Farrell had a superb sport and was particularly good defensively, however England nonetheless look unbalanced with each of them on the pitch. Borthwick faces some powerful selections within the coming week, whether or not to again his captain or give the reins to Smith.
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