Eight points from debutant Owen Farrell and a Charlie Hodgson try proved to be the difference as England saw off a sloppy Scotland side 13-6 at Murrayfield this weekend. England were under the pump in the second half but escaped with the win.
In what was England’s first win in the Scottish capital since 2004, the visitors managed to keep an aggressive Scottish attack at bay, although were massively assisted by the abundance of errors from the home side.
The Scottish dominated the territory and possession stats but aimless kicking, repeat infringements and too many basic errors meant they were unable to convert their chances into points; as typified by clear blown scoring chances from Ross Rennie and Greig Laidlaw.
Meanwhile England captain Chris Robshaw led from the front for “the auld enemy”, putting his body on the line as Scotland threw everything but the kitchen sink at the red rose defence.
But the men in blue were unable to convert their chances into points and gifted England the perfect start to their 2012 Six Nations campaign.
Interim England coach Stuart Lancaster was pleased with his side’s strong defence and strict discipline: "[Murrayfield] is a tough place to come and win, so that was a great result," he said.
"We got a lot of things right, especially in defence where we showed great spirit and willingness to work. We always had an inner confidence in those new players and we're delighted to get off the mark but it's only step one."
Meanwhile, Scotland coach Andy Robinson stated that his side’s failure to convert chances into points cost them the win: "We created enough chances, but we’re not taking them," Robinson said.
"It's important that we stay together. Everybody is very frustrated by the loss."
With so much possesion in the second half but failing to score, what are Scotland doing wrong?
Mon 6 Feb 2012 | 07:48
Scotland fail to capitalise on chances as England take Calcutta Cup
15 Comments
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oceansnz2:24 AM 08/02/2012
Time and time again, we see Scotland giving away a win due to basic errors and poor mental preparation. England didn't win this game, Scotland gave it away.
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johndoe8:04 PM 07/02/2012
I read he didn't want to play for England, even though he was offered... We could have done with him.
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richy8410:37 AM 07/02/2012
Patterson retired after the RWC
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sankeor1:20 AM 07/02/2012
A rather disappointing dull game indeed...
When I watched it I didn't feel any sparkles, any hint of the presence of the gods of rugby.
Maybe my memory is a bit biased though, since I watched it after an awsome France-Italy, and I was in the pub since the beginning of the first match, so had too many beers to analyse clearly the game. I think the best part was the cheer since it was a scot pub.
Expected Scotland to win, really, but I was convinced by none of both teams, even if Scotland seemed to dominate slightly and showed some points of interest.
After the game I also thought that really, whith that kind of english team, France would have its chances for a grand slam. Just saying... At least I predict an english deception for this 6N, history will prove me right or wrong, we'll see. -
sankeor12:59 AM 07/02/2012
But sadly the new england team lost vs the giants yesterday.
Just kidding... -
flyingpepper12:22 AM 07/02/2012
Paterson has retired
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frenchie10:55 PM 06/02/2012
Evans have had a great game. I'd like to see him play as a centre.
Parks has been very poor, i can't remember Paterson touching the ball, actually i'm not sure he even played that game...did he?
A new coach?
Gutted for Scotland. -
dourauldscot8:44 PM 06/02/2012
It was like watching a drunk guy trying to get his key in the lock for 80 minutes. England offered nothing. They were there for the taking more than any other time I've ever seen. If Scotland had made any one of these final passes or cut out a few of the dozens of knock ons in the England 22, scotland would have put this game away without breaking a sweat... but they didn't.
Now they face a trip to the Millennium to face a confident Wales. With Italy being away this year, I strugle to see where the standard Scottish single victory is going to come from.
If we didn't see these guys scoring beatiful tries for Edinburgh/glasgow and thir other club teams it wouldn't be so bad. The worst thing is knowing that they have it in them but just have a fragile mentality when it comes to internationals.
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mackurdi8:38 PM 06/02/2012
Dan Parks needs to be castrated for his performance, England played with 16 players against 14 the way I see it.
Clancy, is a shit ref. Referee's in general these days are very inconsistent just look at the Ire v Wales match. -
colombes7:22 PM 06/02/2012
did laidlaw kick lead to a scottish advantage? nop.
irb rules, the ref comes back to the precedent advantage which was for scotland
i think clancy simply forgot it because of the 3 or 4 minutes of TMO -
6:24 PM 06/02/2012
Just Scotland being Scotland. Man, I long for the day that they overcome their inability to finish the brilliant running game that they have. They can break lines with the best of them, but seem utterly unable to finish anything off.
England were never amazing. They just had to weather the Scottish storm and wait for the inevitable turnover, and then capitalize on a scoring opportunity.
Sad, really. But, like I said, I can't wait to see a time when Scotland become the great side that they seem capable of being. -
welshosprey3:19 PM 06/02/2012
Scotland need tim visser ASAP
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colombes12:37 PM 06/02/2012
Scotland must moves on.
unfortunately, this match lokkalikes very much to their last 3 years performances: they produce a lot for very little results. how can u just score 6 pts after 15 line breaks attacks..? They must install Laidlaw at 10 and take their pts.
on england, they didn't show much but they did well by concentrating themsleves on defence. i didn't learn much from this team but yep certainly, the mental force is still present.
ps: despite the fact laidlaw put a pressure sufficiently or not, did u notice that clancy completly forget to give back a penalty to scotland after the TMO decision? it could have really change the last 15 minutes outcome. watch and listen at 2:24 -
pretzel12:02 PM 06/02/2012
It was just a disappointing game all over. I can't say I am a fan of either side (particularly) but I was hoping Scotland would win.
Scotland: For a team of so many caps (experience etc) they seem to look like a bunch of school boys...
England: Just a bit lack luster, more inspiring than Scotland, but it's clear to see they are a new team, and in reality they will probably just improve...
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spencah11:50 AM 06/02/2012
Couldn't agree more! Hopefully that will be his last game in a Scotland shirt.......
Also was it just me or did Scotland's fitness look very very poor? With >100 phases vs 40'ish and 33 vs 14 for ball won in opps 22 as the stats. This shows that they were doing all the attacking, and yet England looked much more fresh even though defending is far more draining ..?
Even more worrying is that that game will most likely be Scotlands best as we only seem to get up for the England games and the rest we dont seem to turn up for....
But its not all doom and gloom, great performances from evans, denton and gray and hopefully laidlaw will start from now on...watch this space!