Scotland hold on for a famous victory
Writing as a Scot now residing in the English home counties, yesterday’s 20-17 rugby union victory over England at Murrayfield comfortably qualified as a welcome not to say exhilarating opening to the annual Six Nations campaign.
Statistically, it is very rare that a team losing its opening game ever then wins the tournament so from Scotland’s point of view things could not have gone much better. France will still be favourites with the bookies, but our defeat of England – and Wales’ abject capitulation in Dublin – means that two of our traditional enemies are now on the back foot.
Technically, of course, a Scottish Grand Slam is still on the cards, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet!
Murrayfield is a daunting ground for a visiting team at the best of times and – from my perspective, married to one Englishman and mother to two more, sitting at home in front of the BBC One coverage – I didn’t feel that the pictures on the screen quite conveyed the bitingly cold, swirling winds and, at times, the driving rain that I knew those at the ground were experiencing in the flesh.
In prospect every Scottish supporter was aware of the scale of the task facing Stuart Hogg’s men.
Our boys were going to have to play out of their skins, particularly in defence – no matter how much England coach Eddie Jones might try to work his usual double-bluff of claiming that his charges were the underdogs coming into the clash.
I read in one media report early this morning that during the entire first half Scotland spent no more than seven (7) seconds in England’s 22 and perhaps the best that could be said from the host nation’s point of view at the turn is that we were still in the game with (at least in theory) it all still to play for.
It so happened that chez nous we were hosting a venerable former England international for lunch followed by the game.
Anticipating an early Scottish onslaught, his view was that Eddie Jones had made the wrong call in picking Marcus Smith as England’s starting 10. He would have preferred England to begin the game with Ben Youngs and George Ford at 9 and 10 in order to impose a steady, structured game – this on the basis that they’d then introduce Smith in the second half at a point where the forwards on both sides would be flagging and the game opening up.
For my sins – which included a certain advance nervousness – I tended to disagree with our guest.
I was rather looking forward to seeing the head-to-head clash between Scotland’s Finn Russell and England’s new tyro Marcus Smith, who are both creative “play what they see”-type mavericks who don’t operate easily within a heavily-structured game plan.
My assumption was that Eddie Jones had opted to “fight fire with expected fire” from the start and then – perhaps having assessed how things were going – he’d replace Smith with Ford as and when he felt the time had come to “close out” the game.
As it was, England looked well in control during the first half – save for Scotland’s moment of inspired mayhem in the 18th minute when, after a quick throw-in just inside their own half, substitute scrum half Ben White (not long on for Ali Price, who had gone of for a head injury assessment) suddenly appeared on the end of a spectacular all-action open-play move to sprint over the line for a converted try.
Talk about pandemonium in the stands!
All the media chat – and criticism – overnight has been about Eddie Jones’ decision to use the shepherd’s crook on Smith in the 63rd minute and send on Ford, presumably to close the game out.
It didn’t happen.
In my view, the Smith/Ford switch in itself was not the reason England lost this game.
There were several disciplinary lapses at crucial moments and then two instances of rank stupidity by England forwards close to England’s try-line: firstly, Luke Cowan-Dickie’s ridiculous “forward flap” at the ball under intense pressure from a pin-point Finn Russell cross-kick wide out; and secondly, someone giving Joe Marler responsibility for “throwing in” at a line out … whereupon the veteran prop somehow then failed to manage to send the ball just five metres in a straight line to the front of the line out!
No doubt about it – England, who had 70% of the play for much of the game but ultimately failed to dominate, let this one slip away from their grasp.
In contrast, Scotland deserved their win. The scoreboard doesn’t lie. 20-17 just about reflects the difference between the teams. Our boys rode their luck and emerged on top.
Now for Round 2!
