Any gloom from these parts genuinely was not an attempt to reverse jinx England; I wasn’t talking down Scotland and talking up England because secretly I knew this was going to happen and just didn’t want to tempt fate. I genuinely thought England’s run of form was decent and they’d started to pull together the strings of their team into a little tighter knot and were looking good. Their results in the autumn were a lot better than Scotland’s; our looked like they were unraveling.
So I’m a little at a loss to explain it, but here goes.
Gone was the rain from last week’s devastatingly poor performance against Italy; the sun wasn’t exactly shining but the ball was dry, the crowd were in full voice and Scotland, as is often the case, showed Scottish Gas Murrayfield what they were all about when England come to town.
This was a very well managed game for the most part. England didn’t get into the Scotland 22 until 17 minutes and Scotland’s defense was up to the task. Lee Radford’s new defensive system seems to be based around two men available for smashing everything that moves and it worked very well.
When Scotland increased the pace of the game they were almost impossible to live with. A prime example of this was just after seven minutes when Kyle Steyn managed a half-break then an offload that set Dempsey and White loose and the crowd roaring, but also directly resulted in Henry Arundell’s (perhaps harsh?) yellow card for slowing the ball down. This would then mean the England winger was shown a red card for a second yellow offence later in the game (more clear cut).
Scotland’s first try came almost directly off the back of that yellow card. A line out from the penalty and a ruck five metres out on the right far wing saw Huw Jones heavily involved, then several phases through the middle (again Jones carrying at least once) before popping up on the left wing to receive Finn Russell‘s punch/tip/pat pass to score a well-earned try.
The second came just minutes later: Russell made a lovely half break enough to put the industrious Jamie Dobie and Steyn into space. The ball came back to the other wing via skipper Sione Tuipulotu who threw a wide pass to Jamie Ritchie who scampered in.
When Finn Russell goes well Scotland goes well, so goes the phrase, and Saturday afternoon was a particularly fine example of that during an opening half hour that Gregor Townsend thought was the best rugby his team had played during 100 games in charge. Finn Russell was at the heart of it.
There was a hint of an interception on penalty advantage about three minutes in but from there it was smooth sailing. Probably his finest moment was when he switched the direction of play, skinned the England tighthead Joe Heyes, then as he was being tackled still managed to put a little chip in behind Ellis Genge who was unable to gather it. Ben White however, was, and dotted down for the try.
Finn rarely gets to be Finn for a full 80 minutes but there were no crazy passes that spring to mind, no disappearing up blind alleys forcing the game. To be fair he didn’t have to, as he got an armchair right from his pack all afternoon and the placement of his kicking was excellent throughout. One of his finer days, and there have been more than a few of those against England.
As France showed against both Wales and Ireland, when a team who have the confidence and the ability can get offloads going they are almost impossible to stop perhaps by anyone apart from a fun-sponge team (like South Africa or a decent Ireland side) who would smother the life and fun out of the game. Scotland should definitely be looking to this as their blueprint going forward, as they currently have so many players who are suited to fast counter-attacking rugby (see also: Glasgow Warriors).
Toony’s high tempo rugby may not work against South Africa or Ireland, and may be nullified by France’ own perfection of the art. But it sure as hell works against England.
England Dominate the Scrum
England grew back into the game mostly powered by scrum dominance. Ellis Genge and Zander Fagerson were having a ding dong battle all day, Genge coming out the better for most of it. In a very bright day for Scotland it was a fairly dark corner given how often the bully teams of this world (yeah, you know we were talking about) tend to use scrum penalties as a technique for milking penalties to move their team down the field.
England’s first try came off the back of scrum dominance. It felt more like a test match at that point of the sort Scotland usually end up losing, and with another hour still to play, you’d be forgiven for expecting that to have been the outcome. Perhaps luckily for Scotland at this point England to do not seem to have aspirations towards offloading rugby and the scramble defence kept them at bay.
At one point Fagerson and loosehead Nathan Macbeth were both on a yellow card warning for scrum infringements, although the card didn’t quite materialize when the next scrum penalty happened to be against England. Once the 20 minute red card was over and England had a full XV they didn’t ever give up.
The other set pieces were much better too. The lineout was improved from last week with the ball dry enough to hold on to. Gregor Brown combined well with Scott Cummings and some other aspects like restarts and maul defence also went well. A prime example saw England battering on the door just before half-time and Scotland successfully defending a rolling maul on their own line; this was one of probably the finest outings by a Scotland pack in recent years.
King Kyle the Magnificent
It doesn’t always happen in Scottish rugby, but every so often a player there is a clamor for a player to start ahead of an underperforming incumbent (usually from Glasgow fans), and he doesn’t always fulfill that expectation. Kyle Steyn has had a couple of good outings for Scotland but in this Calcutta Cup fixture he really grabbed things by the scruff of the neck. So much so that you can’t see him not started all the remaining games of the tournament.
Scotland have always struggled under the high ball even when Blair Kinghorn is having a “good” day, and before his move to Toulouse things were pretty much awful. Steyn’s ability in this area coupled with Russell and White’s kicking can make the aerial game a real battle, one that England probably were expecting to win.
Steyn also made good breaks with the ball, tackles plenty and shows the relentless aggressive physicality of a Duhan, but with a little bit more subtlety in his play ball in hand.
He’s a pretty complete rugby player.
On the other wing Dobie is also good under the high ball, but still occasionally shows signs that he has not been playing wing for very long, such as a slightly missed chip kick while on the charge just before halftime, that was caught by the defender; however it came to nothing for England.
That England took 71 minutes to try a low grubber in behind Scotland’s wings when Italy had scored two tries off it inside 12 minutes is a testament possibly to Italy but certainly not to England’s tactical research or even Scotland’s defense.
Scotland’s player of the match after Steyn was probably Jones, who had an absolutely huge first half with his try and was as prevalent in attack and defence as he had been AWOL last week. When Matt Fagerson (on for Ritchie) charged down George Ford’s drop goal attempt just as England were truly back in the contest, he was able to regather. Setting off up the pitch he took Ford in his wake, then popped it across to Jones. The added pace that Jones seems to have acquired since his surgery made the interception try a foregone conclusion as soon as he got the ball, even well inside his own half. Bonus point in the bank.
Sione Talks and Plays a Good Game
A word also for skipper Sione, who had a very robust game carrying the ball, often taking it upon himself to redirect play back into the thick of the action to give more of space to the creative types such as Russell and Jones.
When England’s momentum was building in the second half and worrying memories of Argentina in the autumn were starting to surface in the minds of Scotland fans, Tuipulotu put in a couple of huge hits on England ball carriers that kept the crowd onside, kept the momentum from swinging badly away.
He also managed the referee very well, quietly asserting in his ear – whilst helpfully offering to march his players back so there wasn’t any of those nasty handbags – that “you can’t take the man out in the air”, guv, which of course led to the TMO review, which of course led to Arundell’s second yellow. This one was probably more deserved than the first one, however knowing that he was already on one, he shouldn’t really have attempted it.
Luck of the …. Scottish?
One other thing that has to be mentioned is the luck. They say that good teams create their own luck, but we’ve all seen Scotland teams play reasonably well, be in with a chance of winning and then just when they need a ball not to be knocked on – it gets knocked on.
I would say that’s probably how England felt after the game.
Scotland had possibly the rub of the referee (everywhere apart from the scrum), England gave twenty 20 turnovers away; it seemed like every loose ball went Scotland’s way. Scotland got the rub of the green so hard there would be grass stains.
Injured players will be missed in Cardiff
Jack Dempsey was one of the few who came out of the game in Rome with any credit. He had another excellent outing but was replaced after around an hour with a bicep injury.
Jamie Ritchie was brought in possibly for the sole purpose of winding England up as, like Finn, he tends to raise his game against them. Ritchie also left the game with an injury to his knee, sitting the final minutes of the first half out receiving treatment on the pitch and letting England have parity of numbers – not that it did them much good.
Jamie Dobie injured his shoulder and should be easily replaced given that neither of Scotland’s previous “first choice” wingers have really featured yet. Darcy Graham would probably be the next one to come in, although Duhan normally plays 11 so don’t be surprised to see him either. Blair Kinghorn is another option having played for Toulose at the weekend.
In the back row there are also plenty of replacements waiting to fill in for Ritchie and Dempsey. Most likely will be Matt Fagerson and Josh Bayliss or Andy Oyeama-Christie but Bradbury or one of the younger Edinburgh lads is also possible. Gregor Brown made an excellent pairing with Scott Cummings and given how that went, it seems unlikely that Townsend will want to change it but there’s a possibility he brings in say Max Williamson or Alex Craig (no point in going backwards now Toony) to fill a gap in the second row and moves Gregor Brown to six where he is also adept.
It’s official, we’re a meme
It should also be born in mind that how miserable expectations were and how well they performed, this was essentially the confirmation of Scotland as a meme on various social networks.
It’s easy to generate this meme: the top half is Mel Gibson and a bunch of hairy, steely warriors with blue faces from Braveheart reading “Scotland against England”, and the bottom half is anybody parodying Braveheart (Simpsons, French and Saunders, toddlers)reading “Scotland against anyone else”.
Unfortunately only next week will tell us whether that’s actually going to change any time soon, or whether Scotland have now become a parody of themselves.
The bonus point win they did get could be potentially very important in light of the 2026 Six Nations league table, but only the performance next week is going to tell us whether said league table is going to have any relevance to our lives in the coming weeks, or whether it’s a slide back to the basement for Scotland.
30 responses
As the dust is settling the main area needing improvement is the scrum. Not Zander’s best day in the office but I’m sure he’ll bounce back. Genge is a quality scrummager even if he is the most overrated rugby personality in the game. Lineout was all the better for having Ritchie as an option there. Hope his injury isn’t too bad but we have the likes of Bayliss ready to come into the back row.
Darcy looked sharp and his tackle on Steward was absolutely immense. If Dobie is out then he surely comes straight in. Kyle Steyn take a bow. One of the first names on the team sheet now.
The inclusion of Gregor Brown also worked. Jack Dempsey and Jamie Richie have injurys, I would want to see Bayliss included now.
Another work on is the old problem of not converting pressure on the opposition try line. Bashing through the forwards and not spinning it to find space. But the improvement in lineout, defence and discipline was huge. George Turner deserves dlsome credit afrer the disaster in Rome.
Oh Yes Sir I can Boogie ! Boogie Woogie all day long !
It was as though the great bard Rabbie Burns himself was writing the script as the match unfolded pure rugby poetry.
The bard himself has a few post match words for the opposition .
“The best laid plans of mice and men , gan aft agley and leave nowt but pain and grief for promised joy”
Not even a bonus point to show !
Team for Wales
Blair Kinghorn – Darcy Graham – Rory Hutchinson – Stafford McDowall – Duhan Van Der Merwe – Adam Hastings – Ben White – Matt Fagerson – Freddie Douglas – Josh Bayliss – Max Williamson – Scott Cummings – Zander Fagerson – Gregor Hiddleston – Pierre Schoeman
Kyle Rowe – Tom Jordan – George Horne – Magnus Bradbury – Alex Craig – EMM – Nathan McBeth – George Turner
Injuries already known for Dobie, Dempsey, Ritchie, but there are 6 players that went through the wars in that game and looked like they’d been in a car crash. They don’t need to be played this game and others are playing outstandingly well or have an excellent track record for us.
We can be more than respectful enough towards Wales with the players switched around. They’ve conceded over 50+ points in their last 2 games. I can’t see the above team losing and it gives some key players respect.
Not that i expect Toony to go with that.
Why would anyone make so many changes? You are completely underestimating Wales & being disrespectful. That would backfire big time. I can’t work out if you’re serious or you are still drunk from celebrating too much. If you were making such wholesale changes surely you would rest the forwards & not the backs.
I’m curious who you think is not good enough out of the line-up above.
7 recent lions. Classy centre partnership and Half-backs. 2 young exciting talents in Douglas and Hiddleston who have really stepped-up.
It’s not exactly a weak team. If that side does not put at least +20 on wales i’d be shocked. They are in an awful position the last few years with no answers coming soon.
No we will not make that number of changes. We need a settled team for France and Ireland. The Millenium Stadium is an intimidating place to play.
Who has been intimated there since the last WC Bass? Japan? Can’t think of anyone else.
Can I assume Mr Struthlo is Welsh,the only reason for that line-up.
Take out our on form players and replace them with out of form ones.
We’re not NZ or SA.
Plus I take it you mean intimidated in one of your follow up comments
It would be a bad idea to put out anything less than our strongest available side against Wales. They’ll be fired-up in the same way that our lads were yesterday, they’re strong in both the scrums and line-outs, and they have home advantage.
They’ve not been great but they’re still a dangerous opponent and should be treated as such.
I’d argue the backline i’ve listed will be just as fired-up to prove a point to Gregor, and they have a lot more confidence than this awful Welsh side.
You will get your answer soon enough Douglas. Only 6 more sleeps.
There is a two week break after the Wales game. We have to play our best side to keep up momentum. The only changes should be injury enforced.
Given the back row injuries I would like to see Williamson in the second row, Brown at No.6 & Bayliss at No.8. That would add some weight to the pack which might just help our scrummaging problems. I wouldn’t include Bradbury, he’s too inconsistent for international rugby. If Dobie is out another good option is Kyle Rowe who played very well in the ‘A’ game & is also very good under the high ball. I agree with you Rory about Alex Craig, he’s been in excellent form for Glasgow.
Agree with all of this although I suspect Townsend will promote Matt Fagerson to start along with Darge and Bayliss. I think he’ll keep Williamson on the bench and have him come on to add some grunt in the second half. Alex Craig is also a good shout.
I thought Darcy did really well when he came on and so I’d start him if Dobie is out and have Rowe on the bench instead of Hastings to cover the back three.
Some great points in this summary Rory right down to Sione managing the referee. The injurys are concerning however it is an opportunity for Toony to get real about the bench . We only need 2 scrumhalfs and one stand off. I can see that Hastings is a very adequate and natural 10 should Finn be taken off (god forbid) so an awkward review of the role of Tom Jordan however I would not be concerned if Tom Jordan was our 15 for the reminder of the 6N. It just feels wasteful that we have Adam Hastings warming the bench for the whole match. (He must be gutted and we fielded a 5:3 ) . Maybe this is a good game to remove Finn once we are out of reach and allow us to see how Hastings or Jordan fit at 10. I am sure others will have an opinion. Just for the record, I would prefer incremental changes for injury reasons only .
I was there, and Scotland were very good on the pitch. However, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a more toxic atmosphere in any stadium. It was clear that the collective rugby knowledge was poor, that a lot of people were there in some corporate guise and that it was all about the opposition rather than the home team. The result was fair, but please show some class.
That’s a shame, its getting more like that though, the 6N is an event, a weekend away on the beer rather than about the rugby. The two aren’t mutually exclusive by any means and have always gone hand in hand but there is less focus on the actual rugby now. Compounded by the fact its nigh on impossible to get tickets for the casual rugby fan now. Think I have only ever been to two England games, one was that awful draw at Murrayfield a few years ago and the other we got pumped but I have always found the English fans good sports and fun after the game, far more so than our supposed celtic cousins to be honest.
It is an embarassment and has been going that way for a long , long time. Your point is well made. We want to win on the pitch and with dignity in the stand. Like others when we visit Twickenham ( as was ) we are always treated respectfully in my experience.
We did so well in most areas on Saturday that it highlighted our one great weakness: the scrum, and specifically the starting props. Messrs. McBeth and Fagerson had a tough time of it on Saturday and they can expect more of the same from Wales. Should Toony switch the lines around, with the starting duo becoming the finishers and vice versa, or is there another solution?
The loss of Dempsey and Ritchie is a blow but we’re in a fortunate position when it comes to the back row. Matt Fagerson is a shoo-in at 8 and I’d go for Josh Bayliss at 6. There’s some clamour for Gregor Brown to move to 6 but I think he offers more as a mobile lock.
Our other likely injury-enforced absentee for Wales, Dobie, had a fine game on Saturday. Again, though, we’re not short of good wingers, and Graham looked sharp when he came on against Wales. He should start in Cardiff.
I’m not convinced that Tom Jordan, good player that he is, is best employed at 15. I’d rather see Rowe at FB with Jordan on the bench as a sort of human Swiss Army knife. That would allow Toony to go for a 6-2 split on the bench or to select DVDM as cover for the wings – I’m sure that the Welsh lads wouldn’t relish the thought of a fresh and fired-up Duhan charging at them in the latter stages of the Test.
I’ve not mentioned Kinghorn simply because I think we have better options at the moment. Knowing Toony, that’ll probably means that he starts at 11 or 15!
Interestingly I didn’t think Dobie was that great, not a bad game by any means but he didn’t do much for me. He has been on fine form for Glasgow so I’m wondering if the step up to wing at test level is a bit much given his comparative lack of experience there? I agree that FB isn’t Tom Jordans best position. I don’t know why Toonie has insisted on starting them both, they are perfect bench players especially for a 6/2 if they want to do that, and you might as well go 6/2 if you are going to put Hastings on the bench and never play him.
I would assume it will be Steyn and Graham on the wings but I don’t possess the same tombola as Toonie. I would start either Kyle Rowe or Blair Kinghorn and put TJ on the bench.
Agree on the back row changes, Dempsey has had two good games and he will be a real loss. Thought the pack as a whole played really well, first time for a while I have seen us with some punch and go forward, usually Dempsey is the only one who puts any enthusiasm into his carries.
The scrummage problems might not be solely down to the props, Gregor Brown is a great player, and he plays second row often for Glasgow, but he’s not a natural lock & is a bit lighter which is why I think Williamson would add some bulk & weight at scrum time & we would still have a rampaging Brown in the back row. I also think Cherry is a better scummager than Turner but I don’t have anything to back that up. France & Ireland have big powerful packs & I think we need some additional beef & brawn to compete against them so why not try it out against Wales. I fully understand not changing a winning team, apart from injuries, but there’s always room for improvement.
That makes a lot of sense Ronald. Gregor Brown is a lion (we all forget that late call up ahead of numerous seasoned locks) and hard to leave out, I also rate Josh Bayliss. On balance, I feel the Glasgow Boilerhouse (now there is a word that dates me) of Williamson and Cummings would work well. We will need a more traditional pack for all of the remaining 3 games ( Wales are not that bad in the grunt department and they can whinge it out).
Looking at the table it is likley we will enter week 4 second in the table (Despite the absolute debacle of Rome) .
Next step a showdown with the leaders France at home in Murrayfield. I think Italy gave us a good lesson in spannering the works of a machine.
Maybe the superfast hybrid pack of Toony’s dreams , needs to stand aside for another day and we get the business done at the business end of the 6N.
It is looking good for us to Knife and fork the table , but first , we better get Cardiff out the way with a 5 point win. Surely , Surely we can do that !
Wow, for some reason I wasn’t very excited coming into this 6N, I didn’t have the usual blind optimism, possibly due to the lacklustre autumn? Last weekend did nothing to change that, same old Scotland. I genuinely thought this was going to be a tough watch, England have been a bit crap in recent years but they never stay rubbish for long, too many quality players for that.
We definitely got the rub of the green with the ref and just the random bounces of the ball but I’ll take that as it doesn’t happen very often. Nice to see a captain in Tuipolotu that can manage the referee well, we have really struggled with that for a long time. I think Arundel can feel a little aggrieved, we have seen similar incidents in both cases go unpunished before so to get nailed for both of them and get a red card does seem a little bit harsh. I think referees are pretty hot just now on the killing the ball on a potential try scoring break, its cynical but everyone does it, I don’t think he was particularly blatant but its a fair cop. The high ball was clumsy more than reckless, Kyle Steyn was very clever in how he went up for the ball, made it very difficult for Arundel but that’s good play by Steyn and something our players really seem to struggle with, we more often than not come off second best under the high ball and have done for years.
What has happened to Huw Jones by the way, when did he get so fast? He’s never exactly been slow but I fully expected him to get chased down for that intercept try, quite the opposite, he took off like a scalded cat and was pulling away from everyone!
I can see it now. We will beat Wales, it’ll be the typical (of recent years) Wales game where we should spank them but somehow we manage to make a dogs dinner of it, scrape a win and no bonus point. We will also finally beat Ireland in a turgid affair in Dublin, close low scoring match. We will then put in an unbelievable performance to beat France, but we will loose the 6N because we lost to Italy or failed to pump Wales hard enough. How typically Scottish.
I imagine a ton of rehab following the surgery he had post-Lions tour has improved his leg power!
The red card on Saturday made it easier however , I have enough confidence that even 15 on 15 Scotland were the better side. We started well, we finished well . That was discipline, credit for that.
I think we need to be mindful that games can swing on cards and not get drawn in to the moans and niggles that are characteristic of playing Wales . The one man of quality in this welsh side is LRZ and despite poor support he looked impressive.
I will be happy if we just get this game out the way and in a manner that gets the basics right. Scrum stability , lineout consistency and take three when on offer . The French at Murrayfield will need as a minimum , consistency and discipline. If we can get our basics right , I could see us turning up in Dublin.
Real credit where it’s due to a number of players who had something to prove, including Turner, Darge and White. And also to the coach, who has been under real pressure.
We also saw the brilliance of the centre partnership for the first time in a while. Both have had individual moments, but that was the partnership at its best. Sione ran through every brick wall that needed ran through, and hit everything that needed hitting in his channel. Power to match his sweet talking of the referee – really big captain’s performance. And Hugh Jones was utterly peerless. Picked incredible lines and his support running was superb. He also defended brilliantly, doing great work one-on-one and when mixing it in the breakdown.
If it wasn’t for England’s dominance / Scotland’s weakness in the scrum, I think England could have been seriously embarrassed. Without that platform, and the penalties it created, they wouldn’t have had any platform in attack or defence.
Wales might have struggled to date, but they will be no mugs on Saturday – we can’t afford to take the foot off the gas at all or underestimate them. Their scrum was very competitive against France and we know that they are targeting this game. They also look like they are starting to find some useful combinations after a lot of throwing things against a wall and hoping something sticks. And, its just Wales, in Cardiff – they won’t be short of heart, pride and putting their bodies on the line.
Big calls to make in the back and second row. I like Brown as a mobile lock, hunting down people to smash. But I do wonder if we might need a bit more ballast in the second row to shore up the scrum. Think I’d be tempted to bring Williamson on at second row, move Brown to the flank, and have Fagerson in at eight. With Bayliss coming on as a mobile impact sub.
Graham for Dobie feels an obvious move – then we have decisions over whether to go with a 6-2 or 5-3 split on the bench. Part of me feels like moving Jordan to the bench, as utility cover across the backline (dropping Hastings – sorry Adam!), with Kyle Rowe coming in at fullback.