Scotland 15 - 15 England: Solid Scots worth a point in drawn-out affair

Published on Sunday 14 March 2010 23:30

SCOTLAND produced another curate's egg of a performance on Saturday when they worked successfully to lift the Murrayfield support from its seats throughout an exciting Calcutta Cup match, but for all the "good in parts" moments it failed the quality test to finish off an oddly witless England team.

Scotland improved on their display in Italy and earned every bit of the first championship point they landed for a draw. Had they lost in another dramatic finale – and they had Rory Lawson to thank for deflecting away a last-gasp Toby Flood drop-goal – it would have been as cruel and crushing as the late demise in Cardiff last month.

But it is doubtful whether Scotland supporters will recall seeing an England team with as little creativity and confidence as Martin Johnson's has at this moment in time. The home side had themselves to blame for being unable to take advantage and claim what would have been a first three-in-a-row of Calcutta Cup wins at Murrayfield in 34 years.

Their basics were back at a high level with a superb lineout, a frustrating scrum that conceded more in the way of penalties than yardage, a fine defence that missed less than a tackle per quarter and stole England ball on at least six occasions, and a terrific willingness to attack England with ball in hand from the start.

The one new face to the Scotland side after the demoralising display in Rome, centre Nick De Luca, was in the vanguard of that approach alongside Graeme Morrison, who showed strength of character in bouncing back from a quiet start to the championship with a strong-running and hard-tackling performance. Scrum-half Chris Cusiter was back looking for the slightest of gaps and No8 Johnnie Beattie deserved his man-of-the-match award.

With this game destined to be close due to the teams' similar strengths and weaknesses, it was always going to be decided by flashes of brilliance. Sadly for the supporters, those were the elements missing. The first-phase surety was there and there were sparks for counter-attacks to launch moves of promise, but where a key decision was necessary to turn the hard work into a finish, the wrong one was taken or a tackle intervened.

Dan Parks, the Scotland stand-off, ensured the draw with four penalties and a drop-goal, and despite some off-target kicks from hand he enjoyed another good game by taking the ball flat and putting Scotland on the front foot, in marked contrast to his opposite number, Jonny Wilkinson, who looked a pale shadow of the composed orchestrator he once was. Wilkinson was replaced early in the second half having taken a knock to the head in a clash with his skipper Steve Borthwick, as both tried to halt Max Evans.

But such is the responsibility on the shoulders of Scottish fly-halves, Parks will still be asking himself if he was right to kick the ball away and take a penalty in the 66th minute in front of England's posts, with players screaming for the ball outside him. That is Parks' default action and it is possible Scotland would not have scored, lost the game 15-12, and he would have been asked why he hadn't kicked.

Wilkinson had squandered a good chance in the first half when excellent England attacking play created an overlap to his right inside the Scottish 22, but rather than exploit it as a schoolboy would by putting it through hands, the fly-half went for a long looping pass to Dylan Hartley on the touchline, and it flew over his head into touch.

The other key aspect of the game from both sides' point of view was the penalty count and, while it was not exceedingly high, Scotland need to look closely at their continued handing of easy points to opponents as this contributed significantly to keeping England in the game. Where Scotland secured three points from good attacking play, England were handed most of their three-pointers from a mere glance into the Scottish half.

Scottish forwards failed to respond to referee Marius Jonker's plea to keep hands off the ball in a ruck for the first penalty award, Euan Murray was penalised for not binding, Jim Hamilton foolishly kicked ball from England scrum-half Danny Care's hands, John Barclay was unlucky to be offside at a knock-on, Allan Jacobsen and Murray were penalised for handling in rucks and Scott Lawson stupidly pulled back Care off-the-ball and under the referee's nose.

Another aspect to that is a lack of consistency from Jonker. The South African referee followed through as home coaches Andy Robinson and Gregor Townsend had hoped with his desire for quick ball, awarding a penalty to Scotland after just six minutes for England failing to roll away from a tackle. However, he missed a few ball-killing efforts by England and when the visitors continued to slow ball he afforded them three final warnings.

The second, he told Steve Borthwick, the England captain, was a reward for improvement in their play and the third, when Mark Cueto held De Luca tight in the tackle to stop him releasing the ball, had him reaching for his pocket only to change his mind. The whistler told Borthwick to "get the message to the player because he's just come on". Cueto had started the game.

Robinson tells his players constantly that they are capable of beating all-comers, that victory is in their own hands, and this was a third game in a row where they produced enough good rugby to win. Worryingly, it was Scotland's fifth match out of six without a try.

Neither team was helped by a succession of re-set scrums, and some serious analysis is necessary by the IRB, and work done by props with officials, to halt the spread of this wasteful, sleep-inducing aspect of the game.

Scotland should have been further ahead at half-time than 9-6 after dominating the first half, and yet England, with substitute Ben Foden enlivening their attack, could easily have gone on to win this game. But after Parks had pulled Scotland level with his fourth penalty, Wilkinson's replacement Toby Flood fell short from near halfway for a second time and then his last-ditch drop-goal was attacked by Lawson, the replacement scrum-half, who got just enough of a touch on it to divert its rising trajectory.

Murrayfield held its breath as the ball fell into the arms of Morrison. The clock showed 80 minutes and the Scotland centre ran with the ball for a moment, bringing back memories of the final seconds in Cardiff where Scotland attacked and a draw was turned into defeat.

But the centre thought better of it, hoofed the ball into touch, and the final whistle blew.

Scorers: Scotland: Pens - Parks 4; Drop-goal - Parks. England: Pens - Wilkinson 3; Flood 2.

Scotland: H Southwell; S Lamont, N De Luca, G Morrison, M Evans; D Parks, C Cusiter; A Jacobsen, R Ford, E Murray, J Hamilton, A Kellock, K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie. Subs: N Hines for Hamilton 52mins, A MacDonald for Brown 55, R Lawson for Cusiter 60, S Lawson for Ford 65, S Danielli for Southwell 67 mins, G Cross for Jacobsen, P Godman for Parks, both 72.

England: D Armitage; M Cueto, M Tait, R Flutey, U Monye; J Wilkinson, D Care; T Payne, D Hartley, D Cole, L Deacon, S Borthwick, J Haskell, J Worsley, N Easter. Subs: T Flood for Wilkinson 44mins, B Foden for Armitage 50, B Youngs for Monye 55, S Thompson for Hartley, L Moody for Haskell, both 62, C Lawes for Deacon 74, D Wilson for Cole 76.

SCOTLAND

15 Hugo Southwell 6/10

Sound in defence, eager in attack, but often a distant spectator as the game was played inside England's half.

14 Sean Lamont 6

Regularly wandered out of position in search of chances but it was all about defensive duties for the winger.

13 Nick De Luca 7

Probably his most impressive match in a blue jersey as he bossed the centre and delivered a succession of big hits.

12 Graeme Morrison 7

Bounced back from poor start to championship and provided strong lead in attack.

11 Max Evans 6

Hungry for the ball and tricky in attack, but mostly received ball too deep to use his speed to best effect.

10 Dan Parks 6

Produced all 15 points from his boot, but what might passes rather than kicks have created at crucial times?

9 Chris Cusiter 7

Quick thinking Scotland captain probed and darted but just couldn't find the elusive breakthrough before being replaced for the final quarter.

1 Allan Jacobsen 5

The loosehead put himself about all over the pitch but found it hard to impose his presence in the front row.

2 Ross Ford 7

Top-notch lineout and strong and aggressive in all phases of play with more than his share of ball-carrying.

3 Euan Murray 5

Penalised at the scrum and in the loose in a 31st cap game that will not be one of his most vivid international memories.

4 Jim Hamilton 6

A reliable performance until he gave away a crazy penalty soon after the restart by kicking the ball out of the Danny Care's hands.

5 Alistair Kellock 7

Commitment to the cause unshakeable as he caught one high ball while still receiving treatment and took a rebound off the upright at full tilt.

6 Kelly Brown 7

Easily in line for man-of-the-match as a key blindside part of a rampant back-row until a collision with Ugo Monye forced him off early in second-half.

7 John Barclay 7

Ruled the openside with athleticism and authority to be well ahead of his English back-row opponents.

8 Johnnie Beattie 8

Ubiquitous in loose play with charging runs, No8 led the pack in blunting any England attacking threat before it emerged. Voted man-of-the-match.

SUBSTITUTES

16 Scott Lawson 2

Another rush of blood as he tugged a shirt to give away a penalty that might have cost Scotland the game.

18 Nathan Hines 4

Sent on with half an hour to go to shore up an already dominant pack.

19 Alan MacDonald 4

Won a third cap as he replaced the injured Brown on 55 minutes.

20 Rory Lawson 5

Took over at scrum-half for final quarter. Crucially charged down drop goal attempt at the death.

21 Phil Godman 3

Played final 10 minutes for Parks.

22 Simon Danielli 2

Came on after 67 minutes but had little chance to shine.

ENGLAND

15 Delon Armitage 5/10

Largely detached from the action and unconvincing when required to contribute, he was replaced with half an hour to go

14 Mark Cueto 6

Same problem as Max Evans – looked dangerous with ball in hand but never got the breakthrough

13 Matthew Tait 5

Missed tackles could have been more costly

12 Riki Flutey 6

The New Zealand born centre was off the pace from the outset but did have the nous to wrap up Evans in a try-saving tackle, albeit penalised

11 Ugo Monye 6

A muscular threat but never really had a chance to run as his energy had to be channelled into defence, including a final try-saving tackle on Brown

10 Jonny Wilkinson 5

Three penalties and new championship points record, but little impact in open play and limped off early in the second half

9 Danny Care 7

Combative and eager but always scrambling to make the most of poor quality ball

1 Tim Payne 6

Gave as good as he got in the scrum and his contribution in the loose was not lacking

2 Dylan Hartley 5

Bit of a loose cannon and lucky to stay on the field in the first half after swinging punch that connected with Ford's head

3 Dan Cole 6

Only his fourth cap at tighthead and produced a performance of promise

4 Louis Deacon 5

The lock was always following rather than being in the thick of loose play

5 Steve Borthwick 6

The England captain tried his best to marshall his troops but the initiative was always with the home team

6 James Haskell 5

The blindside was quietly effective in defence but never really able to take the ball forward

7 Joe Worsley 6

Selected for his experience to contain Scotland's much-lauded back row and it only worked to a strictly limited extent

8 Nick Easter 6

Some positive ball-carrying but all too predictable

SUBSTITUTES

Toby Flood 6

Laid down a marker for the No 10 shirt as he replaced Wilkinson for most of the second half