Scotland 15 - 9 England: Scots defy odds to kick old foes into touch

Published on Saturday 8 March 2008 19:13

SCOTLAND got a monkey off their back, put any number of demons to the sword and, in doing so, they proved that history really does repeat itself. Two years ago in the rain Chris Paterson kicked five penalties and Dan Parks dropped a goal to ensure a dramatic against-the-odds-win over England.

Yesterday the same two men combined to kick five penalties, four to Paterson and one to Parks, which proved enough in the wet and windy conditions for another famous victory over the self same foe. Scotland have now won three of their last five matches against the Auld Enemy at Murrayfield and the sight of England's icon Jonny Wilkinson trudging off the field with ten minutes of the match remaining spoke volumes for the collective collapse of England's resolve.

There is something about the white shirts that brings out the best in this squad of players. After defending like traffic cops all season, the Scots suddenly formed an impassible barrier and did to England what Ashton's men had done to France a fortnight ago. It was an immense effort and the rewards were equally substantial: self-respect.

Still, at the risk of raining on the Scots' parade, the fans might be wondering why their heroes waited until the fourth match of the championship to show their true colours. There are still plenty of questions that surround this Scotland squad but there is no question they raise their game when England come to town.

If there was a key point yesterday it came around the 20 minutes mark when the English got the Scots in a vice and twisted the screw. Twice the visitors were awarded eminently kickable penalties and twice Wilkinson stuck the ball in the corner for an attacking lineout. The Scots defence was placed under huge pressure by the muscular English forwards but, heartened by one teeth-rattling tackle by Euan Murray, the Scots held out. Wilkinson wisely took three points when they were next on offer but one miserly penalty was scant reward for all of England's efforts and the self-belief, at first a trickle, flooded back into the blue jerseys from that moment onwards.

The only backs on the Scotland subs bench were a pair of halfbacks so it was inevitable that a winger in Rory Lamont got himself injured early on. Iain Balshaw gave chase to a speculative clearance kick and the covering Lamont went to ground where his head met the Englishman's knee with sickening clunk. It took a long time before the medics moved the prone figure from the field and he was taken to hospital, having regained consciousness.

Thanks to Hadden's bench, this one injury meant a major readjustment of the team. Paterson went to the left wing with Nikki Walker swapping to the right and Dan Parks came on at flyhalf where he reminded everyone why he'd been dropped in the first place.

Scotland had got off to a cracking start thanks to an eighth-minute Paterson penalty although some credit must go to the English who coughed up four penalties in the first ten minutes. One of these Paterson kicked to the corner and the next he slotted through the posts. Simple stuff. Andrew Sheridan occasionally put pressure on the Scottish scrum but when that happened Simon Taylor did exactly what he was paid for and got his team on the front foot. The big No.8 played a crucial part in yesterday's outcome; he was hugely influential in both defence and attack and only his return to the side proved just how much Scotland had been missing him.

A downpour of Biblical proportions ahead of the kick off meant it wasn't a match for the purists, with both flyhalfs hoisting speculative up and unders in the absence of anything better to do. While Southwell spilled the first of those the remainder were dealt with competently enough to staunch the flow. The Scots cause was also helped when Lesley Vainikolo showed all the handling skills of a Robin Reliant in the wet.

One prolonged bout of aerial ping-pong in the first half only ended when Richard Wigglesworth dropped the ball. Southwell retrieved the loose ball but when it was recycled Walker was turned over in the midfield when the big winger might have been better advised to have moved the ball wide. Towards the end of the first half Wilkinson took a long-range effort at posts which dropped just short while at the other end Paterson added two more penalties to his opening salvo to give the home side a handy 9-3 lead at the break.

The Scots twice extended their lead within minutes of the restart when England were first penalised in the shadow of their own posts for holding on to the ball in a ruck and then when Parks added another long-range effort from all of 47 yards. It seemed to knock the stuffing out of Ashton's men because, when the next up and under came Southwell's way, not one white shirt bothered to chase it down and the fullback had an easy clearance. Luck wasn't going England's way either and when the Scotland fullback ran outside of his 22 to kick the ball it bounced approximately one millimetre inside the try line to gain the Scots a good 50 metres.

Wilkinson grabbed two penalties on 50 and 52 minutes to drag his side to within a converted try of taking the lead but, pinned inside their own half, they never looked like scoring it. Indeed there were no more points for either team and the Scots were happy to run the clock down to claim a thoroughly deserved win.

But while it was scoreless, the final quarter was not entirely pointless because the indomitable figure of Jason White entered the fray from the bench to lay claim to a remarkable third Calcutta Cup triumph of his career. The cheer that met his arrival was dwarfed by the roar that greeted his sacking of Paul Sackey in one bone-crunching tackle that had every Scot out of their seats. That huge hit on the unfortunate winger carried with it all the frustration, hurt and wounded pride that White and, by extension, the rest of this team has been harbouring these last few weeks. It earned a rendition of Flower of Scotland from a delirious crowd and that was no less than it deserved.

Scotland: H Southwell, R Lamont (D Parks 20 min), S Webster, G Morrison, N Walker; C Paterson, D Parks, M Blair (R Lawson 75 min); A Jacobsen (A Dickinson 64 min), R Ford (F Thomson 24 min), E Murray (C Smith 69 min), N Hines, S MacLeod (J White 63 min), A Strokosch, A Hogg (K Brown 71 min), S Taylor.

England: I Balshaw, P Sackey, J Noon, T Flood (M Tait 67 min), L Vainikolo; J Wilkinson, R Wigglesworth; A Sheridan, L Mears (G Chuter 67 min), P Vickery, S Shaw (B Kay 67 mmin) S Borthwick, T Croft, M Lipman (L Narraway 74 min), N Easter.

Scorers: Scotland – Pen: Paterson (4), Parks. England – Pen: Wilkinson (3)

Referee: J Kaplan (S Africa)

Scotland 15 England 9: how they rated at Murrayfield

ENGLAND

Penalties: Wilkinson (3)

15. Iain Balshaw

Gloucester

1

Accident or not, there is simply no excuse for what he did to Rory Lamont. A studs-up tackle has absolutely no part in rugby union and he should be cited and banned for months. Did okay elsewhere, but not forgiven.

14. Paul Sackey

Wasps

Didn't see a lot of the ball in either half, but tackled well enough and made a couple of runs that threatened more than they delivered. For once his undoubted power was not able to be channelled in the right direction.

5

13. Jamie Noon

Newcastle

Did not seem to realise that his clubmate Wilkinson was having a rare off day, otherwise he would have spread the ball wider. Tackled well enough but made very little yardage against his solid opponents.

4

12. Toby Flood

Newcastle

Just could not make the breakthrough against a solid Scottish defence, though he always tackled consistently well and gave less ground away than others. Might have showed more imagination, though.

6

11. Lesley Vainikolo

Gloucester

A couple of serious handling errors in good positions early doors seemed to sap his confidence. One run apart, the volcano remained dormant, thanks to excellent defence by the Scots.

4

10. Jonny Wilkinson

Newcastle

His joy at having become international rugby's highest-ever points scorer will have been tempered by his often poor show. Guess which of those points the BBC will concentrate on?

4

9. Richard Wigglesworth

Sale Sharks

Simply outclassed by Blair who gave the youngster a comprehensive lesson in scrum-half play. To his credit, he kept trying after a couple of early errors, but otherwise poor.

4

1. Andrew Sheridan

Sale Sharks

He's big, he's strong, but occasionally he's daft and gave away a stonewall penalty in front of the posts at a crucial time. He is still England's cornerstone, however.

6

2. Lee Mears

Bath

Early poor throwing was a sign of a nervous performance to come, though he did settle down to a productive game as the match wore on. Was replaced just as he looked to be getting better.

5

3. Phil Vickery

Wasps, captain

Will not be happy at being skipper of an under-achieving side, especially as he did not play an obvious captain's part and was replaced late in the final quarter of a match he'll want to forget.

4

4. Simon Shaw

Wasps

His face as he left the field when substituted said it all. He knew he had underperformed massively, no more so than when conceding a couple of indisciplined penalties. Part of all-round failure.

4

5. Steve Borthwick

Bath

It's not easy to like a player who consistently spoils the ball. Yet it's a big part of his game and he is good at it. Took his lineout share but never really imposed himself in the loose.

4

6. Tom Croft

Leicester

Must have wondered what performance booster Ally Hogg was on as he was constantly beaten to the breakdown by the Scottish back row. But certainly competed and was one of England's few plus points.

6

7. Michael Lipman

Bath

Comprehensively outplayed by Strokosch and colleagues, though he did put in a couple of thumping tackles, especially his enveloping of Morrison in the second half.

5

8. Nick Easter

Harlequins

Gave away a couple of penalties, and was frankly anonymous by his high standards. One of England's more notable failures on a day when the big occasion players didn't turn up at Murrayfield.

4

REPLACEMENTS

16. George Chuter Leicester (for Mears, 67) Helped get England going forward, 6.

17. Matt Stevens Bath (for Vickery, 70)

18. Ben Kay Leicester (for Shaw, 67) Did no better than Shaw, 4.

19. Luke Narraway Gloucester (for Lipman, 74) No time to show, 5.

20. Paul Hodgson London Irish Unused.

21. Mathew Tait Newcastle (for Flood, 66) Could make no real impact, 4.

22. Charlie Hodgson Sale Sharks (for Wilkinson, 71) Made no difference to England's lack of attack, 3.