Scotland 15 - 15 England: Missed opportunity for careless Scots

Published on Saturday 13 March 2010 21:04

WHAT do Andy Robinson's team have to do to win a match of rugby? The coach demanded "ruthless" last week from his players and what he got instead was "clueless" as time and again the men in blue coughed up soft penalties to hand England easy points.

Click here for more pictures from yesterday's match

At least Nick De Luca earned himself a few rounds of drinks after the centre charged down a last-ditch drop goal from Toby Flood that would have snatched victory. Graeme Morrison collected the bobbling ball and, with memories of Cardiff still fresh, was happy enough to hoof it out with the clock showing 80 minutes.

There were mixed feelings at the final whistle but neither side will be overjoyed when they review footage in the cold light of day. England are several leagues from where they should be given their almost limitless resources – constipated and clueless. The Scots will know that yesterday's draw was a missed opportunity to beat the Auld Enemy, points lost rather than points won. As it is, the draw means that England retain the Calcutta Cup since they were holders.

After the first draw between the old enemies since 1989 – Andy Robinson's only appearance in the fixture – Scotland now travel to Dublin next week knowing defeat will condemn them to the wooden spoon.

The home team dominated great swathes of the match, they played more rugby with the ball in hand and still they couldn't find a way across the English line. Their guests were no better. In fact, these two teams could play for the rest of the week and neither would be guaranteed a five pointer. This was ordinary stuff, mundane, humdrum, fractured and a bit shapeless.

If the Scots deserved a little better, by dint of Dan Parks hitting the woodwork twice in the match, the penalties that allowed England to square the match were mostly dumb as a bag of hammers. Jim Hamilton kicked the ball out of Danny Care's hands four feet from the referee. Euan Murray was pinged for not binding properly in the set scrum as if the Welsh match had never happened, and again for slowing England ball. Worst of all was Scott Lawson, who handed Flood a chance to snatch the win three minutes from time after tugging an England shirt off the ball; and this after his costly trip to the sin bin in Wales. The kick fell short of the bar, to Lawson's relief, but lab rats learn lessons faster than the Scottish hooker and if he travels to Dublin at all it should be under his own steam.

From the other side of the fence, Care and Flood may be ruing two penalties they spurned, shades of Brian Moore back in 1990, one in each half. The scrumhalf took one quick tap penalty that was well within Wilkinson's range and Flood, who'd just fluffed one tricky attempt, kicked the next one into touch rather than take it on. But little errors aside, England's almost complete lack of ambition was astonishing given the pace they field out wide.

James Haskell personifies the problem, ignoring a two man overlap in the second half to charge headlong into the blue defenders, but it was Wilkinson who butchered their best chance of a score early in the match. The fly-half sent a long, speculative pass aimed at Dylan Hartley sailing harmlessly into touch when all it needed was simple hands to exploit the three to one up the flank.

England improved when Flood replaced the World Cup winner early in the second half but still they rarely threatened the Scottish line. Kelly Brown and Ugo Monye also left the action early after a sickening clash of heads, the Scot walking off, the English winger on a stretcher. Thankfully neither is thought to be seriously injured.

While this was billed as the Robbo vs Johno show it turned more on the whims of the referee. Within the first 15 minutes of this match, Marius Jonker had already warned several of England's big men to roll away after the tackle. They steadfastly ignored his advice and throughout almost the entire 80 minutes the English continued to offend until finally Jonker reached for his pocket late in the game and produced… another stern warning for Mark Cueto.

At least the Scots came to play rugby. The back row snatched five turnovers from under the noses of an English trio for whom the word "pedestrian" would be a kindness. Chris Cusiter was as sharp as a tack (where has he been these last few weeks?) with breaks around the base. Johnnie Beattie was worth his man of the match award with a host of carries into the heart of the English defence. Max Evans broke the line almost at will and Graeme Morrison looked like a new man. The big centre was stung by criticism after his Rome performance and he put in a superb stint yesterday, running right over the top of Jonny Wilkinson one time which is something to tell his grandkids.

Instead, all the points came from Dan Parks, who almost stole the show at the ground where he was roundly booed on his last appearance back in 2008. The playmaker kicked four penalties and one drop goal, although he needed three attempts before finally persuading one over the crossbar and even then it looked like Bill McLaren's famous "three pound haggis". The flyhalf also hit the uprights twice with penalty attempts and it was from one of the rebounds that Scotland had their best chance to score.

From the posts the ball found big Al Kellock charging up in support, Alan MacDonald carried the move on and when the ball game back to Parks he attempted a speculative chip kick that was an utter waste with men out wide and the Scots had to settle for three points from a penalty, which is pretty much the story of Scottish rugby right now.

Scotland: H Southwell (S Danielli 68 min); S Lamont, N De Luca,G Morrison, M Evans; D Parks (P Godman 71 min), C Cusiter (R Lawson 60 min); A Jacobsen (G Cross 71 min), R Ford (S Lawson 65 min), E Murray, J Hamilton (N Hines 51 min), A Kellock, K Brown (A MacDonald 55 min), J Barclay, J Beattie.

England: D Armitage (B Foden 49 min); M Cueto, M Tait, R Flutey, U Monye (B Youngs 55 min); J Wilkinson T (Flood 44 min),D Care; T Payne, D Hartley (S Thompson 60 min), D Cole (D Wilson 76 min), L Deacon (C Lawes 73 min), S Borthwick, J Haskell (L Moody 60 min), J Worsley, N Easter.

Scorers: Scotland – Pens: Parks (4), DG: Parks. England – Pens: Wilkinson (3), Flood (2).

Referee: M Jonker (South Africa). Attendance: 67,114.