England v Scotland: Win was up there with the best ever results in our history – Gregor Townsend

Gregor Townsend hailed Scotland’s first win at Twickenham since 1983 as one of the best results in the team’s history
Scotland celebrate with the Calcutta Cup following the 11-6 victory over England at Twickenham. Picture: David Rogers/Getty ImagesScotland celebrate with the Calcutta Cup following the 11-6 victory over England at Twickenham. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images
Scotland celebrate with the Calcutta Cup following the 11-6 victory over England at Twickenham. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images

The national coach masterminded a superb 11-6 victory over defending champions England with a performance that was more convincing than the scoreline suggests.

The visitors showed imagination and composure at a ground that has so often been the graveyard of Scottish hopes.

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The way they managed to still control the game while stand-off Finn Russell was in the sin-bin was typical of the display.

Duhan van der Merwe’s try and Russell’s two penalties ensured Scotland claimed just their fifth win at Twickenham, condemning error-ridden England to a deserved defeat.

A delighted head coach Townsend paid tribute to his focused and accurate side, accepting he knows this result will immediately go down in history.

“I came down here a number of times as a player and then as a coach and hadn’t come away with anything,” said Townsend, who made his Scotland debut as a player at Twickenham in the 1993 Five Nations.

“So this result is definitely up there with the best ever results in our history, and certainly myself in my coaching career.

“Today the players were outstanding in really tricky conditions.

“It was wet the whole game, really heavy rain in the second half.

“So to win in these conditions against a very good side is a fantastic achievement.”

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Scotland beat England at Twickenham for the first time in 38 years
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Townsend’s side have battled through mixed results and performances in pushing beyond the 2019 World Cup, but now the coach insists his squad are ready to step up and be counted.

“We all enjoyed last year, you learn in defeats, grow as a team in adversity,” said Townsend.

“We had moments before and after the World Cup, and that’s how we’ve been shaped as a group of players and coaches.

“It was so good to see the players play so well in the period of Finn Russell’s yellow card, and we won that 10 minutes 3-0.

“It wasn’t just one way of playing, we had a lot of variety and a lot of maturity in our play.”

Eddie Jones, the England coach, accepted the blame for his side’s lacklustre display, telling ITV: “Firstly, congratulations to Scotland. They played very well.

“I thought they played with a lot of intent, a lot of spirit.

“We just had one of those days. I didn’t prepare the team well enough. We weren’t quite right, we were a long way off our best.”

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Asked if he could identify where it went wrong for England, Jones said: “If I knew I would have fixed it. You just have days like that.

“Every time the team goes on the field it’s the head coach’s responsibility, so I accept that.”

Looking ahead to Italy next weekend, Jones added: “It’s a good opportunity for us.

“We’ve got to show a bit of fight here, we’ve got to get together and work out why we didn’t perform at the level we wanted to perform, so it’s a great opportunity for us.”

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