Ex-Scotland captain says Calcutta Cup referee 'bottled it' as failure to beat Wales branded 'incomprehensible'

Former Scotland captain Rory Lawson has accused Calcutta Cup referee Pierre Brousset of "bottling" a major decision at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Scotland suffered a 16-15 defeat to England to relinquish the trophy for the first time since 2020 but much of the discussion afterwards has surrounded French official Brousset, who was making his Six Nations debut.

The award of a try for England in the first half when Tommy Freeman crossed the whitewash amid a ruck of bodies has sparked controversary with video replays failing to provide conclusive evidence that the ball was grounded, while Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend revealed that his coaches were convinced it was not.

Referee Pierre Brousset awards a try for England's Tommy Freeman during the Guinness Men's Six Nations win over Scotland at Allianz Stadium, London. | PA

Footage has also shown that Scotland stand-off Finn Russell was ordered to take his conversion attempt on Duhan van der Merwe's last minute try from the wrong position, two metres nearer the touchline than where the try had been scored. Russell's kick went narrowly wide of the post when a successful conversion would have won the match for Scotland.

Lawson believes the referee's inexperience told in both decisions.

"I think he bottled it," said the former scrum-half with reference to England's try. "I hate talking about referees having an impact on the game, but look at Tommy Freeman's interview after the game. At no stage did he say, 'there is zero doubt in my mind the ball was down'. He said, 'the referee saw it down therefore it's his decision'. There is nothing. It is inconclusive.

"When you compare it to last year against France at Murrayfield, the ball was clearly down and because the ref asked the wrong question, we got the wrong outcome. It's so Scottish to be on the end of these, but I'm yet to see any evidence at all that the ball got near the ground."

Scotland host Wales at Murrayfield next on Saturday, March 8 and Lawson, who was speaking on BBC Scotland's Rugby Podcast, believes victory is imperative ahead of the trip to Paris to face France in the final Six Nations fixture.

"Scotland must win that game and are expected to win that game against Wales," he added. "I think they've got to get into Wales and it is incomprehensible to think of Scotland being one from four after the Wales game."