How Scotland contrived to lose Calcutta Cup match they should have won as England end four years of hurt

It has been 1,800 days since England last lifted the Calcutta Cup and as Maro Itoje raised the old pot to the Twickenham sky Scotland were left wondering how they had lost their grip on the trophy.

They outscored their oldest rivals by three tries to one but they let them off the hook, losing 16-15. Finn Russell was off target with all three conversion attempts, the last in the 79th minute after man-of-the-match Duhan van der Merwe had restored Scotland’s lead in the most dramatic fashion.

The Scotland co-captain pulled his effort wide from close to the left touchline. It was a difficult kick but this was a hugely frustrating outcome for Gregor Townsend’s side who had led at half-time but couldn’t pull far enough clear of doughty opponents.

Finn Russell looks dejected after his missed conversion condemned Scotland to defeat against England in the Calcutta Cup at Allianz Stadium. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Fine team tries from Ben White and Huw Jones put them in the driving seat but it should have been more. England kept in touch with a try from Tommy Freeman, converted by Marcus Smith, and Scotland were only 10-7 ahead at the turn.

The visitors were to rue their failure to make the most of their opportunities because the second half was a far stodgier affair. England denied Scotland the space they had revelled in during the opening 40 and they punished them for a string of penalties.

Marcus Smith knocked two over to edge England 13-10 ahead and then Fin Smith landed a monster effort from close to halfway to make it 16-10. It looked desperate for Scotland until van der Merwe’s dramatic late try but sadly for the tartan clad supporters inside Allianz Stadium there was to be no fairytale ending as Russell’s kick slipped past the wrong side of the post.

It means Scotland’s extraordinary recent dominance of this fixture is at an end. They had won the previous four encounters with England and had not lost at Twickenham since 2017 but it is Steve Borthwick’s side who will now feel they can go on and challenge for the Six Nations title, with winnable games against Wales and Italy to come.

For Scotland, it looks like being another disappointing campaign. They lie fourth in the table ahead of Sunday’s Italy-France match, a colossal eight points behind leaders Ireland and four behind England who are now second.

The Scots face Wales at Murrayfield next then conclude their fixtures in Paris. It is Townsend’s eighth stab at the championship as head coach and his team continue to bang their head against the glass ceiling. They have never finished higher than third and fourth would seem their likely destination this season.

Their outstanding record against England had given supporters something to cling to but that has now gone. Townsend will point to a much improved performance from the game against Ireland a fortnight ago but the reality is that this was a game Scotland should have won.

England were gritty and deserve credit for seeing it out. They’d vowed to show their “nasty” side but the pre-match preliminaries were impeccably observed.

It was varied and colourful. Jerusalem was sung lustily from the stands but the pomp and pageantry soon gave way to a light show and fireworks. Twickenham was aflame and the players took their cue from the pyrotechnics.

The start of the match was frenetic with both sides scoring a try within the opening eight minutes. Scotland’s came from a superb passing move while England went route one and that just about summed up the match.

The Scots were all fluid brilliance, their handling immaculate, and White’s try encapsulated it. The scrum-half is a former England under-20 international and now seems to relish showing them what they’ve missed out on. This was his third try in the Calcutta Cup and he celebrated with his arms spreadeagled in front of the cheering visiting supporters.

Russell sparked the move, spotting space on the right and the ball went through the hands of van der Merwe and Kinghorn before it was shipped wide to Jordan. The centre played it back inside to White who finished it all off.

The home fans were momentarily stunned but responded with a lusty rendition of Swing Low… It seemed to spur on their team. They hit Scotland hard, pummelling the visitors’ line. After several pick and goes the ball was whipped out to Tommy Freeman who crashed past Russell to score. The grounding didn’t look clear cut but the try was awarded. Marcus Smith’s conversion made it 7-5 to England and there had barely been time to draw breath.

Will Stuart lost his boot at one point and played on for three or four minutes unshod. Scotland were keeping the ball alive and their second try came from another great passing move. The usual suspects were involved: Russell, Jordan, Kyle Rowe and Kinghorn, before van der Merwe showed great strength to hold the ball long enough for Jones to catch up and the centre powered through Ollie Lawrence’s attempted tackle to score.

Russell couldn’t convert - he missed at the first try too - and the only quibble would have been that Scotland’s 10-7 advantage did not reflect their dominance. They were winning the breakdown battle, providing plenty of ball for Russell to play with, but they couldn’t add to their lead.

In fact, the half ended with a searing attack from England as Marcus Smith broke free via Lawrence’s offload. Van der Merwe stopped the full-back eight yards short and England should have scored from the next play, only for Lawrence’s wayward pass to go over the head of Sleightholme who had the tryline at his mercy.

England had nothing to show for the move but it seemed to lift them in the second half. They looked tighter, more durable and were able to defuse Scotland’s more explosive attacking smarts.

The visitors started conceding penalties at an alarming rate - five in the first 15 minutes of the second half - and England punished them for it.

Marcus Smith brought them level at 10-10 then put them 13-10 up. Their defence was on point. Itoje was winning turnovers and Scotland were struggling to find the space that seemed bountiful in the first half.

When Fin Smith landed his colossal penalty Scotland were then six points adrift and running out of time. All the more harrowing given Smith’s family history - both his parents are Scottish and his grandfather is a former Scotland international.

But the visitors didn’t panic and, after a brilliant break from Stafford McDowall, they were able to put van der Merwe away in the corner for a 78th minute try. It was his seventh against England. Unfortunately Russell was off target with the conversion attempt and although they tried manfully to create one more chance England eventually managed to shove them into touch leaving Scotland with only a losing bonus point as consolation.

Scorers:

England: Tries: Freeman. Con: M Smith. Pens: M Smith 2, F Smith.

Scotland: Tries: White, Jones, van der Merwe.

England: M Smith; T Freeman, O Lawrence, H Slade, O Sleightholme (E Daly 45); F Smith, A Mitchell (H Randall 61); E Genge (F Baxter 58), L Cowan-Dickie (J George 45), W Stuart (J Heyes 71), M Itoje, O Chessum (T Hill 79), T Curry (C Cunningham-South 46), B Earl, T Willis (B Curry 36).

Scotland: B Kinghorn; K Rowe, H Jones, T Jordan, D van der Merwe; F Russell, B White (22 J Dobie 64); P Schoeman (J Bhatti 71), D Cherry (E Ashman 54), Z Fagerson (W Hurd 76), J Gray (S Skinner 61), G Gilchrist (G Brown 71), J Ritchie, R Darge, J Dempsey, (M Fagerson 54).

Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)