Scottish '˜scavengers' make England look ordinary

Roy Laidlaw played a big part in Scotlands 1983 victory. Photograph: Hamish Campbell

1 February 4, 1989  England 12 - 12 Scotland

England coach Geoff Cooke branded the Scots “scavengers” after this battling performance. A strong England side that had beaten Australia in the autumn were made to look ordinary by the Scots, who led 12-6 at one point. Rob Andrew’s boot could have won it for the English, but did enough only for the draw.

2 March 5, 1983 England 12 - 22 Scotland

The most recent Scottish victory at Twickenham. A try by Roy Laidlaw put Scotland in charge at the start of the second half after the sides had gone in at half-time all square at 9-9. A John Robertson drop goal put the game out of the English reach but the icing on the cake was added when lock Tom Smith grabbed a lineout with two hands and fell over the line for his only Test try on his debut to secure the win.

3February 3, 1979 England 7 - 7 Scotland

A try by Mike Slemen and a penalty by Neil Bennett were not enough for England to secure a game they really should have won. Selkirk’s John Rutherford pounced on a loose ball after foul play by Slemen on Andy Irvine and scored a try. Irvine missed his conversion but kicked a long-range penalty late on to secure the draw for Scotland.

4 March 20, 1971 England 15 - 16 Scotland

Scotland beat England at Twickenham for the first time in 33 years after staging an extraordinary comeback. The visitors were trailing by seven points with ten minutes to go, but a try by Duncan Paterson brought them within five. A magical one-handed overhead pass from Peter Brown to Chris Rea had the English praying for Brown’s conversion to miss. It didn’t, and Scotland celebrated.

5 March 20, 1965 England 3 - 3 Scotland

Back in the days when a try was only worth three points, a genius, snaking run and try in the dying moments by English wing Andy Hancock denied Scotland. The Scots were leading 3-0 thanks to a Robin Chisholm drop goal, but victory was snatched away by a moment of magic.

6 March 21, 1959 England 3 - 3 Scotland

Scotland travelled to Twickenham with the knowledge that only a victory would lift them away from bottom place in the Five Nations table, but despite ideal playing conditions the fixture was blighted by individual errors. A penalty by full-back Ken Scotland cancelled out English stand-off Bev Risman’s own goal kick in a game which neither side deserved to win.