Scotland 6-13 England
Scotland’s RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign began in disappointing fashion on Saturday evening as they fell to a 13-6 Calcutta Cup defeat to England in an error-strewn match at Murrayfield. Andy Robinson’s men dominated territory and possession for much of the game, but wanted for a cutting edge and a degree of composure at pivotal junctures and were left to reflect amid deep frustration on what might have been.Scotland’s RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign began in disappointing fashion on Saturday evening as they fell to a 13-6 Calcutta Cup defeat to England in an error-strewn match at Murrayfield. Andy Robinson’s men dominated territory and possession for much of the game, but wanted for a cutting edge and a degree of composure at pivotal junctures and were left to reflect amid deep frustration on what might have been. The loss was not without controversy, TMO Nigel Whitehouse adding to Scottish torment by ruling that Ben Youngs had beaten Greig Laidlaw to the ball by a hair’s breadth as the pair slid into the in-goal area in pursuit of the Edinburgh stand-off’s chip. There was encouragement to be drawn from the performance of David Denton, the bullocking back rower whose combination of industry, energy and aggression earned him the RBS Man of the Match award, but overall this was a day of dissatisfaction for the men in blue. With the cauldron of Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium awaiting next Sunday, they must pick themselves up quickly. As was perhaps to be expected, the opening to the game was a tense, edgy affair, neither side managing to establish much in the way of momentum. England spurned a 13th minute opportunity to get the scoreboard moving, when Owen Farrell’s first shot at goal in international rugby (a mid-range penalty) failed to find the target. The Saracens centre made amends nine minutes later, slotting the ball comfortably between the sticks from the Scotland 22m line after the hosts were pinged for failing to roll away. From the restart, Scotland put together their first real spell of pressure inside the English 22, and found instant reward as England went off their feet at the breakdown, presenting Dan Parks with an easy three points to level up the scores. Robinson’s troops drew confidence from this episode, setting up camp in the England half and probing the visiting defence for signs of weakness. A magnificent piece of alert play from Chris Cusiter presented Parks with the chance to nudge Scotland in front with a futher penalty awarded when the Glasgow Warriors scrum-half pestered Chris Ashton into holding on close to his own line. Cusiter got hold of the England winger’s leg and simply wouldn’t let go, Jim Hamilton and Denton quickly on the scene to ensure he had little option but to concede the penalty. Scotland ended the first half in the ascendancy and on the front foot, without over-stretching the English defence at any point. Their efforts to set up Parks for a drop goal didn’t quite work out, but they turned round ahead. Half-time: Scotland 6-3 England Having enjoyed by far the better of the second quarter, it was hugely frustrating for Scotland to see that positive work wiped out in an instant immediately after the restart when a Parks clearing kick close to the home line was charged down by Charlie Hodgson and the England stand-off ran on and touched down. Farrell duly added the extras to put England 10-6 to the good. Hodgson threatened again shortly afterwards, launching an ominous cross-kick into the arms of David Strettle in the far corner. The Saracens winger was primed to sign off the score when Denton hit him like a thunderbolt and even forced a penalty for holding on. The Edinburgh back-rower had, moments before, underlined another hugely positive side to his game, careering up the wing as Scotland sought to make the most of an overlap. Denton just ran out of touchline, however, and the chance was gone. A second member of the Scotland pack, Richie Gray, was the next to make a charge with ball in hand, bringing the Murrayfield crowd to their feet as he opened up his legs and broke the first line of English cover. The second wave proved harder to negotiate, though, and a knock-on brought Gray’s promising cameo to an abrupt conclusion. The game was at least turning back in Scotland’s favour by this stage, and that talking point arrived 63 minutes in when Laidlaw, who had replaced Parks at stand-off for his first taste of RBS 6 Nations Championship action, collected his own chip ahead and took on Youngs in a race to touch the ball down first. After an interminable period of reflection, Whitehouse ruled in England’s favour with what must have been the most marginal of calls. Scotland tried desperately to find a way of properly turning the screw, but instead it was England who made the next incursion on the scoreboard. Farrell couldn’t quite persuade a penalty over from just inside his own half, but was successful with his next attempt from midway inside enemy territory to put Stuart Lancaster’s men a converted score ahead. They stayed there to collect the famous silverware, courtesy of their first win at Murrayfield since 2004. RBS Man of the Match: David Denton (Scotland) Scotland 15 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors); 14 Lee Jones (Edinburgh Rugby), 13 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby), 12 Sean Lamont (Scarlets), 11 Max Evans (Castres); 10 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues), 9 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors); 1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby), 2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby, Captain), 3 Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons), 4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), 5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester), 6 Al Strokosch (Gloucester), 7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby), 8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) Substitutes16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) for Ford (75min), 17 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby) for Murray (75min), 18 Al Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) for Hamilton (59min), 19 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) for Strokosch (59min), 20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby) for Cusiter (59min), 21 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) for Parks (59min), 22 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors) England15 Ben Foden (Northampton Saints); 14 Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints), 13 Brad Barritt (Saracens), 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens), 11 David Strettle (Saracens), 10 Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers); 1 Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), 3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), 4 Mouritz Botha (Saracens), 5 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), 6 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), 7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, Captain), 8 Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints) Substitutes16 Rob Webber (London Wasps), 17 Matt Stevens (Saracens) for Corbisiero (63min), 18 Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers) for Palmer (61min), 19 Ben Morgan (Scarlets) for Dowson (69min), 20 Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints) for Youngs (63min), 21 Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins) for Hodgson (63min), 22 Mike Brown (Harlequins) Referee: George Clancy (IRFU)
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