Dominant England humble Scotland in Calcutta Cup
EDINBURGH: England got their Six Nations campaign back on track with a crushing 20-0 Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Luther Burrell and Mike Brown, as they’d done in defeat by France last weekend, both scored tries as the 132nd edition of international rugby union’s oldest fixture saw Scotland rendered pointless by England for the first time since a 15-0 loss at Murrayfield in 1978.
Had not fly-half Owen Farrell missed several goalkicks, the final scoreline might have been even more lopsided. Scotland made three changes from the side that opened the Six Nations with a 28-6 loss to Ireland last weekend, with Australia coach Scott Johnson controversially dropping captain Kelly Brown and giving his place at openside flanker to debutant Chris Fusaro.
Tommy Seymour replaced the injured Sean Maitland while Matt Scott was brought into midfield instead of Duncan Taylor. Scrum-half Greig Laidlaw took over the captaincy from Brown.
England, whose first match in charge under coach Stuart Lancaster was a 13-6 win at Murrayfield two years ago, were unchanged following an agonising 26-24 loss to France in Paris. The parasite-infested Murrayfield pitch was boggy even before driving rain during the game turned it into a quagmire. And three minutes in Farrell lost his footing as he saw a 30 metre penalty attempt drift wide. However, England were 3-0 in front min- utes later when scrum-half Danny Care dropped a goal after gathering the ball out wide from a ruck. Scotland then forced a penalty from a ruck turnover but Laidlaw pushed a 43 metre touchline effort wide. England, with Care bossing his forwards effectively, won another penalty which Farrell kicked for a line-out barely 10 metres from Scotland’s line.
From the ensuing catch and drive, England mauled before Care’s well-timed pass sent onrushing centre Burrell in for a try. The score stayed at 10-0 in England’s favour as both Laidlaw, with a kick rebounding off the post, and Farrell missed penalties. England were gaining ascendancy up front and Care’s excellent cross-field grubber kick set up a line-out deep inside Scotland’s 22.
Scotland hooker Ross Ford’s wayward throw went over the head of intended recipient Jim Hamilton. England regathered before a Scottish infringement gave Farrell an easy penalty chance which he duly kicked. Shortly before half-time Burrell nearly had a second try when, following a break by Farrell, he took the ball on the burst only to be hauled down just short of the line by veteran Scotland wing Sean Lamont.
As it was, England turned round with a healthy 13-0 lead. Not for the first time, Scotland-rendered tryless for the second match in a row-suffered from self-inflicted wounds, a promising position undone by a knock-on while missed tackles allowed England to gain ground. Fortunately for Scotland, Farrell hooked a penalty wide and England were not yet out of sight. But Scotland’s task was made harder however when, after another brilliant run by May which ended with him hauled down short of the line, centre Alex Dunbar was sent to the sin bin for not releasing at the tackle. —AFP