RBS Six Nations 2009
ENGLAND 26 - 12 SCOTLAND
Match Review - A fan's view by QuinKong

Three Colours Blue

HQ gives grief to those, this year, who in a blue shirt dared to challenge on hollowed turf the white hoard (ok the red and green get away with it but it was away, ok).

Sometimes it is hard to see the way that rugby players think. For England fans in particular it’s a long journey. At the beginning of the tournament the future didn’t look too rosy; it took a great game against France to get the optimism back to the supporter!

It was Scotland that started the scoring though with Chris Paterson putting home a penalty and then a great break seeing Thom Evans getting close to a try. Ugo Monye showing his speed managed a last ditch effort to drag Evans into touch within the five meter line. This would not be the last time the winger played a pivotal role in the game!

The next drama came when Harry Ellis made a tackle and managed to get knocked for six. The concern only heightened when he was taken from the field of play on a stretcher. This gave Danny Care a far earlier chance to get into the action than many were expecting. This chance proved interesting.

Speedy passing and offloading in the tackle saw Flood getting the pass out which eventually found Monye who dutifully scored in the corner. This was followed by a controversial score by Flutey (the ball appearing to be knocked on). England was performing like they had against the French. England kept the pressure up with running and offloading.

The controversial part of the proceedings came when Nick Easter was piled over the line. Presumably unaware, he rolled the ball back across the whitewash, only for two more phases of play which led to the video referee to say the ball had been held up. What goes around comes around so the Flutey score counted under dubious circumstances whereas the Easter score came to nowt.

The run of play was littered with bad handling from both teams. It was up to Danny Care, with a pantomime, running into the pocket and slotting a wobbly drop-goal that finished off the Scotch resistance. Uncontested scrums from England injuries meant that the last section of the match was interesting to say the least.

Down to fourteen men it was nice to see Tait run in the last try with less than seven minutes remaining. It has to be said that the England tight five gave as good, and in many cases better, than it got. Mears had a great break and luckily due to his size managed to get a penalty for a high tackle. Could we do better, yes, are we better, yes, is it a start? Emphatically yes!

Not as good as the first half against France, this game did however show that there may be light at the end of the tunnel as far as England rugby is concerned (and it’s not necessarily a flame thrower). I hope that the Lions games give hope for all the GB sides but I think the England prospects are well on the way to being where they need to be for a world cup an New Zealand.

England started out this completion looking weak and disorganised. They have finished, second best in Europe, looking like the best chance for honours in the future. Maybe not all the young guns in whatever position have had their full chance, but the core is there and more to the point the optimism is there for the supporters is there too. I said in my first report we won ugly, in my second we won beautiful, now in my third we won, for the future will my last be the most prophetic?

England (15) 26
Tries: Monye, Flutey, Tait Cons: Flood Pen: Flood 2 Drop-goal: Care

Scotland (3) 12
Pens: Paterson 3, Godman

England: Armitage; Cueto, Tindall, Flutey, Monye; Flood, Ellis; Sheridan, Mears, Vickery, Borthwick, Shaw, Croft, Worsley, Easter.

Replacements: Tait for Monye (48), Goode for Flood (73), Care for Ellis (16), Hartley for Mears (73), White for Vickery (14), Kennedy for Shaw (57), Haskell for Croft (73).

Scotland: Paterson; Danielli, M Evans, Morrison, T Evans; Godman, Blair; Dickinson, Ford, Murray, White, Hamilton, Strokosch, Gray, Taylor, Taylor.

Replacements: Low for Danielli (75), De Luca for T Evans (44), Cusiter for Blair (68), Southwell for Dickinson (75), Hall for Ford (67), Hines for White (57), Brown for Taylor (41), Brown for Taylor (41).

Att: 80,688

Ref: Marius Jonker (South Africa).