Scotland vs. England, 25/2/06 RBS 6n Match Review

An immaculate display of goal kicking from Scotland's Chris Paterson on Saturday condemned England to an 18-12 defeat, and washed away their hopes of a Grand Slam in the Edinburgh rain.

England arrived at Murrayfield to be greeted by all the usual accoutrements; a cacophony of noise, a pointless nationalistic pre-amble, and Edinburgh's best impression of a monsoon. The only surprise of the day was perhaps the reclaiming of the Calcutta Cup by the home side for the first time since 2000, but anyone who saw the match would struggle to find any other possible outcome. Though they were starved of possession for what seemed like 80 minutes, only one side ever looked like winning this match; only one side looked like they knew how.

It took only 3 minutes for the Scots to open up a lead, after a Julian White infringement at an early ruck allowed Paterson to complete the formalities with the boot. Charlie Hodgson equalised a few minutes later, after a concerted English drive was stopped just short, thus concluding the scoring in what was an engaging first forty minutes. Soon after, Hodgson combined exquisitely with Josh Lewsey down the right flank and kicked ahead, only to have his progress halted by some adept 'positioning' from Scotland's full-back Hugo Southwell.

In keeping with a performance marred by silly mistakes and dropped balls, but spiced by England's only meaningful interjections in attack, it was Lewsey who gifted Scotland the next assault on either try-line, as he spilled a high ball on the 22. Though the visitors held out, it proved too much for Danny Grewcock, who saw yellow on 23 minutes following a debatable decision from referee Alan Lewis. Grewcock appeared to have attacked a ruck from the correct side of the ball, with what the NFL refers to as 'unnecessary roughness' and the Bath man looked as bemused as anyone to see the ruling coming this side of the Atlantic. From the ensuing line-out, Steve Borthwick bailed out his clubmate by making a customary nuisance of himself, and England survived.

After a missed penalty attempt from Hodgson, first Lewsey then Harry Ellis broke clear of the home defence, only for the ball to be turned over in what was a hallmark of the match. Whilst Simon Taylor, Ally Hogg and the inspirational Jason White tracked and covered every blade of Murrayfield grass to snuff out attacks and snaffle possession, the English back row was largely missing in action. The absence of the ultra-mobile Matt Stevens from the pack failed to help matters. Time and again, Dan Parks and the exceptional Mike Blair were allowed to clear Scottish lines when they were at their most vulnerable, and they did so with considerable aplomb.

They could not have been any more exposed than in the final minute of the half, when a series of bludgeoning England scrums were brought down, up and every which way the Scots could drag them. The ball eventually squirted from the back of one such scrum, and Ellis fed Ben Cohen, who blew the simplest of one-on-ones by spilling the ball a mere 5 metres from the line, leaving the game yearning, still, for the try that it so needed.

The second half opened with England taking a short-lived lead thanks to a second Hodgson penalty, but the Scots hit back with two of their own. With a bleeding Ellis leaving the field for Matt Dawson, England gained the tiniest touch of fluency - whichever scrum-half emerges from the bench tends to have this effect - but their endeavour came to nothing and ultimately it was Scotland who achieved the next score. After yet another turnover, and a period of pressure around the 22, Parks found enough space to slot over a drop goal to make the score 12-6. In fact, he probably had time to slot over 3, tying his shoelaces between each attempt, so much more secure were the home side with their possession.

Another Hodgson penalty was then sandwiched between a series of substitutions, the most notable of which was the removal of England's skipper, Martin Corry, for the man they call Dallaglio. Frank Hadden switched his admirable half-backs for the equally competent pairing of Chris Cusiter and Gordon Ross. England again breached the Scottish defence soon after, with Jamie Noon bustling through two tackles, but once again, the ball was lost in contact.

After Scotland stretched their lead to 15-9, Andy Robinson and England proved that if they can baffle you once, they can do it a thousand times. With a penalty awarded some 35 metres from goal, and an insubstantial five minutes remaining, England chose to take the points on offer, rather than press for the lead with their imperious line-out and dominant forward game, thereby leaving them still requiring a try to win the game. If you thought picking Mike Tindall was crazy, then the decision to make him vice-captain must have looked ridiculous, but Robinson's blunder paled in comparison to what can only have been the result of severe mathematical deficiencies in the Gloucester centre.

That which was previously exasperating for England's fans came with nothing more than crushing inevitability in the final few minutes as Robinson's men coughed up yet another penalty, and then proceeded to cough up the ball in their final, futile push for a victory. It was a fitting end to one the most hard fought and ill thought Calcutta Cups of recent memory.

Since November 12th of last year, England has suffered under the maxim "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, it's very much broken now and it shouldn't come as any surprise. Cracks emerged in the first game of this 'New England', such was the misnomer fed to the press by Robinson at the start of the season, and not even the slightest attempt has been made to address them, even over the course of 6 whole games.

One's own eyes should be enough to see that our ball is not being recycled quickly or carefully enough, that the defence is not as reliable as it should be, and that the centres just aren't right, but a few statistics should help to light the way.

If Andy Robinson still has faith in Phil Larder's defence, why did we concede a kickable penalty for every seven tackles made? If Ben Cohen is one of the country's three deadliest finishers, why does he have one try to his name in five matches? James Simpson-Daniel, Tom Voyce and Tom Varndell have five between them in less than half that time. If Lewis Moody is an openside flanker, why did he fail to win a single turnover, while the Scots secured nine? If Martin Corry is our best option at the base of the scrum, why was he packing down at 6 on England's ball, and at 8 for Scotland's and Italy's? If he is our best option as captain, then why substitute him when the chips are down?

Logic can not come up with an adequate answer to any of these questions, and neither can Andy Robinson. Nor will he, as another press conference goes by with the head coach failing to demonstrate any knowledge of why his team are performing so poorly. The closest we are treated to is a few mumblings about our poor ball retention. Will he admit that this has something to do with the complete mockery he is making of his pre-season designs on a mobile pack? Will he even notice it?

We have had six games' worth of evidence, and not a thing has been changed. In six games' time, it will be November. If nothing is done in the next fortnight, then bye bye VI Nations, bye bye summer tour.

Scotland: Pens: Paterson 5 Drop Goal: Parks Southwell; Paterson, Di Rollo, Henderson, Lamont; Parks, Blair; Kerr, Hall, Douglas; MacLeod, Kellock; White (capt), Taylor, Hogg. Replacements: Ford, Smith, Hines, Petrie, Cusiter, Ross, Webster

England: Pens: Hodgson 4 Lewsey; Cueto, Noon, Tindall, Cohen; Hodgson, Ellis; Sheridan, Thompson, White; Borthwick, Grewcock; Worsley, Moody, Corry (capt). Replacements: Chuter, Freshwater, Shaw, Dallaglio, Dawson, Goode, Voyce.

Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland).

Scotland Win Calcutta Cup