Rugby Union: Six Nations Match Report Scotland 6 v 13 England

Ball In Touch: Scotland took on England in Murrayfield, as the English looked to win in Scotland for the first time since 2004. Let us know what you thought of the game or anything else either in the comments below or on Twitter @Ballintouch and remember to use our handy beginners A-Z guide to rugbyEngland travelled North of the border with 233 caps between the starting XV compared to 499 caps shared amongst their Scottish cousins, a telling statistic. The media has been fixated with the youth on this England side, brimming with debutants, that makes them such a mystery. The atmosphere and the start was electric, thumping hits flying in as both sides looked to put down a marker. An early scrum saw the English show signs of strain, before a penalty for holding on by Scottish winger Jones saw Owen Farrell, one of several making their debut, turndown a kickable penalty to go for the corner, but it all came to nothing. A grubber kick by Charlie Hodgson was gathered and cleared by Rory Lamont, but the English kept building the phases in Scotland territory. An early maul by the English forwards didn€™t look quite right, the newness of the side to each other possibly playing a part. A kick return by Ben Foden took the English within kicking distance and when a penalty was awarded for not rolling away, it gave Owen Farrell the chance to open his international points account. Jeers from the crowd indicated the kick faded wide, but distance never looked an issue for the fly-half, something for potential offenders to take note of. Chris Cusiter looked lively as he ordered his forwards about, him and Dan Parks regularly looking to relieve a bit of pressure with kicks, though they were never too difficult for the English catchers. After passing poorly to Chris Ashton when in space, new England captain Chris Robshaw then required a new shirt after introducing himself to Cusiter and the consequently the rest of the Scottish pack as they traded handbags. With the first quarter almost lapsed the Scottish had spent too long in their own half. England were being allowed to attack and the Scottish defence and were being denied by mistakes more than being forced on the backfoot. A Scottish scrum saw the Scottish front row get one over the English front row, driving them skyward and winning a penalty, but the line out was overthrown and knock on, meaning the English had the ball yet again. A free kick allowed Hodgson to put a bomb deep into the Scottish half, the ball bouncing from a Scottish defender into the arms of the flying David Strettle, another player back in a white shirt after a period in the wilderness. When tackled to the ground, as the ball popped out the ruck Dan Parks couldn€™t resist kicking it away and conceding a penalty. With boos reverberating around Murrayfield, Farrell held his never to open the scoring.

A knock on from the restart gave Scotland a scrum in a great position, on the England 22 for the first time. Hesitance in the centres saw the ball go to ground and get driven back, before Rennie found a gap to burst into the English 22 only to be dragged down by Ben Youngs. Another couple of phases and the pressure was too much, Chris Robshaw guilty of handling the ball in the ruck meaning Dan Parks levelled the scores from barely twenty metres out. Continuing to get involved, Robshaw came off worse trying to tackle the giant Richie Gray, the ball eventually finding Max Evans who scampered down the wing to panic the English, his kick barely being claimed by Hodgson before just being cleared to touch. Multiple phases saw a procession of Scottish battering rams attack the English 22 to no avail. Panic at a creaking English scrum saw Ashton lassoed by Cusiter and gave Parks another chance to kick the Scottish in front, which he took. The Scottish now refused to give the English any time with the ball, battling at every breakdown, the back row being particularly notable. The effect was nullifying and with half time approaching neither side seemed able to get one over the other. The half finished with the crowd encouraging their men forward to give Parks the position to try a drop goal. Miscommunication saw his line to goal blocked by his own men and the hard work all to do again. Unable to get back in the pocket, a knock on sent the sides to the changing room with the score 6-3 to the Scottish. Blink and you missed it, England were celebrating as England scored a try from a charge down within thirty seconds of the restart, Charlie Hodgson the benefactor from Parks€™ poor clearance. Clearly perturbed to be behind so quickly, the Scottish fought back, the impressive Dave Denton bursting through before twisting his knee causing the whole ground to wince. Thankfully it looked worse than it was. With the English defence playing quite narrow, the gaps were out on the wings and that was where Scotland looked to attack. Good hands from the English saw Strettle have the chance to take a cross-field kick with the line beckoning, but that man Denton was there again to haul him down. Shorn of his teammates to help, Strettle was penalised for holding on. Richie Gray broke a tackle to get the stadium on its feet but the support play was less impressive, leading to a knock on. Nonetheless, havoc at the scrum saw the English scrambling in front of their own line, but over exuberance gave away a penalty. A selection of substitutions gave all a moment to pause for breath before the action got under way again, the Scottish now enjoying more time in the right parts of the field. With the margin still only four points, pressure on the English line again was turned over. The effect was temporary though as the ball kicked through and the TMO had several looks at the grounding efforts between replacement Greg Laidler and Ben Youngs. Countless replays eventually decided it was no try, with Laidler deemed to have applied insufficient downward pressure, much to the consternation of the crowd and Andy Robinson. Opportunity came again in the form of flanker Rennie, breaking several tackles before failing the relatively rudimentary task of passing to an unmarked teammate as Foden loomed large. The frustration mounted as yet another Scottish attack ended in a mistake, this time for crossing when only ten metres from the try line. Scotland gave England the chance to increase their lead from half way, but Farrell€™s kick dropped just before the crossbar, England conceding a penalty in its zealous attempt to retain possession. Farrell eventually improved his kicking ratio with a penalty forty metres out, taking the score to 6-13 with five minutes to go. Scottish hopes started to fade as time ran out. Scotland had to run a penalty as there wasn€™t time for the lineout but as was so typical of this game, a Scottish mistake gave the English the chance to clear and bring the contest to an end and record Stuart Lancaster€™s first victory as England coach. As a spectacle it was anything but, the English doing well considering the environment and squad they travelled with. As an introduction to international rugby it had everything you would expect. Inhospitable atmosphere, both in terms of the weather and the crowd, check. A ferocious opposition denying anytime on the ball, check. What was lacking was the punishing of mistakes. Both sides were guilty of two many and a side more on top of its game would have been merciless. But Scotland failed to capitalise and were more guilty of a multitude of their own errors putting paid to several good moves. Both sides seemed nervous and the effect was to cancel each other out in the first half. No one on the English side really stood out, the forwards going about their business without being noticeable, the backs the same so. Line breaks were a rare commodity and the support play not quite what it needed to be. Scotland were the same, not doing much particularly wrong, but not overly excelling. Dave Denton and Max Evans were the exceptions to this and were regularly seen gainng field position. Scotland really should have won this, the breakdown of basic skills in sight of the try line were unacceptable and Andy Robinson will tell his players so. England€™s try was fortunate and they rarely looked like scoring anywhere else on the field. So overall England will take this, it is more than they deserved and at least most of the squad can now get on with the rugby, the stress on making a debut out of the way. Scotland need to break the trend of doing all the hard work except the scoring bit. Dan Parks didn€™t impress and the running game of Rhudiar Jackson will be welcomed when he returns to fitness, and the same can be said of England€™s injured. Even with everyone back fit, both sides still have work to do. SCOTLAND (6) 6 Pens: Parks 2 ENGLAND (3) 13 Try: Hodgson Con: Farrell Pens: Farrell 2Scotland: R Lamont; Jones, De Luca, S Lamont, Evans; Parks, Cusiter, Jacobsen, Ford, Murray, Gray, Hamilton, Strokosch, Rennie, Denton. Replacements: Laidlaw for Parks (57), Blair for Cusiter (59), Cross for Jacobsen (75), S. Lawson for Ford (75), Kellock for Hamilton (59), Barclay for Strokosch (59). Not Used: Morrison. England: Foden; Ashton, Barritt, Farrell, Strettle; Hodgson, Youngs; Corbisiero, Hartley, Cole, Botha, Palmer, Croft, Robshaw, Dowson. Replacements: Brown for Barritt (72), Turner-Hall for Hodgson (63), Dickson for Youngs (63), Stevens for Corbisiero (63), Parling for Palmer (59), Morgan for Dowson (68). Not Used: Webber.