Rugby World Cup 2011 Match Report: England 16 - Scotland 12
Much like a schoolboy waiting patiently to have his lunch money forcefully remove, England allowed themselves to be dominated by an empowered Scottish side, fitfully rising to the bullying in the second half before breaking Scottish hearts with barely 90 seconds to go.
With storms forecast and wind swirling around Eden Park in Auckland, it wasnt just the weather that made this seem like a UK based affair. With the crowd swelled by those who had made the pilgrimage to the other side of the world to see their side, the anthems were belted out with a passion that sent tingles down the spine, the faces of the players showing just how much this game means. This game was a must win for both teams, despite England being able to qualify with a narrow defeat in a low scoring game. The early exchanges were Tartan in colour, showing determination to play the hard running game the team selection had suggested. Sean Lamont, playing at 12, caused the defence a few early troubles, with England giving away a couple of free kicks at the set piece. After ten minutes Paterson was giving the opportunity to opening the scoring with a penalty, an opportunity he took well, not looking like a kicker with a 55% conversion rate going into this game. The contacts were ferocious, with Scotlands creator at fly half Jackson leaving the field practically in tears of disappointment with what looked like a rib injury to be replaced with the more tactical Parks. On the England side, Lewis Moody was seen bleeding regularly from a facial wound. With the referee merciless at the scrums, England conceded another penalty; the kick confirmed after it was referred to the Television Match Official (TMO) as it barely squirmed over the bar, such was the wind facing Parks as he kicked. Scotland 6 0 England. With a quarter of the game gone, England were still to get into it, failing to get any structure or momentum, with two ambitious Wilkinson penalty attempts were the closest the men in white came to threatening the scoreboard. Despite the wind being in their faces, the Scottish kept pinning England back with a series of good kicks, Parks even attempting a drop goal, showing his last minute miss the previous week was not playing on his mind. For some reason the referee appeared to repeatedly ask Foden for confirmation it had not went over. It hadnt but would Foden have said otherwise? The dominance of their north of the border cousins started to have an effect, with a couple of players, Ashton and Youngs in particular, throwing a few handbags either side of a successful penalty by Wilkinson that halved the deficit. The half closed with a series of scrums, Matt Stevens really struggling against Euan Murray, the match stats showing England had lost an unthinkable four scrums against the head so far. The pressure paid off, with Dan Parks powering over a drop goal on the stroke of half time. An immense tackle on Lamont by Tuilagi created turnover ball for Armitage to dash to within ten metres of the Scottish line, England showing more go forward in these first two minutes than they did all the first half. England continued to turn the screw, another turnover giving Wilkinson the chance of a snap drop goal barely twenty metres out, an opportunity he disappointingly missed. A breathless riposte from Scotland came, first a half-interception leading to England fighting back on their own 22 line, and then a kick chase down the other wing agonisingly knocked on by Di Luca with the line beckoning. Facing up to the pressure, the Scots were eventually awarded a penalty, which Paterson kicked, taking the scores to 12-3 and crucially meaning England would be denied a losing bonus point if things stayed the same. With the commentators waxing lyrically about the increased margin, Wilkinson dropped into the pocket and defiantly smashed a right footed drop goal through the sticks. As the game went into the final quarter, the tempo continued to rise, both teams exploring each others 22s before Wilkinson kicked another penalty. 12-9. With few shining in the English pack, Tom Croft was probably the most effective, especially in the tight and a dangerous cross kick found him scrambling to prevent a try. With the catcalls echoing in the strong breeze, Wilkinson was unlucky to fall short with a brave penalty attempt that would have levelled the score. With tension rising and fingernails disappearing, the potential severity of another Scottish try seemed to drive England on, but still the scoreboard remained unchanged. Scotland too despite their best efforts could not break the deadlock. Turnover followed turnover, with play stuck in the middle of the field as the clock ticked down, a bevy of substitutes now on, and England were given a penalty. Rather than kick to draw the game, replacement Flood kicked for the corner and England trundled their maul forward before a looping miss-pass to Ashton saw the Northampton man scamper over in the corner, taking the lead for the first time in the game as the England bench exploded in celebration! The touchline conversion by Flood was the icing on the cake as it looked like Scottish hopes were to be dashed in the final moments for the second week in a row. 16-12 with barely a minute to go. With no time to change the game, a knock on brought the battle to an end and England celebrated as much in relief as acknowledging their progress to the quarterfinals. As exhausted Scotland were left to contemplate a long flight home sooner than they wanted, with some of the players left heaped on the ground in tears. Their hopes now rest on Georgia beating Argentina by more than 8 points, which looks very unlikely. If it does happen though, New Zealand await. The Scottish pack dominated the English for most of the game with Murray being notable. It was very much a team effort with the back three looking threatening as Chris Paterson became the Scottish player with the most World Cup appearances. Dan Parks did very well considering he came on unexpectedly after 5 minutes. There is no doubt if England were to replicate this kind of performance, they would be following Scotland to the airport pretty sharpish. After a poor first half spent staring into the headlights, when they played like they are capable they looked threatening. However, this happened nowhere near often enough, and frankly they can count themselves lucky. Wilkinson didnt control the game and has put himself at risk of losing the 10 jersey to Flood who did well in his brief cameo. Stevens struggled and Corbisero may well feel vindicated in wanting his spot back. Tom Palmer similarly may think he should be started after doing well off the bench, with Croft being the standout forward. Martin Johnson has no doubt some tough decisions to make next week. So next up for England is a quarter-final with France the same time next Saturday. A repeat performance will not be acceptable but it will certainly be an intriguing battle against which ever France side turn up.