Scotland produced a superb defensive display to start their Six Nations campaign in outstanding fash-ion following a narrow 20-17 victory over England.
Gregor Townsend‘s men were on the back foot for much of the first half but still went into the break 10-6 ahead thanks to Ben White’s try and Finn Rus-sell’s penalty.
Marcus Smith kicked a pair of three-pointers for the visitors and then added another early in the sec-ond period to reduce the arrears to 10-9.
Smith then scored a try to take the Red Rose in front before he kicked a fourth penalty to put the visitors in control.
That was until a moment of madness from Luke Cowan-Dickie, who intentionally knocked the ball into touch, which led to a penalty try and yellow card.
With their opponents down to 14 men, the home side took advantage and Russell’s three-pointer proved to be decisive as they retained the Calcutta Cup.
There was a familiar look to the Scotland side, with 13 of the starting XV from the 2021 Six Na-tions victory in France last March selected by Gregor Townsend to face the Auld Enemy.
England, without key trio Owen Farrell, Court-ney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi through injury, sent out a relatively inexperienced side, captained for the first time by 23-year-old Sale back-rower Tom Curry.
It had been a wet and blustery day in Edinburgh, but conditions subsided slightly by the time kick-off arrived.
England enjoyed a strong start, forcing Scotland on to the back foot for much of the opening 10 min-utes, but they were unable to get any points on the board to show for it.
The Scots suffered what appeared to be a blow in the 12th minute when Ali Price had to go off for a head injury assessment, paving the way for London Irish scrum-half Ben White to enter the fray for his debut.—APP
