England make their own luck as Calcutta Cup success marks progress

England know how fickle the fortunes of Test matches are. They’ve been on the wrong side of these types of games before. But now it’s Scotland‘s turn to lament those soul-wrenching moments of serendipity, as England showed further proof their luck is turning as they regained the Calcutta Cup for the first time in five years.

Scotland were a post’s width from a historic fifth win on the bounce over England, but in the end the annals of the sport’s oldest fixture will read a 16-15 victory for Steve Borthwick’s side. Your perspective of this match depends on a) which team your support lies with and b) your level of cynicism, or pessimism.

England fans will care little their team won it by a point and saw Finn Russell have an uncharacteristic off-day from the kicking tee. Their Six Nations record now reads two wins from three, with back-to-back one-point victories over France and Scotland. That’s improvement. But those with a more analytical brain will look at the moments where fortune smiled on them. They simply won’t play against Russell having that sort of off-day again.

For Scotland fans, they’ll likely be looking at the minute margins which saw this match slip away from them: some flip-of-a-coin refereeing calls, the wayward kicks off the tee from Russell as he missed all three, the moments in the first half where they made great gains on England’s flanks but failed to score, and how their set piece capitulated in the second half.

It came down to an inch or two, in a topsy-turvy, arm-wrestle of a match. Scotland were far the better side in the first half, the Russell-Duhan van der Merwe-Huw Jones axis causing carnage and no doubt triggering some English psychosis from previous years as they were so often the cause of England’s downfall in this fixture in the previous four occasions these two teams met. England were far too passive in the first half and when Ben White danced over after four minutes, that feeling of pre-match English optimism off the back of their 26-25 win over France a fortnight ago started to look a little misplaced.

Tommy Freeman crashed over in the ninth minute to give England the lead, but they’d manage only one more attack in anger during the half. Time and time again Van der Merwe ripped his way through England’s defence and left a trail of players in his wake. But unlike previous years, this didn’t result in him diving one-handed to dot the ball down in the corner, or launching a ball into the air celebrating yet another dagger to the English heart.

Twickenham felt disinterested during the first half with Scotland dominating and when Jones went over in the 19th minute, England had by that point already missed 12 tackles. But this Borthwick group finds a way to keep their hand in, even when the tide is heavily against them. They were only three points down at half time.

That belligerence turned into attacking intent in the second half as they won the collisions, found a way to gain metres and then punished Scottish indiscipline. The referee was at times failing to keep up with the pace of the game, doing his best to slow things down, and you could sense Scottish frustration growing. What told here was the strength of England’s bench. Borthwick’s substitutions were well-judged, and that Scotland’s tight-head ended up going 74 minutes shows their lack of trust in their bench options.

England’s bench added punch, Scotland’s legs tired and Borthwick’s men found a way to get points on the board. First, Marcus Smith slotted a comfortable kick in front of the posts after 67 minutes, and then Fin Smith knocked over one from near 50 metres in the 70th minute to make it 16-10. The camera panned to his parents in the crowd before and after his kick. They could’ve been watching their son through a different national gaze. Fin Smith’s grandfather played for Scotland and the British & Irish Lions at prop, his father Andrew is from Dunfermline and he met his wife, Judith, Tom Elliot’s daughter, at London Scottish’s clubhouse. For so long he was nailed-on to play for Scotland. But in the end, England won that tussle, and Fin Smith’s parents watched their son make 16 tackles, slot the match-clinching kick, and becoming indispensable to Borthwick’s side.

England headed into the final throes six points up, only for déjà vu to rear its ugly head once again, as Van der Merwe went over in the 79th minute. The referee did Russell no favours by moving the conversion far further out wide than where Van der Merwe scored, and Russell’s shot for victory just slipped away from the target. On such small margins Test matches hinge, and a country’s Six Nations fortunes (and potentially job prospects) pivot. How badly Scotland missed Sione Tuipolutu in midfield, but they can look back on a truly monumental performance from Jamie Ritchie.

In turn for England, Maro Itoje was immense in the second row, while Ben Curry made a brilliant impact from the bench, making 13 tackles. But there were also uncharacteristically poor performances from certain mainstays, which will cause Borthwick some concern.

But England will give those moments of serendipity little thought, as they got the essential thing done: they won. That’s two of the narrowest possible victories in quick succession, but for so long they were on the opposite end of these games. Borthwick and England had got bored of the valiant defeats, the near-misses and have found a way to wrestle these back in their favour. That’s progress, and they made their own luck. They have taken another step forward.

play

Scotland win three Calcutta Cups in a row

Relive three classic Six Nations games between England and Scotland ahead of their clash in Cardiff this weekend.

– Who could replace Warren Gatland as Wales head coach?
– Tom Hamilton on Gatland exit: This marks Wales Rugby nadir
– James Regan on France: ‘Golden generation’ need title more than ever
– WATCH: Relive some of Six Nations’ classic games
– Six Nations and Women’s Six Nations: Full fixture list