It was predicted to be the most competitive Six Nations yet, and so it is: for second place. England retained the title with one round to spare and not even a prize-winning thistle could have punctured Scotland’s balloon so piercingly. Five of England’s seven tries came directly from lineouts, three scored by the centre Jonathan Joseph as the home side equalled New Zealand’s record for a tier one nation of 18 consecutive victories and set a new one of 11 for the championship.
It was ludicrously easy against the team who at the start of the match were England’s only rivals for the title. Scotland had not won here for 34 years and within 25 minutes it was clear that drought would be extended by at least another two years, as Joseph’s two tries, both converted, and two Owen Farrell penalties put the home side 20 points ahead. After Ireland’s defeat in Cardiff the previous night, the Lions head coach, Warren Gatland, may be tempted to supplement the England squad with a few Celtic add-ons.
Eddie Jones said afterwards he was still disgruntled at the tactics employed by Italy here in the previous round when they failed to contest rucks and operated without an offside line, but Scotland were undermined in attack by Farrell rushing up and positioning himself outside the Scotland fly-half Finn Russell, making the passing option risky.
Russell, who had been prominent in the opening three rounds, had no answer. With the full-back Stuart Hogg the first of four Scotland players to leave the field with concussion, there was little shape to a back division that had a scrum-half on the wing for the last hour. The centre Huw Jones scored two second-half tries to offer his side the prospect of an unlikely bonus point in their quest to secure the runners-up position, but this was a contest of unequals.
Scotland needed to start assertively, but they were down to 14 men after two minutes when the hooker Fraser Brown tackled Elliot Daly late and dumped the wing on his back. He received a yellow card which the crowd, recalling Daly’s dismissal against Argentina last November for taking out Leonardo Senatore in the air, thought was lenient. Brown had barely made it to his a seat of shame when England took the lead having kicked the penalty to touch.
The ball was delivered from the top of the lineout at speed for Ben Youngs to supply George Ford with alacrity. The fly-half ran straight, as did Farrell, holding defenders and leaving Alex Dunbar in the centre pondering whether to stay home with the ball-carrier or follow his marker, Joseph. He was still debating with himself when the England centre sprinted through the gap that had opened up in the Scotland midfield to score under the posts.
His second try was a virtual repeat, Courtney Lawes throwing the ball into Youngs’s arms as he started his lineout descent. Youngs, Ford and Farrell again combined swiftly to put Joseph into space and there are few players so equipped to exploit even the smallest gap, blessed with a devastating step as well as speed; better defences than Scotland’s would have been left trailing in his slipstream.
England’s third try, on 35 minutes, followed the same route, except this time Joseph passed outside to the supporting Anthony Watson, Daly’s replacement. They were almost training‑ground moves, but it was the pace and accuracy that undid a team that in the previous rounds had played teams more laboured and predictable, France and Wales. England aspire to be the No1 ranked team in the world by 2019, which means supplanting New Zealand, and there was something of the All Blacks in the way they scented weakness and then exploited it.
Scotland, who were anticipating a for-once generous percentage of players in the Lions squad, will be fortunate to have more than Hogg on this evidence. Their scrum was a source of weakness, as expected, but they made little impact at their breakdown in a game that for the most part passed them by in a blur. It was their guard, rather than their heads, that dropped and though they gathered three tries, the first of which was scored by the prop Gordon Reid on 28 minutes after Scotland kicked a penalty to touch and drove the lineout, England’s shape and polish contrasted with the haphazard nature of their opponents’ attacks, which left far too much to chance.
England had been the slowest starters in the Six Nations, 22 points in their three previous first halves, but they led 30-7 at the interval and secured a try bonus point two minutes after the restart when Joseph completed his hat-trick, angling his run after Nathan Hughes’s run and offload had scattered the Scotland defence. England’s next two tries, scored by the replacements Billy Vunipola and Danny Care, also came from lineouts.
England had by now switched to using a lineout to drive mauls, as if rehearsing for Dublin next week where space should be more confined and the atmosphere hostile, but if England’s long winning run has not earned them the accolades lavished on New Zealand when they made it 18 last year, they are developing a squad of such depth to make even the All Blacks reflect on what might be by the start of the 2019 World Cup.
With both Vunipola brothers back and on the bench, along with Watson, England had their strongest 23 of the tournament, and they were still without George Kruis and Chris Robshaw. The respective benches illustrated an essential difference between the sides, one that quickly came into play as first Hogg and then his replacement Mark Bennett were injured.
Four of England’s seven tries were scored by their replacements, with Care completing the scoring with his second in the final minute. England were left with the familiar sight of the Calcutta Cup, while for Scotland it was a case of Oh Calcutta, stripped bare and exposed.
England Brown; Nowell, Joseph (Te’o 57), Farrell, Daly (Watson 15); Ford, Youngs (Care 61); Marler (M Vunipola 57), Hartley (capt; George 51), Cole (Sinckler 61), Launchbury, Lawes (Wood 66), Itoje, Haskell, Hughes (B Vunipola 51). Tries Joseph 3, Watson, B Vunipola, Care 2 Cons Farrell 7. Pens Farrell 4.
Scotland Hogg (Bennett 17, Pyrgos 21); Seymour (Weir 44), Jones, Dunbar, Visser; Russell, Price; Reid (Dell 43), Brown (Ford 43), Fagerson (Berghan 61), R Gray, J Gray (Swinson 74), Barclay (capt), Watson, Wilson (Du Preez 62). Sin-bin Brown 2 Tries Reid, Jones 2 Cons Russell 3
Referee Mathieu Raynal (Fr)
Attendance 82,100
Game rating 7/10
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