Battling in vain: John Barclay is halted by England's Hartley as Scotland and England draw 15-15 in the Six Nations. Pic: ©SNS Group
It may look like a game of dreary penalties but it was anything but. Amid extraordinary scenes at the death, nearly 100 minutes after the game had begun because of serious injuries and interruption, and with Scotland coach Andy Robinson, prowling the running track beside the pitch in his anxiety, Toby Flood, the replacement England fly half, had a long drop-goal charged down to ensure the scores stayed level.
It would have been a travesty if Scotland had lost but they would have only had themselves to blame. Having completely dominated the first half, and played most of the rugby throughout, they had the beating of England but yet again never got over the try line. In the draw, England emerged with the Calcutta Cup in their hands again, on the virtue of being the holders from the previous year.
They began brightly enough. A nice catch in midfield on seven minutes by Johnnie Beattie, who went on be the Man of the Match, saw the pack rolling forward until England’s Dan Cole killed the ball. Dan Parks opened his account from 40 metres as if he was Chris Paterson.
And it was Beattie again making inroads up the centre from a quick throw in by Southwell which gave the home crowd something to cheer about.
Six Nations: Scotland 15-15 England in pictures from Murrayfield.
England threatened briefly and their backs looked quick when they saw the ball. But Scotland showed confidence, not to say recklessness in defence. Max Evans nearly got away inside his own 22 until an offload went loose. Eventually, in the scramble, Jim Hamilton gave away a penalty in front of the posts after 14 minutes and Johnny Wilkinson made it all square.
For much of the first half, it was all Scotland, with Parks spraying cross kicks both right and left to try to find the corners. Max Evans was well watched by the England defence on his but Scotland retained the ball and England again conceded a simple penalty, along with multiple warnings from the South African referee Marius Jonker which were to be a feature of the afternoon.
Evans and Morrison continued to hurl themselves at the England line but only succeeded in giving away a penalty in the England half for holding on, Wilkinson pushed England up to the Scotland 22. From the throw-in the ball went left until Monye was spectacularly upended. But England retained possession and only a pass that was too quick for Cueto stopped the attack.
But in the ensuing scrum, Scotland were penalised and the already towsy forward battle looked like boiling over. England hooker Hartley was luck to stay on the field but Wilkinson kept his cool to draw level.
More Scottish possession and more of the same saw Scotland getting nowhere until a clear change of plan from Cusiter saw the forwards take it up the middle and provide a far better platform for Parks. This time, a low scudder of a drop goal crept over and Scotland went in three up at the interval. As an advantage it was short lived, Hamilton gave away a silly penalty from the kick off and Wilko said thank you very much.
Some purpose from the England attack left Scotland reeling in the opening exchanges of the third quarter and eventually a harsh offside decision gave Flood an opportunity to put England in front which he accepted gratefully. But as with Scotland, England conceded a penalty more or less from the kick-off. Parks had a tougher angle but made no mistake to level the scores once again.
Still Scoland pressed forward.
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A rehearsed lineout move which saw a huge throw to Kelly Brown released Cusiter and Morrison in midfield wining another easier penalty soon after but Parks could only hit the post. Another sharp break by Cusiter brought Scotland to within a couple of metres but a clash of heads between Brown and Monye left both players requiring lengthy medical attention, and saw Monye stretchered off.
Unable to capitalize on the advantage, Scotland found themselves giving away a long-range penalty just inside their own half but Flood’s attempt was just short. An accidental offside gave England a free kick ten metres out. They opted for the scrum and after heroic defence it looked as Evans was going to break out only to be brought back for another penalty. This time Flood made no mistake and England were in front.
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Parks then hit the post again with a long range effort but from the rebound Scotland came agonisingly close, winning another much easier penalty for Parks to bring the scores level once more.
Alistair Kellock’s moment of glory on 70 minutes – arising from the dead after a heavy tackle to take a clean catch, scattering the attendant medics - will live long in the memory.
But this titanic struggle was not yet over. Both side looked exhausted and yet looked as if they were playing sevens, running from deep and throwing the ball around wildly. In the end a freak penalty gave Flood a chance from half-way with three minutes to go but it fell fractionally short.
A breakout by Sean Lamont ended with a tame knock-on. And then England’s final drives attempted to give Flood a platform. Good job Wilkinson had gone off, many Scotland fans will have been thinking.
Scorers:
Scotland Pen: Parks (4) DG Parks
England Pen: Wilkinson (3) Flood (2)
Scotland team:
H.Southwell, S. Lamont N. De Luca, G. Morrison, M. Evans, D. Parks (Godman 71), C. Cusiter (Lawson 60), A. Jacobsen (Cross 61), R. Ford (Lawson 65), E. Murray, J. Hamilton (Hines51) A. Kellock, K. Brown (MacDonald 55), J. Barclay, J. Beattie Subs S. Lawson, G.Cross, N, Hines, A.MacDonald, R.Lawson, P.Godman, S.Danielli.
England team
D. Armitage (Foden49), M.Cueto, M.Tait, R.Flutey, U Monye (Youngs 55), J Wilkinson, D.Care, T.Payne, D.Hartley (Thomson 61), D.Cole, .Deacon (Lawes 73), S.Borthwick, J.Haskell (Moody 61), J.Worsley, N.Easter Subs S.Thomson, D.Wilson (Flood 44), C.Lawes, L.Moody, B.Youngs, T. Flood, Ben Foden.
