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England’s rugby team hasn’t suddenly turned into a mediocre squad despite their disappointing setback in the Calcutta Cup last Saturday.
The 31-20 defeat against Scotland, however, is a significant blow that won’t be easy to brush off. With this loss, England’s impressive 12-match winning streak came to an abrupt halt, and their aspirations for a Six Nations grand slam vanished.
The responsibility lies with the players and coach Steve Borthwick, who must acknowledge their shortcomings. England didn’t deserve to claim victory; they were thoroughly outplayed. In fact, Scotland’s 11-point lead could have been even more commanding, reflecting the one-sided nature of the match.
Such defeats are humbling and challenging to endure, yet Borthwick’s squad must find a way to bounce back.
Before this Six Nations tournament commenced, I consistently highlighted this match as pivotal for England’s Championship ambitions. Scotland has now triumphed in five of their last six encounters with England, consistently rising to the occasion against their fiercest competitors. For Scotland, this match holds immense significance, and they demonstrated that once more.
There were three moments that set the tone for England’s dismal defeat by Scotland
Scotland deserve lots and lots of plaudits and I’ll come on to them in a minute.
But as good as Gregor Townsend’s side were, England will have to acknowledge that they simply weren’t good enough, especially in the first half. Their key players underperformed and they were well beaten by the better team.
In Test rugby, small moments can be key and there were three in the opening 40 that stood out for me and showed why England were just not at the races.
From the kick-off, England got a great line-out maul drive going. It went forward at a rate of knots but rather than use that momentum, the ball was then aimlessly kicked away and Scotland went up the other end to score. England kicked away too much possession aimlessly. Secondly, when Scotland were on the attack again and had line-out ball close to the English line, the men in white failed to compete at the set-piece. I don’t understand why.
The Scottish line-out had disintegrated in their defeat by Italy, so surely England had to put pressure on and try and disrupt things?
The third incident was when Freddie Steward kicked the ball dead at the end of the half. I’m sure England will say they wanted to limit the damage given they were a man light following Henry Arundell’s sending off. But they were already losing the game and in my opinion, had to be brave and try and narrow the deficit.
These three moments set the tone for a poor performance.
When push came to shove, England weren’t brave enough and didn’t execute well enough.
Borthwick and his men have rightly had lots of plaudits in the past 12 months, but Edinburgh was very much a reality check.
I had no issue with Arundell’s sending off.
It was the right decision to show him two yellow cards. What does concern me is the mess rugby has got itself into with the aerial contest. Arundell endangered the safety of Kyle Steyn when they competed, so his second yellow was just.
The issue I have is that now, players aren’t actually aiming to catch the ball when they compete for it in the air.
Instead, they are looking to tap it back to their team-mates who are in support.
It seriously worries me that it is only a matter of time before we see a serious injury for those who are jumping and competing for possession.
I’m aware coming up with a solution isn’t straightforward, but World Rugby must look at this area of the game as a matter of urgency.
World Rugby must address a growing issue when it comes to contesting kicks
The only good news for England is that they have another game this week and a chance to bounce back immediately at home to Ireland.
But it remains the case that this England team is yet to secure a really big win away from home.
Scotland was the chance to make a statement on the road and it all fell flat.
Their head coach Townsend took plenty of heat after the Italy defeat and his links with Red Bull and Newcastle. I was among those to be very critical of him.
But he and his team came up with an impressive response. Scotland’s back-line was seriously impressive. They made the most of England playing with 14-men, but I think even if Borthwick’s men had been at 15, Scotland would still have won. Finn Russell, Steyn, Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu were all outstanding.
Scotland’s pack has also had flak.
But even though their scrum conceded penalties, I thought their locks Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings were excellent. George Ford’s charged down drop goal attempt which led to Jones’ second was the final nail in England’s coffin. I believe that it was the right option at the right time from Ford, but clearly the execution didn’t come off. It summed up England’s day. It showed how much progression there is for this team still to make.
This was a night where England were brought crashing back down to earth. It will be a long shot for Borthwick’s men to win the title from here. France are now even stronger favourites. Scotland showed the rest of the world they are beatable and that is a big concern. But England can and have to bounce back, starting with Ireland.
However, their search for a big away success continues. We won’t be able to say that England are a really top team until they show us that’s in their locker.