Scotland vs England result: Ellis Genge try regains Calcutta Cup to ignite Six Nations campaign

Scotland 6-13 England: The visitors ensured they got back to winning ways ahead of their return to Twickenham for the visit of Grand Slam favourites Ireland

England regained the Calcutta Cup in atrocious conditions at Murrayfield as Ellis Genge’s late try helped to seal a 13-6 victory over Scotland to keep their Six Nations hopes alive.

The two fierce rivals knew that the loser on Saturday evening would almost certainly be out of the title picture, which had only fuelled the talk of the “war” that would be witnessed and the “battle” for Calcutta Cup supremacy.

But neither side expected to be battered quite so hard by Storm Ciara, with strong winds and torrential rain arriving minutes before kick-off and having a major impact on the contest that will not live long in the memory.

England held a slender 3-0 lead at the break through Owen Farrell’s early penalty, although the skipper was still far from his best and his record from the tee included three missed efforts in a constant battle with the elements. When Scotland fly-half Adam Hastings levelled the scores soon after the restart, it was left to wonder whether either try line would be breached at all, and when the visitors saw what they thought was a try disallowed in the 69th minute, echoes of the 1962 3-3 draw here at Murrayfield were ringing through the stadium.

But replacement prop Genge provided the match-deciding moment 10 minutes from time as the English pack drove the fiery loosehead over the line, and though Farrell and Hastings added additional penalties in the closing minutes to ensure Scotland claimed a second losing bonus point of the championship, England ensured they got back to winning ways ahead of their return to Twickenham for the visit of Grand Slam favourites Ireland.

How Scotland managed to head in at half-time pointless only they will know, as with the wind at their back they were unable to do any damage to England whatsoever. That stemmed largely from the defensive display of the back-row, as Jones’s decision to deploy three natural flankers and ball-fetchers in Lewis Ludlam, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry reaped rewards.

The trio were responsible for five turnovers in the opening half compared to Scotland’s none, a ratio which increased to 7:1 by full-time, and Curry was at the forefront of that effort in only his second outing as No 8. The young Sale Sharks forward bore the brunt of criticism last weekend for England having enough bite in the carrying department, but the same could not be said this time around.

Whenever Scotland got into kicking distance, captain Stuart Hogg pointed to the corner, only for the England back-row unit to spoil their ball and either turn it over or force an error.

The visitors were unable to convert their control into anything meaningful though. Farrell missed his first shot at goal from range as the ball held up enormously in the wind, before making amends a minute later when he kicked England into the lead in the 11th minute. When Scotland looked to convert a driving maul into a try five minutes later, they could do nothing to stop Curry, Underhill and Ludlam all flooding through the maul to wrap up the ball carrier, and when Scotland chose to do similar soon after in turning down points for the corner, Hogg made the cardinal sin of missing touch.

Farrell missed his third effort at goal in the 26th minute but England were happy to kick possession away and let their defence do the talking, thought he way that the penalty came about did not go unnoticed as George Furbank’s tackle on Hogg allowed Curry and Ludlam to flood in and earn their reward.

The half rode out without any further scoring chances, but England were in danger of losing their grip on the game despite having the wind at their backs. Scotland made a bright start as Hastings levelled the scores when England failed to release the tackle under intense pressure in front of their own sticks, but it was their inability to kick the ball in-field that really threatened to cost them.

Willi Heinz was the main culprit, though both George Ford and Elliot Daly followed suit in kicking the ball straight into touch on the full as they struggled to work out the wind, and it gave Scotland chance after chance to capitalise on excellent field position – something they couldn’t do.

Ben Earl celebrates England's crucial second-half try (Getty)

Having survived the 15-minute blip, England sent on their powerhouse replacements, with Genge at the forefront of that. With control regained, England believed they had scored when Hogg dropped the ball on his own line, allowing Farrell to jump on the ball to score what he thought was a perfectly good try, but referee Pascal Gauzere consulted the TMO and ruled that the full-back had done enough to ground the ball with his chest. Regardless, the deciding moment came from the ensuing scrum, as Farrell’s crashball and allowed Genge to come around the corner, with Itoje, Ben Earl and Curry for company, to power over and score.

With a seven-point buffer and fewer than 10 minutes left on the clock, England just had to keep their heads to ride out a victory, and Farrell’s second penalty of the day ensured that even though Hastings’ final effort from Joe Launchbury’s sealing off in the dying seconds closed the gap, England were finally able to get their hands back on the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2017.

Teams

Scotland: Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Huw Jones (Chris Harris, 56), Sam Johnson, Blair Kinghorn; Adam Hastings, Ali Price; Rory Sutherland (Allan Dell, 60), Fraser Brown (Stuart McInally, 52), Zander Fagerson (Simon Berghan, 60); Stuart Cummings (Ben Toolis, 56), Jonny Gray; Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury (Nick Haining, 75).

Replacements not used: George Horne, Rory Hutchinson.

England: George Furbank; Jonny May, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Willi Heinz (Ben Youngs, 59); Mako Vunipola (Ellis Genge, 57), Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler; Maro Itoje, George Kruis (Joe Launchbury, 71); Lewis Ludlam (Courtney Lawes, 52), Sam Underhill (Ben Earl, 66), Tom Curry,

Replacements not used: Tom Dunn, Will Stuart, Ollie Devoto.