Scotland vs England LIVE: Six Nations rugby score and result from Calcutta Cup today
Follow live reaction as England and Scotland kicked off their Six Nations campaigns in the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield
Finn Russell slotted a penalty eight minutes from time to earn Scotland a narrow 20-17 win over England on Saturday as they took advantage of a penalty try and a yellow card for the visitors to wrestle back control of an intense Six Nations game.
Scotland, 10-6 up at halftime, were 10-17 down when they were awarded a penalty try after England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie batted away a high cross-field pass. He was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes. It proved the turning-point as with the one-man advantage, Scotland won a late penalty to snatch victory and take the Calcutta Cup for a second successive year.
Ben White scored Scotland’s other try while all England’s points came from young fly-half Marcus Smith, who crossed for a try and was unlucky to end on the losing side.
Follow all the latest reaction in the live blog below:
Scotland cling on to beat England and retain Calcutta Cup
That just about does us for our coverage this evening. A remarkable win for Scotland, who retain the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 1984 after another performance of immense resilience and resolve. They are in Cardiff next week for an encounter with a Welsh side licking their wounds after a chastening afternoon at the Aviva Stadium.
The opening weekend of the Six Nations concludes tomorrow, with Italy in Paris for a meeting with France, who wil be without head coach Fabien Galthie after a positive Covid test. Do join us for that, but for now I leave with you with Jamie Braidwood’s report from Murrayfield:
Scotland cling on to beat England and retain Calcutta Cup in tense Six Nations battle
Scotland 20-17 England: The visitors had victory in their grasp thanks to Marcus Smith’s second-half try but late mistakes opened the door for Gregor Townsend’s side to earn a memorable win
England head coach Eddie Jones
“It was a good effort by our team, Scotland were a bit better than us and took their chances. Congratulations to Scotland - they deserve their victory.
“The referee is in charge - we accept his decisions. We don’t apportion any blame to Luke Cowan-Dickie, he was contesting the ball in a different area.
“We had opportunities in that second half to kick on a little bit and we weren’t clinical enough. We’ve only got ourselves to blame. We weren’t clinical enough today but we will be next week.
“Marcus Smith played really well and we were really happy with his performances but we thought George Ford could lift it for us. Given the quality of the competition, all we will worry about is the next game.”
A beaming Gregor Townsend has a chat with the BBC
“I don’t think any Scottish supporter has ever been as excited or nervous about a set of scrums as at the end there!
“It wasn’t decided on a penalty, it was decided on an error. There were tough conditions in the second half for both teams.
“Character, fitness, self-belief are all there. We were behind on the scoreboard and came back and the confidence came through us.
“Finn Russell was outstanding throughout the whole game. He nailed his kicks and was still able to find spaces in our shape.
“It means a lot for us but it means more for our country, our people here. We know how important this game is for our nation but we want to improve.”
Tom Curry reflects on defeat for England
“It was up and down, up and down. First half we put ourselves in some good positions; second half, discipline cost us.”
On Luke Cowan-Dickie’s yellow card and the penalty try: “If we are going to win big games, we can’t rely on just one moment in a game. It is a game of 80 minutes, not just one moment, we need to reflect and be better.
“Credit to them - they put a lot of pressure on at the tackle area and the breakdown. We probably weren’t accurate enough.
“It is an emotional day. We play rugby to win, so it is bittersweet.”
Stuart Hogg on Scotland’s win
“I’m absolutely chuffed to bits,” the Scotland captain tells the BBC. “For Darcy Graham to get that turnover at the end, the little pocket rocket. It was a full squad effort.
“We believe in ourselves as individuals and we believe in ourselves as a collective. I said last year that it was the start of something special. We will get back to the drawing board on Monday and next week is a challenge to back it up. We are not going to get carried away.”
Scotland win the Calcutta Cup
In a nice touch, Stuart Hogg allows Ben White the chance to lift the Calcutta Cup after a crucial role on Scotland debut. Princess Anne, clad in traditional tartan mask and scarf, has made her way down from the Royal Box to present the trophy properly to the Scotland captain, who salutes the crowd. A performance of immense guts and grit, with a couple of key moments of attacking invention.
Player of the Match Matt Fagerson speaks to the BBC
“We’ve been building the squad for two years and this is probably the culmination of it. It shows the heart of the boys to bring it home at the end and the crowd were a huge part of that.
“In the anthems, when the music went off, it was hard to hold back the tears. The crowd were massive. Awesome!”
F/T: Scotland 20-17 England
After that interminable scrum sequence, England didn’t quite seem to have an idea of how to manufacture a scoring situation after being asked to play away from the set-piece, and Scotland have clung on. They retain the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 1984!
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