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:
Team News - Wales
After such severe injury issues, it is a Welsh side with a new look to begin the defence of their Six Nations crown. For the first time since 2006, they line up for the opening game of the tournament without either Alun Wyn Jones or Ken Owens, with Dan Biggar taking on leadership duties. Two spots along from the fly-half is perhaps where the most eye-catching selection comes – Josh Adams makes his first international start at outside centre as part of an exciting, attacking backline.
Autumn star Taine Basham and Ellis Jenkins should dovetail well in the back row, particularly when bothering Ireland’s breakdown ball, while after a breakthrough year-and-a-half-or-so Adam Beard takes on even greater importance without the skipper alongside him. Uncapped rake Dewi Lake awaits a debut at hooker among the substitutes.
Wales: 15-L. Williams, 14-McNicholl, 13-Adams, 12-Tompkins, 11-Rees-Zammit, 10-Biggar, 9-T. Williams; 1-W. Jones, 2-Elias, 3-Francis, 4-Rowlands, 5-Beard, 6-Jenkins, 7-Basham, 8-Wainwright
Replacements: 16-Lake, 17-G. Thomas, 18-Lewis, 19-Carter, 20-Moriarty, 21-G. Davies, 22-Sheedy, 23-Watkin
Team News - Ireland
Thirteen of the Irish starting fifteen that beat the All Blacks in November also begin the Six Nations opener. The injection of Tadhg Beirne ensures there will be little drop off in the second row even with Iain Henderson short of fitness, while in the absence of James Lowe on the left wing there is a debut for Mack Hansen, a star in his first season at Connacht. Hansen, an Australia U20 international, qualifies through his Cork-born mother and is comfortable across the back three.
Robbie Henshaw is another who misses out after an adductor issue that has limited his training time, which means another club standout awaits a debut in the centres from the bench: James Hume has been a key cog in Ulster’s impressive backline. There should also be a first Six Nations appearance for Dan Sheehan, the wickedly talented Dubliner who is one of 14 Leinster-men in the 23.
Ireland: 15-Keenan, 14-Conway, 13-Ringrose, 12-Aki, 11-Hansen, 10-Sexton, 9-Gibson-Park; 1-Porter, 2-Kelleher, 3-Furlong, 4-Beirne, 5-Ryan, 6-Doris, 7-Van Der Flier, 8-Conan
Replacements: 16-Sheehan, 17-Healy, 18-Bealham, 19-Baird, 20-O’Mahony, 21-Murray, 22-Carbery, 23-Hume
A late change for Wales
Wales’ campaign isn’t off to an ideal start. Seb Davies is struggling with spasms in his back so drops off the bench, replaced by young locking talent Ben Carter in the number 19 jersey. A blow on matchday for Wayne Pivac.
However that does make a fine cue for us to look at the two teams in depth...
Back in action
Wales were unlikely champions 12 months ago, taking advantage of a little bit of luck but showing plenty of fight and flair on their way to a well-earned crown. The task this year is even tougher - Wayne Pivac’s injury list reads like a Welsh rugby who’s who with desperate fitness misfortune. Such is the strength of this year’s competition that even as defending champions you might consider them outsiders for the tournament, but there are plenty in Ireland who are wary of writing off a wounded Wales with little to lose as they head to Dublin.
The Independent’s Six Nations Newsletter
This year’s Six Nations will be “a championship for the ages” as it returns with renewed vitality after the pandemic forced last year’s tournament behind closed doors. Follow every twist and turn with our free weekly newsletter, which will arrive in your inbox every Monday.
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This year’s Six Nations will be “a championship for the ages” as it returns with renewed vitality after the pandemic forced last year’s tournament behind closed doors
Ireland vs Wales
We’ll have a closer dig through the two teams in a bit, but this is a classic Six Nations fixture to kick us off, and there is plenty that catches the eye.
Here are some of the big talking points:
Talking points ahead of Ireland vs Wales
Six Nations opener presents a tough start for reigning champions Wales
Kingdom of the North
And the on-field action won’t be bad, either. The autumn was one of great positives for most of our competing nations, capitalising on weary Southern Hemisphere foes but producing a string of statement performances. Ireland and France felled the All Blacks, England went unbeaten and both Scotland and Wales put away Australia, and sage heads say that this could be the most hard-fought edition of this grand old tournament yet.
“It could be the most competitive and open Six Nations in history,” posited Italian head coach Kieran Crowley from Rome at last week’s launch. “Everyone is looking strong. You look at the results from November and the best rugby is being played in the Northern Hemisphere.”
Ireland vs Wales
There is still more than an hour and a half until it all gets underway at the Aviva Stadium, but there are a few early birds who have filed past the filling taverns for Dublin’s chief rugby amphitheatre. There is little like a Six Nations city on matchday, and plenty of those of a Welsh persuasion have travelled to to add red streaks to the green sea. With fans free to flock and frolic with greater freedom than at any point in the last two years this should be a spectacular tournament...
The Six Nations is back - and maybe better than ever.
Open the turnstiles and ready your voices - the Six Nations is here! 23 long months since fans were last permitted to attend rugby’s most storied annual championship, it returns in all its technicolour glory with renewed vitality and verve. Rugby in the northern hemisphere has rarely, if ever, been better and with five genuine contenders for the crown, the tournament proper looks set to return with a bang.
Where better to begin than Dublin for a clash between fancied Ireland, looking to build on an outstanding autumn, and a wounded Wales, without a host of stars as they look to defend the title they improbably secured last year.
We’ll have all the thrills, spills and action over the next month or so as destination of the 2022 Six Nations is decided - and this could be a tournament for the ages.
Six Nations has all the ingredients of a championship for the ages
With crowds back and five viable contenders to clinch glory, Kieran Crowley’s prediction that it ‘could be the most competitive and open Six Nations in history’ does not look so far-fetched
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