Gregor Townsend’s side were widely written off ahead of Saturday’s clash at Murrayfield but sealed a 31-20 win
Scotland pulled off a major Six Nations shock as they beat England 31-20 to reclaim the Calcutta Cup in style at Murrayfield.
After losing to Italy in a rain-soaked Rome on the opening weekend, Gregor Townsend’s side were totally written off ahead of Saturday’s clash in Edinburgh, with their opponents coming into the match on a 12-match, year-long winning streak and off the back of a 48-7 thrashing of Wales at Twickenham.
But tries from Huw Jones (two), Jamie Ritchie and Ben White saw the Scots secure a bonus point win that nobody had seen coming, with England losing Henry Arundell to a 20-minute red card at the end of the first half.
The shock result has eased pressure on head coach Townsend, who faced calls to step down from his role after the defeat to Italy. In the face of criticism, his side responded emphatically against Steve Borthwick’s side who were simply unable to catch up with the hosts.
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Scotland opened the scoring after four minutes through the boot of Finn Russell, before Arundell was sent to the sin bin for failing to release his man in the tackle.
With England down a man, some Russell magic allowed Jones to round Maro Itoje to get his side’s first try of the afternoon, with the fly-half unlocking the visitor’s defence with a magnificent touch.
As Borthwick’s side struggled to contain Scotland and their speed of ball, Russell was involved again as Ritchie crossed the line to put his side 17-0 up after just quarter of an hour.
Arundell returned from the sin bin to score and help cut the Scots’ lead to 10, with George Ford later adding a penalty.
But Scotland edged ahead again just before the half an hour mark as Russell’s kick over the top of the English defence was fumbled by Ellis Genge, with White capitalising on the mistake to make it 24-10.
Things then went from bad to worse for the visitors as Arundell misjudged his jump for a high ball and took out Kyle Steyn in the air shortly before half-time.
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The wing was promptly shown another yellow card, with England reduced to 14 men for 20 minutes.
After the break, another Ford penalty helped to cut away at the deficit, but Scotland edged further away 15 minutes into the half as Matt Fagerson charged down a George Ford drop-goal attempt to set Jones free downfield.
The centre streaked away to cross under the posts, with Russell converting the bonus-point try to make it 31-13
England, to their credit, did not give up and got a second try in the final minutes through Ben Earl. But it was merely a consolation score, with Scotland reclaiming the Calcutta Cup and silencing more than a few critics in the process.
