Russell miss allows England to escape with 16-15 win over Scotland
LONDON :Finn Russell missed a last-minute conversion that would have given Scotland a record fifth successive Calcutta Cup win on Saturday and instead England claimed a tense 16-15 Twickenham victory that keeps them in the hunt for the Six Nations title.
England looked safe with a six-point lead heading into the final minutes but Duhan van der Merwe scored against them yet again, only for Russell to miss his third conversion of the match and let the hosts off the hook.
Having edged France at the death two weeks ago it was another nail-biting finale for the Twickenham crowd who had endured a flat first-half performance as England trailed 10-7 but were lifted by their second-half fightback.
Ireland, who beat Wales 27-18 earlier on Saturday, top the standings with 14 points. England have 10 and France, who play Italy on Sunday, and Scotland, have six.
England host Italy next before visiting Wales on the final day and though they will almost certainly need France to do them a favour by winning in Dublin to open the door, they remain in the hunt for a first title since 2020.
They made hard work of it on Saturday, however, managing only one early try and earning boos at times from the home fans after repeatedly kicking away possession.
Scotland were on the board after four minutes when, after a poor clearance kick, Van der Merwe slipped through two tackles and slick passing sent scrumhalf Ben White over.
England hit back after a patient assault on the line opened the way for Tommy Freeman to blast over, with Marcus Smith converting for a 7-5 lead.
Coach Steve Borthwick’s plan to shoe-horn Marcus Smith in at fullback to take advantage of attacking talent was exposed again at the other end of the pitch when he was brushed aside by Van der Merwe as the Scots poured down the left to leave centre Huw Jones a simple task to score.
Scotland continued to make all the running, taking full advantage of England’s strangely passive defence and Van Der Merwe’s defender-sucking, marauding runs but, with Russell missing both conversions, they led only 10-7 at halftime.
England entered the Scots’ 22 only twice in the half and could count themselves fortunate to be so close.
ENGLAND LEVEL WITH PENALTY
Little appeared to have changed in the early stages of the second half with a joyful Russell flinging passes short and long and England desperately back-pedalling.
Slowly but surely, however, England began to get a toe-hold and levelled it at 10-all after 55 minutes with a Marcus Smith penalty – their first score in 46 minutes.
They followed it with a spirited defensive set and, after finally finding some cohesion in attack, earned a penalty in front of the posts that Marcus Smith slotted home for a 13-10 lead with 14 minutes to go.
Flyhalf Fin Smith extended that lead to six soon after with a penalty from almost halfway.
England looked to have done enough only for Stafford McDowall to blast through on a 40-metre swerving run that scattered England’s defenders and allowed Van der Merwe to score in the corner for a record-extending seventh Six Nations try against England.
With less than a minute on the clock Russell lined up the two-pointer from out wide but missed again and England then survived a nervous minute of defending to claim the win.
"Scotland played a lot in our half and we didn't exit the way we wanted but we did fight and scrap," England captain Maro Itoje told ITV. "There is loads for us to get better at but we are delighted to win.
"In the first half and the second half, we probably didn't play as much as we wanted and Scotland probably played more than us but we were more clinical than we have been."
Man of the match Duhan van der Merwe said Scotland had failed to take opportunities in the first half.
"Fair play to England's defence, in the first half they kept us out," he told ITV.
"Coming into the second half we had belief that we could win this game. We didn't have enough ball in the second half. England were applying pressure at the breakdown and they got the ball."
