Scotland upset the odds by beating England at Twickenham for the first time since 1983, reclaiming the Calcutta Cup in what was the 150th anniversary of the first fixture between the two sides.
Duhan van der Merwe was the game’s only try scorer in what was a rather turgid affair, played in persistent but light rain in London. But the Scots were in control for almost the entirety of the match as England looked out of sorts.
The World Cup runners-up conceded nine penalties inside the opening half an hour and shipped over 27 missed tackles as Scotland took the match by the scruff of the neck.
Despite Scotland’s domination, they only led 8-6 at the break after losing mercurial fly-half Finn Russell to a yellow card following an apparent trip.
A historic win at Twickenham! 🏆
The first time since 1983 😃#AsOne pic.twitter.com/qN8Gf1MQcQ
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 6, 2021
England got close to the try line but indiscipline again got the better of them and Scotland grew in confidence as they emerged the other side of Russell’s sin-binning with their lead maintained.
From then on, it was a case of maintaining the advantage and not letting England get any momentum, which they did.
For their part, England looked a far different side to the one which won the 6 Nations and Autumn Nations Cup and incidentally, more like the side which slumped to defeat away from home in the opening round of the 2020 tournament against France.
Scotland, after 38 years of waiting, finally buried the hatchett and secured a well-deserved first win at Twickenham since 1983. Put into perspective, none of the current Scotland squad were born at the this time, meaning the Scots will take the Calcutta Cup back to Edinburgh with history having been made.
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