Stuart Lancaster’s England opened their Six Nations with a win at Murrayfield. Scotland who had the bulk of possession and territory continued their abysmal record of being unable to convert all this possession into tries and paid the price.
In an error strewen first half Scotland shaded it 6-3 with two Dan Parks penalties to one from Owen Farrell. In the second half Scotland had the worst of starts as they failed to clear their lines and Charlie Hodgson charged down Dan Parks clearance and followed up to score putting England into the lead 6-10. Scotland pressed on the English line but breaks were not converted into points and with England not conceding their usual clutch of penalties the game slipped away. It was England who had a late chance for Strettle to go over but man of the match David Denton pulled him down and the chance went by. Owen Farrell posted a late penalty to ensure that England took the Calcutta Cup back south of the border with the final score of:
Scotland 6-13 England
Scorers
Scotland:
Pens: Parks 2
England:
Try: Hodgson
Con: Farrell
Pens: Farrell 2
Teams
Scotland: R Lamont; Jones, De Luca, S Lamont, Evans; Parks, Cusiter, Jacobsen, Ford, Murray, Gray, Hamilton, Strokosch, Rennie, Denton.
Replacements: Laidlaw for Parks (57), Blair for Cusiter (59), Cross for Jacobsen (75), S. Lawson for Ford (75), Kellock for Hamilton (59), Barclay for Strokosch (59).
Not Used: Morrison.
England: Foden; Ashton, Barritt, Farrell, Strettle; Hodgson, Youngs; Corbisiero, Hartley, Cole, Botha, Palmer, Croft, Robshaw, Dowson.
Replacements: Brown for Barritt (72), Turner-Hall for Hodgson (63), Dickson for Youngs (63), Stevens for Corbisiero (63), Parling for Palmer (59), Morgan for Dowson (68).
Not Used: Webber.
Att: 67,144
Referee: George Clancy (IRFU).