Matt Tait: 'See what I can do!'It wasn’t the jackpot but England bagged the oldest prize, The Calcutta Cup, and gave Martin Johnson and his team their first trophy, ending the Six Nations with a 26-12 victory over Scotland.
Not the try-scoring jamboree of last weekend, England gained back-to-back wins for the first time since 2007 with a disjointed performance that promised plenty of zest but often lacked fluency against their gritty Caledonian neighbours.
On the Six Nations final day under-card, international rugby’s oldest rivals slugged it out like two seasoned heavyweights, but as the clocked ticked towards the closing rounds, there was only going to be one winner, especially with both sets of players out on their feet by the end of the contest.
England bossed both territory and possession but found a stubborn Scottish defence difficult to grind down. Despite large periods of pressure, England couldn't find a cutting edge in the second-half with first half injuries to Phil Vickery and Harry Ellis stiffling the red rose’s momentum.
Three more tries, to go with the 13 already scored, championed England as the tournament's top try-scorers and Mike Tindall was quick to heap praise on the team’s new style of play and coach Brian Smith.
“It’s the most pleasing aspect of the tournament but it’s just disappointing that maybe we should’ve been going for a Grand Slam.
“We’ve made a lot of progression during the course of the tournament. Today we were a bit sloppy and perhaps too eager but hopefully everyone can see the way we want to play.”
Riki Flutey has been the heartbeat of England’s ambitious approach and the Man-of-the-Match treated the sell-out Twickenham crowd to another sensational display of quick feet, delicate hands and try-scorers instinct.
Ugo Monye raced into score England’s first after some neat Toby Flood hands before Flutey used all of his strength to carry three Scots over the line en route to his third score of the tournament albeit after television adjudication.
Limited they may have been, but with their coach’s job on the line, Scotland refused to throw in the towel and played, as Johsnon predicted, with a “chip on their shoulder” throughout the tussle.
Some heroic defending from the auld enemy, coupled with England’s
growing tally of penalties (11) and self-imploding errors, ensured
Scotland were in with a shout with ten minutes to go as Phil Godman and
Chris Paterson nudged over long-distance penalties.
Try as they might smashing into England’s midfield, Scotland’s largely ineffective dominance came in short bursts and in fairly ineffective field position. And with Matt Tait's late effort putting the gloss on the scoreboard, Scotland were taught a lesson in execution.
It wasn't rugby at its best but it was a job well done.
Pleasing aspects for Johnson – the growing confidence of Flood, Flutey and Tindall’s greater understanding in the centres, Delon Armitage’s maturity at full-back and Tom Croft’s athletic contributions in the back-row – will be getting back in the winning habit but second place isn’t something he will cheer about too long into next week.