When the going was good for Scotland, they were clever and relentless in getting to the edges and ripping England to shreds, the only team with any interest in playing rugby.
England kicked and tackled. Their fans sighed and groaned. Scotland could and should have been a dozen points clear, a buffer that might have seen them through. The rapier was doing a job on the bludgeon in that opening 40 and yet the rapier only led by three at the break.
England’s defence was a car crash in the first half and a thing of ferocity in the second. It was the one part of their game that was world class as the contest wore on. Scrambling, scragging and shunting Scotland back with their power – this was a victory for defence.
When you’ve lost four in a row to Scotland you’ll take the win in whatever form it comes. Ugly, sure. Flawed, no doubt about it. There’s plenty wrong with England’s attack and Steve Borthwick’s ongoing battle to get the best out of his players, but nothing at all wrong with their belligerence and pride.
Everything almost came good in the end for Scotland with that searing break from Stafford McDowall and that finish out wide from Van der Merwe, but where was the damage done?
In their inability to be completely ruthless, in their difficulty dealing with England’s power, in their travails in trying to get Van der Merwe as destructively involved in the second half as he was in the first.
England had no answer to him. They looked terrified when he ran at them, the first defender or two bouncing off him, the third hanging on for dear life in the hope that the cavalry was coming.
Van der Merwe was largely starved of ball in the second half. Scotland tried to go wide, but made poor decisions at times when a pass was on and at other times they were just smashed in the tackle.
Townsend said later that Scotland played better on Saturday than they did in some of the games his team has won against England. That’s a stretch, but you could see his point. The memory of all those opportunities they opened up will haunt him.
Scotland had 59% territory and 58% possession. They scored three tries to England’s one. They carried for 933m compared to England’s 474m. They made nine line breaks to England’s two. They beat 35 defenders to England’s 10.
Stats, eh? None of them mattered. None of them offered comfort. Had England outclassed them they might find it easier to accept, but that wasn’t the case.
The unavoidable sense is that, in part at least, the damage done to Scotland was largely done by their own hand – not punishing England when they had them on the ropes. A very bitter truth on a very rough day.
