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Good afternoon! I'm going to go out on a limb here, and probably against general expectation, but I think this afternoon's game between Scotland and England could be quite an entertaining one.
For both sides this afternoon is more about what they can avoid than what they can gain. Scotland are looking to avoid the wooden spoon, whereas England are merely looking for a good enough performance to avoid continuing criticism. Scotland will need to come out hard at the English and England will hopefully have a little bit more success in trying to find a more creative game against this Scottish side. That's the optimistic view, anyway. Of course, even without the pressure of this year's results, Scotland and England games always have a special edge- especially when they take place at Murrayfield. As an intriguing sub-plot, Andy Robinson is leading a side against England for the first time and will have a point to prove after his fairly disastrous spell managing the England team.
Send us your thoughts of the game or any rugby topic that's on your mind. You can get in touch via facebook and Twitter. Join me, Jamie Allaway, for kick-off at 5:00pm. In the meantime, have a read of Scrum.com editor Graham Jenkins' preview.
16:55 The Scots are keeping the English waiting on the field for a little while, as a lone piper sounds. Seems par for the course when the English come to Murrayfield. Dan Parks leads them out; it's his 50th cap. Amazing how quickly he seems to have got there.
The anthems are done and before the game we have a fly-by from a RAF Nimrod. Looking up at it, you see how clear and blue the sky is; lovely rugby weather.
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| 1 |
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45 seconds in and we've had 6 long kicks downfield. Obviously both sides are just trying to get some early position but let's hope this doesn't continue, otherwise my prediction is looking a little silly. Cueto finishes matters in England's favour, finding touch in space around the Scottish 22.
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| 3 |
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Monye knocks on, trying to collect a pass behind him, which spoils an otherwise promising England move. We have our first scrum, which could be a chance for Scotland's impressive front row to stamp their mark on the game.
BIt of a phoney war, though, as England concede a free kick for not pausing.
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| 5 |
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Still cautious stuff with the boot being the main outlet for the ball. England attempt to get a maul going but never really find any momentum.
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| 6 |
3 - 0 |
England concede the first penalty, Cole not releasing in the tackle before trying to retrieve the ball. Parks has a chance, fairly straight in front of the post 40 metres out.
He makes no mistake and Scotland have the lead, which the crowd are unsurprsingly pleased about.
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| 8 |
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Scotland's forwards are showing the backs the way with some running rugby. Hamilton draws in several England backs with a lumbering charge. Parks wastes the opportunity, though, kicking away the ball aimlessly. However, from the returning kick, Bettie crashes forward and his fellow back-rowers all have a go.
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| 9 |
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Again the good work is wasted as, when England concede the penalty, Parks fails to find a touch which would have set up a great attacking position.
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| 11 |
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England are showing the ambition I'd hoped for. Moving the ball swiftly to the left, Monye is just hauled down by Lamont. Deacon is released on the charge in the next phase before, finally, Wilkinson tried a big long pass which is way over Hartley's head and straight into touch. Again good intention without, maybe, the required precision.
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| 13 |
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Trying to take the ball quickly from a free kick, Easter runs the ball into the centre of the field in the Scotland 22. Scotland manage to concede 2 penalties in one go: first, failing to release in the tackle and then Hamilton goes in off his feet. Wilkinson has the simplest of chances straight in front of the post.
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| 14 |
3 - 3 |
There is some pretty heavy booing, but that isn't going to put Wilkinson off and he brings England level.
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| 16 |
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Parks hits his touch this time and SCotland have a good attacking position. THey use it well, going left, Morrison particularly making ground. Parks attempts the crossfield kick back to the lefthand side, and although Evans collects it, he is himself collected in the tackle.
Interesting! Scotland have the penalty for a tackler not rolling away, btu they spurn the option of a kick at goal and kick for touch.
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| 17 |
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Really good pressure here from the Scots. They win a free kick at the lineout, take it quickly and drive it back. Again England have to infringe to prevent the Scots opening them up. This time they decide to take the points and Parks lines up the kick.
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| 18 |
6 - 3 |
He slots it over and Scotland retake the lead. Both sides are probably happy with that, as Scotland come away with points, but England were under some severe pressure there and could easily have conceded a try.
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| 20 |
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Scotland having most of the possession, a lot of it in England's half. They work several phases and almost work an opening as Southwell slips Armitage's tackle. The cover is good, though. From the next phase Parks tries a cross-field kick, but Monye does well to collect and mark before he can be bundled into touch.
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| 22 |
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More good pressure from Scotland, but thus far the England tackling is good and eventually Parks has an ambitious drop-goal attempt, with relatively comic consequences.
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| 24 |
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A scruffy lineout from England and Scotland turnover the ruck. That's really sloppy ball protection from England; they've barely had any possession for the last 10 minutes, you can't afford to throw it away like that. A Scotland move ends with the final pass from Southwell going into touch.
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| 25 |
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Feeling that this game is strangely flat at the moment. Scotland with good pressure but you don't feel that they are likely to convert it into points at any time and the crowd, surprisingly, are not getting behind them. England are hardly registering on the game at the moment.
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| 26 |
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They have a chance to register now, winning a penalty and setting up a lineout on the Scotland 22. However, the short move goes awry as Hartley's throw is not straight and they still fail to make an impression.
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| 28 |
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That's what the crowd like: Monye tries to run the ball back and is roundly dumped for the biggest cheer of the day. The noise ebbs pretty quickly as England retain the ball and have another go.
Care takes a quick penalty from a kickable position. The attack is admirable but not effective. Armitage overruns and fails to collect Wilkinson's pass. Given the way it's going you suspect Borthwick would have wanted the points from that penalty.
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| 29 |
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A penalty from the scrum goes England's way as Murray fails to bind properly. It all erupts in a bit of argy-bargy with the front-rows. Hartley is the only one to throw a punch, but despite the referee seeing it, the original penalty stands. He was probably lucky not to connect.
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| 30 |
6 - 6 |
A moderately difficult kick but Wilkinson has no problems. The score is 6 all and, incidentally, Wilkinson becomes the leading 6 Nations points scorer overtaking O'Gara for the moment.
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| 32 |
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Scotland have worked getting on for 10 phases by now, progress forward is slow, though, other than a good half-break from Morrison again.
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| 33 |
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More phases follow but no further forward momentum, so Park resorts to the drop-kick. It doesn't seem to be his strength today, as again it gets nowhere near. Armitage's clearance drives Scotland right back into their half.
When 2 sides like these cannot make any ground in the attack, yet a kick like that can gain 50 yards, it's always likely to return to a kicking game.
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| 35 |
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More Scottish possession and more pressure as this attack gains ground in several phases. Beattie again carries the ball forward well and Southwell is putting in a lot of work. Evans is almost released out wide but is stopped on the 22. Scotland really have dominated attacking possession and would be hoping to go into halftime with a lead to show for it.
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| 38 |
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Since I last posted nothing happened other than numerous reset scrums. It's been almost 3 minutes of resets, collapses and conversations.
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| 39 |
9 - 6 |
Eventually we get a decent scrum and Scotland start running their phases again, waiting for the drop goal attempt. A horrible scuff, but from right in front of the posts and not too far out it wobbles and skims over. Third time lucky for Parks and Scotland have the lead.
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| 40 |
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We have a few seconds for an English attack but when Armitage chips ahead Southwell collects and boots into touch to finish the half.
The game is close and definitely competitive. Scotland have had far the better of the possession and looked more convincing but have not really come away with the points. England have not really managed to impose at all so will be happy to only be 3 behind. John Inverdale reckons it's a fascinating, old-fashioned game. I'm not so convinced. Some of the tackling has been good but the lack of edge or precision from both sides has given us few thrilling moments.
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Austin Healy believes "This is a real test of Martin Johnson's leadership. He's always said to be loyal but It's time for substitutions". Couldn't agree more, Austin. My only question is, who. Who will make a fundamental difference to the way England play? Flood at fly-half, Foden at full-back or Moody to secure quicker ball and mess up the Scots' possession. Scotland won't be making any substitutions just yet, only hoping to being a bit more penetration to their attacking play.
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| 40 |
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No changes to either side, so more of the same.
Although England may be the side to get points on the board early, as Hamilton sticks a boot through the ruck and is penalised. Wilkinson has a straight 40 metre kick.
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| 41 |
9 - 9 |
Over it goes.
It's not just Murrayfield, because it happens at Twickenham and others too, but there's plenty of booing which really didn't happen so long ago, even in games as fiery as Calcutta Cups.
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| 42 |
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Armitage finds himself in some space at pace on the wing, but chips ahead as he finds himself closed down. The kick is too full again and Scotland secure the 22.
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| 43 |
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Scotland are running hard and England are still missing tackles with Evans taking the ball up into the 22. Some poor control at the ruck, though, allows Easter to hack the ball through and turn it over.
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| 44 |
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We've got a bit of a break here as Wilkinson receives treatment after going down very heavily on his head. Looks like we will have a substitution after all, as Flood comes on.
There is some cheering as Wilkinson is called off, which gets Brian Moore's dander up, but it was quickly proved to be a few idiots as the majority of the crowd give Wilkinson warm applause as he walks groggily off.
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| 46 |
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Some poor rugby from both sides as England again allow themselves to be turned over but Cusiter kicks straight into touch.
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| 47 |
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We have a successful scrum! Care breaks and chips, but Southwell does well to deal with it.
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| 48 |
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It's England's turn to exert a bit of pressure with a couple of phases in Scotland's 22. Worsley does some of the damage and Cole takes the ball up. That follows an England loop move that found Cueto a bit of space to actually run the ball. Eventually England win a penalty as a Scottish player knocks the ball forward to be collected by a team-mate. Must admit, I'm not so sure about that one.
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| 49 |
9 - 12 |
Flood carries on where Wilkinson left off and England have the lead for the first time.
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| 50 |
12 - 12 |
Haskell is penalised for not releasing the tackler before attempting to wrest the ball from him. Sloppy again, as he never made any effort to release and get up.
Parks does the honours from out on the right hand side.
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| 52 |
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A good move from a Scottish lineout. The ball goes over the top and Brown collects at the back. He releases Morrison and Scotland are driving well up the midfield. They have the advantage as Payne will not roll away. Parks wants to take it and have another go at the post.
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| 54 |
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Off the post Parks hits the post and it bounces back in field. There are no Scottish chasers, which is poor, as England have plenty of time to clear it, however Care trumps the sloppiness by slicing it into touch so Scotland retain their possession.
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| 55 |
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Cusiter is almost through. He takes a ball from the base of the ruck and goes himself. He is just scragged but able to offload to Jacobsen, who drives on to within 5 metres of the line. The ball is spread wide and Kellock has only Monye to beat. Monye is brave and goes in hard and we have a sickening head-to-head collision. Play is quickly stopped as both men appear to be out cold and we have quite a lengthy delay as the medical staff check they are both OK.
Neither of these players are going to take any further part in this game. Kellock is up and able to walk from the pitch, albeit with a supporting arm. Monye is still down and looks like he is going to need the stretcher. The neck brace is on and we can see him talking but it doesn't look good.
Monye is off and looks to be moving his arms and hopefully is OK. Ben Youngs, the Leicester scrum-half, is the substitute, England's only remaining back line sub, and somebody is going to have to play out of position.
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| 56 |
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A good scrum from England, a good pick-up and drive from Easter and a massive clearance from Flood takes the lineout to the halfway line.
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| 57 |
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A good bit of work by Dylan Hartley turns the ball over for England. He gets his hands on the ball in the ruck, but as the first man there under the new rules, is allowed to do that and Scotland are penalised for not releasing. Flood has a long-shot at goal, which he pushes just wide to make it one miss a piece.
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| 59 |
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A bit better from England as we see them work several phases. Care is releasing the ball quicker, Foden has added a little bit of impetus and we finally see Flutey take the ball on and make a gain. Eventually, under a bit of pressure, Scotland don't roll away and give England a penalty wide on the left.
I presume it is because of the location of this kick, Borthwick elects to kick for the corner and England have a lineout.
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| 61 |
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The lineout is messy but it is Scotland conceding the free kick for closing the gaps. England choose the scrum.
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| 62 |
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Another couple of minutes of messy scrummaging- it could almost make you turn over to league.
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| 63 |
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Eventually the scrum is good but the attack from the base is held up. We have several phases of pick and drive. There is a bit of excitement when England- having the advantage- spin a wide pass, which is almost intercepted. The crowd are not happy when he is pulled back, but the advantage was there and Flood has a relatively easy chance.
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| 64 |
12 - 15 |
It's a straightforward chance and a straightforward conversion.
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| 65 |
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It's tit for tat as England concede another penalty for not releasing in the tackle. The ref thinks about the card, his hand goes to the pocket, but thinks better of it- probably because his last warning was 15 minutes ago and the offender was a new substitue, and PArks has a chance to even up.
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| 66 |
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Off the posts again! Parks hits the post but this time the follow up is good and Scotland run onto the bouncing ball. They are held up 5 metres from the line and try to batter over. They win the penalty advantage and Parks tries a cheeky chip over the top. It is collected by Care but we go back for the penalty.
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| 68 |
15 - 15 |
Parks gets his 3 points after all, this one many times easier and we are back to level pegging.
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| 69 |
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It's all going on here. Foden puts a crunching hit in on Kellock, who I thought had left the field, and now he is down receiving treatment again. Scotland get the ball back though and have a great attack up the middle. A great chip ahead is collected by Care, but Scotland win the ball back and launch another attack. England are really under pressure and the volume has really risen. We have just under 10 minutes left, now and we could be getting a bit more excitement.
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| 71 |
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Superb stuff from Kellock, he is barely onto his feet as an England kick comes straight to him. He collects and passes as he is putting his gumshield back in.
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| 72 |
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England have some ball and a chance to attack but when a couple of phases only lose ground, Flood puts in the big kick which Daniellli takes and marks.
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| 73 |
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A little more intent from England this time as they run the clearance back. Foden certainly injecting some pace whenever he has the ball, but eventually when he runs onto a Cueto pass, he is running out of room and is harried into touch on the Scotland 22.
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| 75 |
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Terrible mistake from England, who were looking to have made some good ground. COle and Payne get confused over who is offloading to who and hand the ball back to Scotland. With the England line set up for attack they are stretched. Thompson, on for Hartley, makes the covering tackle.
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| 76 |
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Scotland mistake this time, and this one could be costly. Lawson, the substitute hooker, offloads in a tackle but then grabs at an English tackler from the ground, which is spotted by the referee and England have the penalty. It's miles out but Flood is going to have a go.
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| 77 |
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It looks good most of the way but as it is dying over the last few metres just clips off the post.
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| 78 |
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Neither side looks like they want to claim this game. Brian Moore thinks it will be settled by a mistake, but both sides have made a couple in the last fe minutes and neither has been able to capitalise. Now England fail to protect their ball at the ruck adn Danielli barges through then collects the bouncing ball. For once they don't kick when they should have done, as England were all out of position, and Flood gets back to make the tackle.
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| 79 |
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1 minute to go but unlikely that much will happen as we have a scrum which, on today's performance, will take the remaining time.
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| 80 |
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Drop goal- charged down! It's well into the red time by a couple of minutes. England have been patiently working the ball up the middle of the pitch through the forwards, it's obvious what they want to do and eventually they set up a kick for Flood. He looks to have connected OK but the Scottish defence is ready and it is charged down. Morrison collects the rebound and, deciding that enough is enough, puts it out into touch. We have out first Calcutta Cup draw since 1989.
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| 80+1 |
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Man of the Match Beattie says "it is slightly disappointing not to win the game, it was a bit scrappy". Right on both counts. Scotland had the lion's share of possession, territory and attacking play but could not manufacture the win.
It was not a classic and short on really entertaining rugby. it was interesting and was competitive. However both sides failed to avoid the outcomes they didn't want. Scotland will not have shaken the criticism that they are unable to finish off games and get over the line. England will have done nothing to dismiss the idea that they are short on direction and short on effective running.
Jeremy Guscott reckons that Foden showed them the way when he came on: "He was the energy and he was the spark". It certainly throws into relief the staid nature of the England team and even Johnson might not be able to resist the need to make changes now. Whether France next week is the place to try it is a debate in itself.
Scotland go to Dublin next week and, despite a couple of good performances, will have to find a new level of killer instinct to stand a chance of avoiding the wooden spoon.
Join us next week for those games, although tomorrow we have the little matter of France's continued quest for the grand slam as they host Italy. We'll be here for all of those games, but for now thanks from me, Jamie Allaway, for following this game.
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