Six Nations - Twickenham, 21 March 2009, 15:30 local, 15:30 GMT
England (15) 26 - 12 (3) Scotland (FT)

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Summary

Time Score  
 

3.15pm Good afternoon, I'm Jamie Allaway and I will be keeping you up to date with the events from Twickenham this afternoon as England host Scotland. The main event comes from Cardiff later, as Wales face Ireland in the game that decides the championship, but the Calcutta Cup needs no other reason than pride to matter.

England are unchanged after last week and so is the weather, which is glorious, so they will be looking to replicate that scintillating first half against the French.

Scotland bring in Scott Gray at openside to try an deprive the English of the quick ball they won last week. They have a massive pack and the Evans brothers have added much needed pace to their back line- can they get a first win over ther Auld enemy since 1983?

1

Godman's kicking off for Scotland.

And England take it up through rolling mauls before Ellis puts in the box kick.

2

No decisive breaks yet but both sides have shown willingness to run the ball and offload. England probably have more of it so far, putting together several phases, before they concede a penalty.

4

Cueto shoves Max Evans aside but is bundled into touch trying to race around the outside. Good intent, though.

6

Some more messy scrummaging here and it has to be reset three times on England's put in, before finally the penalty goes the way of the Scots. Scrums haven't been clean in any of England's games so far.

8 0 - 3

From the resulting lineout England concede a kickable penalty as Ellis fails to roll away from the tackle. Patterson steps up and slots it over, as you'd expect, the man is a metronome, will he ever miss? England will hope that those few penalties don't indicate a return to indiscipline.

9

English centres working well as Tindall barges the ball deep into Scottish territory and then Flutey steps the tackle to make it into the 22. Scotland manage to turn over and clear, though.

11

Spectacular tackle England continue to work the phases and look threatening but allow the ball to be turned over, Evans pounces on it and streaks away. It looks like nobody has a chance to catch him, but Monye screams across the pitch to tackle him inches short. Exceptional pace

12

Exciting stuff, this, as England clear, then regain, almost working Armitage free on the left.

14

A few stoppages for treatment break the game up. England have won two free kicks at scrums now and have now chosen to take another scrum. Vickery is off but England obviously feel that they have something over the Scotland pack.

15

Clock stopped at the moment for a nasty looking injury to Ellis. He clashed his head on Danielli's hip as he made a tackle and immediately falls motionless. Nothing nasty in the clash, but not very nice to see, as we have the full medical staff on.

Care is on now, as it is obvious that Ellis will be taking no further part. It's been 5 minutes now and this is quite worrying.

A little ripple of applause suggests that some movement has been seen and a much large one follows as he is stretchered from the field, fully braced-up. Everybody will be hoping that it is precautionary and not as serious as it looks.

17

England consistently make the game line through Sheridan and Easter on the charge, but again, concede the penalty and allow Scotland to gain territory and possession. This penalty count will worry England.

19

Both sides have a bit of an attack followed by a chip-and-chase when the defence proves solid, until Godman gets a horrible pass at his toes from Blair, and knocks on to give England a good attacking scrum.

22 5 - 3

TRY Sustained period of English pressure as they go through a number of phases. They use most pf the forwards and backs in that passage of play and keep taking the ball forward, without ever finding the break or offload to get behind the defence. Eventually the pressure tells, though, as a simple move along the line releases Monye, who gets outside a stretched Scottish defence.

Flood misses the kick, but that shows England away. If they can keep possession and attack the Scottish line like that, they will start getting the points for their superior amount of possession.

25

Crashing run from Tindall put Scotland on the back foot and England are driving them back again. Croft is the last man on the wing but cannot resist being bundled out by three men.

26

Scotland clear their lines, just. A risky throw over the lineout just about comes off, but they will be feeling the pressure here.

28

12 phases of English possession this time, working from right to left and back again. They're forcing Scotland to defend deep in their territory but never quite finding the openings and the mismatches, as they did against France. Worsley is eventually bundled into touch by three men.

29 10 - 3

The Scots undermine all thier good defence with a loose throw at the lineout. England regain possession and drive it up. From the ruck, Flutey darts for the line and gets the ball over the line at arm's reach. The decision is sent upstairs, as it didn't look entirely clean.

TRY The try is given and Flood converts a tricky kick. That could have gone either way, but is good reward for England's patient platform building.

30 12 - 3

Flood - conversion

31

Monye tries an up-and-under and narrowly misses the follow up tackle on Blair. Blair spins and suddenly finds himself out in the open, charges forward until Armitage manages to intercept him. Scotland then kick away possession with an overlong chip into the 22.

33

We have a bit of the aerial stuff, before Blair manages to place a very good kick that skips into touch in the English 22. Not to be outdone, Monye takes the quick throw in and finds touch on the Scottish 10 metre line.

34

Scotland shoot themselves in the foot again as Godman's kick is charged down and England rush through again, Sheridan taking the ball on. Scotland scramble a desperate defence as England drive through the line with Easter and finally White. White's effort is over the line but looks to have been held up, and we go upstairs.

Great work by Patterson to throw himself under the combined weight of White and Sheridan: Scrum 5 to England.

36

Yet again the scrum has to be reset a number of times. On the third go, England look to put the big drive on but the Scotland front row pops up, and here we go again.

Free kick to Scotland. Not sure what's going on here. England looked to have the advantage there, but the referree is saying England went early.

39

England knock on, showing the danger of props in midfield, but Croft wins theball well on the floor and releases the backs. Armitage kicks behind and once again Scotland are scrambling.

40

England are working their phases again despite having a penalty advantage for offside. Eventually Monye knocks on and we go back, Flood getting the chance to add 3 points, which he duly does, to give England a healthy 12 point lead at the break.

England haven't been so fluent today, but they have had the vast majority of possession and built attacking positions in Scottish territory, which is reflected in the scoreline.

Scotland have had less quality ball to work with and have been thwarted when they have had opportunities. They will need to take advantage of absolutely everything to get back into this game.

40+1 15 - 3

Flood - penalty goal

40

Scotland clear the restart with an up-and-under, Armitage takes well, but is taken down in the air. That was a marginal call, as it could be argued that Danielli was also going for the ball.

41 18 - 3

The kick is long but quite central and Flood converts. Great start for the English and worrying for the Scots, they need to get back into this quickly.

42

It gets worse for them as they allow the ball to be turned over and England charge forward with Tindall and Easter. Eventually Easter holds onto the ball on the ground and Scotland are reprieved.

Injury Update We hear that Ellis has a nasty gash and a bit of a knock to the head but is OK and nothing more serious. Good news that.

44

Scotland looking a bit more likely a the start of this half, despite the early penalty. They manage to run a couple of phases at the English in their half. Easter concedes a penalty for a high tackle, not malicious. It's that man Paterson.

45 18 - 6

What did you expect?

46

Better still from the Scots as some good running leads to Danielli beating Monye. Not good enough, though, as Hamilton knocks on.

48

Jason White goes on a bit of a charge and nobody seems to be able to get hold of him, but again, the pass goes astray and the ball is turned over. Flood puts some serious distance on the ball and finds touch in the Scottish half. Scotland will need to be more clinical as, with this lead, England can afford just to drive them back.

49

Couple of penalties go against England, Borthwick pulling the man down in the lineout and Shaw going off his feet. England will want to watch the penalty count as it is their most likely way to throw this game away.

50 18 - 9

The penalty is on the halfway line, out of Paterson's way, so Godman takes responsibility. He puts it away and Scotland are staying in touch.

52

England look to snub out this Scottish revival, getting into the Scottish 22. Several phases later, Flood's chip goes astray. Then the Scottish clearance is charged down. Scrappy, this. England fail to secure the ball at the base of the ruck and Scotland clear.

55

Getting frantic, this game. England go flying into the 22 again, Croft is bundled out, and Scotland take a long, quick lineout over a melee of players to release Danielli on the farside. He is eventually stopped by Tait, deep in the English half, and back we go again. The game is breaking up and openings are appearing everywhere.

56

We're back in the Scotland 22 as England run the ball up again. Tindall, who has been at his physical and direct best, loses the ball in contact this time. The clearance is still in Scotland territory and the wrong part of the pitch for them.

58

Scrappy play again, very open but too many forwards playing loose and not enough secure ball. However, Flutey injects a bit of class, scooping up the ball, beating his man and chipping into space. Paterson gets across just in time.

60

Some more running rugby from England, although this time, the less likely source is Lee Mears, who takes the ball through the middle before he is taken high by Godman. Somehow Flood misses the utterly straightforward kick in front of the posts. This half is lacking the quality and control that we hoped for.

62

England concede a penalty in a near identical positon to the last one Godman took. He steps up again and drills this one straight, and it just falls short.

63

Horrible kick from Armitage, he thinks he sees some space but puts the ball several metres into touch.

65

Martin Johnson won't be a happy bunny as England have completely lost their shape. Scotland aren't exactly playing error-free rugby either, but they have disrupted the pattern of the game and are having a far greater share of the attacking ball. An attack ends as Flutey tackles Danielli as he receives the ball and England have a defensive scrum.

66 18 - 12

From the scrum England take the ball up but Easter holds on in the tackle, right in front of the posts. Very little chance of Paterson missing this, and he doesn't. Scotland are within a converted try now and the momentum is with them.

67

.

68

Danielli tackles Armitage taking an up-and-under, but doesn't roll away. England decide not to go for the kick, which would have re-extended their lead, and put the ball into touch. Strange decision. You'd have thought they would want to regain control and settle this down

70

The lineout is duly secured and the ball is taken up by the forward runners for several phases before being released to the backs. There must have been 15 phases then before a wild pass behind the runner means England have to start again 30 yards further back.

71

Again England use the big men to take the ball up. They have reestablished some dominance here, but if they don't convert it into some points, that decision at the penalty may be questioned.

72 21 - 12

They get the 3 points anyway as they win the penalty advantage and Care, seeing little on, slots a good drop goal from a distance.

74

We have a bit more of the aerial stuff before Danielli runs the ball and wins the penalty, when England players go off their feet after he is tackled. However, the quickly taken penalty only leads to a knock on and Scotland hand possession back to England.

75

Man of the Match- Ricky Flutey A fair decision I think, England have been the superior team without managing to develop dominance into points. But where they have had attacking quality, Flutey has invariably been involved.

76

We have uncontested scrums and England have only 14, not down to indiscipline this time, but due to losing White, himself a substitute for Vickery. Goode drills a low kick into touch as England try to play this out where they have played most of the game- in Scottish territory.

77 26 - 12

TRY Simplest of tries. From an uncontested scrum the ball is spread wide, a mispass going to Tindall. Armitage comes into the line to create the extra man and release Tait, who goes over unopposed. That will make England feel slightly better but is somewhat unsatisfying with uncontested scrums and a general feeling that the game has been decided already.

78

Goode misses a difficult kick from the touchline, unfortunately we have another serious looking injury as Southwell is down and, it appears, out. He got his head in an awkward position in the tackle, very much as Ellis did.

We have another substantial break before Southwell is stretchered off. Again we hope he is all well, as Ellis is, who has joined his teammates on the sidelines.

79

Tait makes a very nice break and half turns the Scottish defence, but, as is fitting for this scrappy second half, knocks on in the tackle.

80

Paterson gets behind the English defence with a chip-and-chase, but Tindall scrambles back and Goode kicks straight into touch to bring an end to proceedings.

It has been a long game, due to those injuries, so I'll be brief and suggest you get over to Scrum.com's coverage of Wales v. Ireland, which is due to kick off shortly.

England had periods of utter dominance and the stats show that they should have gained a greater advantage than they did. For much of the second half they were drawn into a scrappier game and failed to impose themselves. However Scotland will not be overly pleased as they could not hang onto the ball long enough to make a real impact on the game and only had a couple of dangerous opportunities, which they failed to make the most of. Haddon will be a worried man going into his review in April.

Thanks for joining me, Jamie Allaway, and do enjoy the final game of this year's 6 Nations between Wales and Ireland.

Timeline

Time England  Score  Scotland
0 start of first half start of first half
8 0 - 3 Paterson - penalty goal
13 White - sub on
Vickery - sub off
16 Care - sub on
Ellis - sub off
22 Monye - try 5 - 3
29 Flutey - try 10 - 3
30 Flood - conversion 12 - 3
40+1 Flood - penalty goal
end of first half
15 - 3 end of first half
Brown - sub on
Taylor - sub off
40 start of second half start of second half
41 Flood - penalty goal 18 - 3
43 TH Evans - sub off
de Luca - sub on
45 18 - 6 Paterson - penalty goal
46 Monye - sub off
Tait - sub on
50 18 - 9 Godman - penalty goal
56 Ford - sub off
White - sub off
Hines - sub on
Hall - sub on
57 Kennedy - sub on
Shaw - sub off
66 18 - 12 Paterson - penalty goal
67 Cusiter - sub on
Blair - sub off
72 Care - drop goal 21 - 12
73 Mears - sub off
Hartley - sub on
Croft - sub off
Haskell - sub on
Goode - sub on
Flood - sub off
75 Dickinson - sub off
Southwell - sub on
Danielli - sub off
Low - sub on
77 Tait - try 26 - 12
80 end of second half
end of half
end of second half
end of half
0
80

Notes

 
Result England won by a margin of 14 points
Six Nations points England 2, Scotland 0
 
Ground name Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance 80688
 
Referee M Jonker (South Africa)
 
England Test debuts none
Scotland Test debuts none

Teams

England Scotland
Tries Monye (22), Flutey (29), Tait (77) Tries none
Cons Flood (30) Cons none
Pens Flood (40, 41) Pens Paterson (8, 45, 66), Godman (50)
Drops Care (72) Drops none

Match stats

England   Scotland
3 Tries 0
1 from 3 Conversion goals 0 from 0
2 from 3 Penalty goals 4 from 5
50.0% Kick at goal success 80.0%
1 (1 missed) Dropped goals 0
Kick/pass/run
29 Kicks from hand 28
201 Passes 82
144 Runs 72
629 Metres run with ball 479
Attacking
7 Clean breaks 5
11 Defenders beaten 10
12 Offloads 7
111 from 118 (94.1%) Rucks won 59 from 64 (92.2%)
3 from 3 (100.0%) Mauls won 0 from 1 (0.0%)
15 Turnovers conceded 18
Defensive
95/10 Tackles made/missed 182/12
90.5% Tackling success rate 93.8%
Set pieces
8 won, 2 lost (80.0%) Scrums on own feed 2 won, 1 lost (66.7%)
10 won, 0 lost (100.0%) Lineouts on own throw 13 won, 2 lost (86.7%)
Discipline
13 Penalties conceded 8
0/0 Yellow/red cards 0/0

Eng stats

Pos   T/A Pts K/P/R MR CB DB OL TO Tack LO Pen Y/R
FB Armitage 0/1 0 6/6/11 30 0 0 1 4 3/1 0/0 0 0/0
W Cueto 0/0 0 1/4/15 116 1 1 1 2 4/0 0/0 0 0/0
C Tindall 0/0 0 1/6/12 73 0 0 2 1 6/1 0/0 1 0/0
C Flutey 1/0 5 2/14/5 48 3 4 0 0 7/0 0/0 0 0/0
W Monye 1/0 5 3/3/4 31 1 0 0 1 4/2 1/0 0 0/0
FH Flood 0/1 8 7/40/11 31 0 2 4 0 3/2 0/0 0 0/0
SH Ellis 0/0 0 3/16/1 4 0 0 1 0 4/0 0/0 1 0/0
P Sheridan 0/0 0 0/0/10 26 0 0 0 0 3/0 0/0 2 0/0
H Mears 0/0 0 0/7/11 45 1 1 1 0 6/0 0/0 0 0/0
P Vickery 0/0 0 0/0/0 0 0 0 0 0 1/0 0/0 0 0/0
L Borthwick 0/0 0 0/2/5 11 0 0 1 0 5/1 2/0 1 0/0
L Shaw 0/0 0 0/1/5 7 0 0 0 1 5/0 0/0 1 0/0
F Croft 0/0 0 0/3/5 21 0 0 1 2 7/0 6/0 0 0/0
F Worsley 0/0 0 0/2/14 20 0 1 2 1 11/1 0/1 1 0/0
N8 Easter 0/0 0 0/8/24 84 0 1 0 0 7/1 0/0 4 0/0
(H) Hartley 0/0 0 0/0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 0/0 1 0/0
(P) White 0/0 0 0/0/3 8 0 0 0 1 3/0 0/0 0 0/0
(L) Kennedy 0/0 0 0/0/2 1 0 0 0 0 1/0 1/0 0 0/0
(F) Haskell 0/0 0 0/1/1 5 0 1 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 0/0
(SH) Care 0/1 3 3/78/2 24 0 0 0 1 1/0 0/0 0 0/0
(FH) Goode 0/0 0 3/3/0 0 0 0 0 0 0/1 0/0 0 0/0
(W) Tait 1/0 5 0/1/3 44 1 0 0 1 1/0 0/0 0 0/0
Key T/A Tries / Try Assists Pts Points scored
K/P/R Kick / Pass / Run MR Metres Run with ball
CB Clean Breaks DB Defenders Beaten OL OffLoads TO TurnOvers
Tack Tackles made / missed LO LineOuts won on throw / stolen on opp throw
Pen Penalties conceded Y/R Yellow / Red cards

Scot stats

Pos   T/A Pts K/P/R MR CB DB OL TO Tack LO Pen Y/R
FB Paterson 0/0 9 5/3/8 77 1 0 1 1 7/1 0/0 0 0/0
W Danielli 0/0 0 1/1/6 79 1 1 2 2 5/0 0/0 2 0/0
C MB Evans 0/0 0 0/0/4 23 0 1 0 2 13/1 0/0 0 0/0
C Morrison 0/0 0 0/1/5 0 0 1 2 1 12/1 1/0 0 0/0
W TH Evans 0/0 0 1/1/3 63 1 3 1 1 7/1 1/0 0 0/0
FH Godman 0/0 3 7/20/3 16 0 0 0 3 7/0 0/0 1 0/0
SH Blair 0/0 0 14/40/5 78 1 3 1 2 4/0 0/0 0 0/0
P Dickinson 0/0 0 0/0/4 5 0 0 0 0 12/0 1/0 0 0/0
H Ford 0/0 0 0/2/2 4 0 0 0 0 7/0 1/0 0 0/0
P Murray 0/0 0 0/1/2 0 0 0 0 0 12/1 1/0 0 0/0
L White 0/0 0 0/1/3 37 1 1 2 1 11/1 1/0 1 0/0
L Hamilton 0/0 0 0/0/4 8 0 0 0 1 9/0 2/0 0 0/0
F Strokosch 0/0 0 0/1/5 14 0 0 0 0 19/1 0/0 0 0/0
F Gray 0/0 0 0/1/8 21 0 0 0 1 15/3 1/0 1 0/0
N8 Taylor 0/0 0 0/0/3 8 0 0 0 2 11/1 1/0 0 0/0
(H) Hall 0/0 0 0/0/1 2 0 0 0 0 4/1 0/0 0 0/0
(P) Low 0/0 0 0/0/1 7 0 0 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 0/0
(L) Hines 0/0 0 0/2/1 2 0 0 0 0 1/0 0/0 0 0/0
(N8) Brown 0/0 0 0/1/2 30 0 0 0 0 7/0 2/0 0 0/0
(SH) Cusiter 0/0 0 0/1/0 0 0 0 0 0 1/0 0/0 0 0/0
(W) de Luca 0/0 0 0/1/2 5 0 0 1 1 4/0 0/0 0 0/0
(W) Southwell 0/0 0 0/0/0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 0/0 0 0/0
Key T/A Tries / Try Assists Pts Points scored
K/P/R Kick / Pass / Run MR Metres Run with ball
CB Clean Breaks DB Defenders Beaten OL OffLoads TO TurnOvers
Tack Tackles made / missed LO LineOuts won on throw / stolen on opp throw
Pen Penalties conceded Y/R Yellow / Red cards

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