Duhan van der Merwe helps Scotland score historic victory against England

Never mind having gone 38 years without a win at Twickenham, until October Scotland had gone 10 years without a victory outside Murrayfield in the Six Nations, other than in the away banker of Rome. Scotland now have two away wins in succession in the championship, following up a success in Llanelli with an historic triumph in the Calcutta Cup. Both the winning margin and the performance were similar to the defeat of Wales, taking a grip at forward and minimising risk and in doing so highlighted the bluntness of England’s attack.

A key difference was the way the two fly-halves operated. Finn Russell enjoyed more plentiful possession than Owen Farrell but it was his ability to find a route out of heavy traffic, drawing defenders and finding space through kicks or passes, that marked him out.

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Farrell needed more time and it was a surprise Eddie Jones did not bring on George Ford earlier to replace Ollie Lawrence, who had to wait more than an hour for his first pass. England were rusty, with most of their players having made one appearance this year, but as they chased the game the formulaic nature of their game was exposed and, in a sterile environment, they were unable to find inspiration.

They have become used to winning with the handbrake on and were unable to go through the gears when they needed to. Their defence is such that they do not need to score many points to win and for all Scotland’s dominance, they only scored one try. It was all they needed and but for Maro Itoje’s hounding of Ali Price at the breakdown, forcing the scrum-half to rush his kicking and passing, the margin would have been more than the try England did not threaten to create.

Scotland needed to stand up to England physically, which they did, and more. Jonny Gray was everywhere, Hamish Watson forced penalties at the breakdown and Matt Fagerson at No 8 carried powerfully. With Russell and Cameron Redpath quickly developing an understanding in midfield, the visitors played with assurance and maturity. Seldom can a narrow victory have been more convincing.

Scotland took the lead after six minutes when Russell converted their fourth penalty. The champions should have been ahead after Itoje charged down Price’s clearance in Scotland’s 22 and secured possession before being brought down two metres short. Jonny Hill arrived in support but went off his feet.

The fourth penalty followed a driving maul and a tackle by Itoje under his posts that in effect saved four points. England’s indiscipline was the major factor in their slow start: the penalty count was 7-1 against them at the end of the first quarter but Scotland found no cracks in the defensive wall. Russell resorted to an array of chip kicks but England quickly closed down space.

Symptomatic of how England’s timing was a split second off, a reflection of their lack of matches, was a high tackle by Billy Vunipola on Finn Russell after 23 minutes that earned the No 8 a yellow card, but for all their territorial domination, Scotland were not hurting their opponents. Then Matt Fagerson started to make dents in midfield, exploiting Vunipola’s absence, and the pace of attacks increased. Scotland worked space on the left and the fly-half’s chip to the line off the outside of his right boot would have ended in a try for Duhan van der Merwe had not the ball bounced too high for the wing with Anthony Watson nowhere.

A minute later, van der Merwe was celebrating. After May dropped a Russell high kick, England were caught out by Redpath’s long pass and George Turner gave the wing the opportunity to cut inside, shrug off Farrell’s challenge and overpower Mark Wilson, taking the flanker over the line with him.

England had barely fired a shot but they went into the interval only two points down and with a man advantage. Farrell kicked a penalty after 33 minutes for Rory Sutherland’s interference at a ruck and then, after Price had again been harassed around the fringes, a hurried clearance went straight out and when England worked a move from the lineout, Russell tripped Ben Youngs and was given 10 minutes off. Farrell took the three points and England finished the half with an attacking lineout only for Gray to thwart Itoje.

Scotland had to negotiate the first eight minutes of the second period without Hogg and they did so without alarm. When the fly-half returned to the field, it was to kick a penalty after van der Merwe had twice been held up short of the line.

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Russell missed an opportunity to extend Scotland’s lead to eight points after 54 minutes when he failed to draw a 35-metre penalty. But the hosts kept offending, Scotland were enjoying 70% possession and it was only England’s defence that was keeping them in the contest. Scotland’s concern going into the final quarter was that they had squandered opportunities against a side that in the Autumn Nations Cup final had come from behind to win in the final minute.

Jonny May and Lawrence were still waiting for their first passes in England’s backline but as the home side attempted to inject fire, the rain fell harder and they lacked conviction in possession, exemplified by Farrell’s kick into Scotland’s 22 that gave Sean Maitland the time to return the ball to within 15 metres of England’s line.

As the spectre of defeat grew, so England showed more urgency but they were now in a game not of their choosing. On came the attacking options from the bench but a mixture of the conditions and an unfamiliar approach kept them largely in between the two 10-metre lines.

Scotland picked their breakdowns to contest and when Redpath won a penalty, Hogg took aim from just inside the opposition half only to miss to the right. England needed more than a penalty but in a sanitised environment they struggled to provide their own inspiration.

England needed a Houdini, but after again being penalised at a scrum, May knocked on in his 22 and Scotland, at a ground where they had suffered so often, held firm and finished with a turnover as England fell to only their second Six Nations defeat here since 2012. For Scotland, it was belated Hoggmanay.