Bogey team: Are Scotland beginning to hold a spell over England?

There’s nothing like a dramatic finish to a hard-fought Calcutta Cup, and the Murrayfield faithful were treated to just that on the opening weekend of the 2022 Six Nations as Scotland scored a late penalty to beat England 20-17. As Finn Russell’s kick sailed between the post, scenes of jubilation were sparked in the Murrayfield stands, as Scottish rugby fans toasted the perfect start to their Six Nations campaign.

That said, fans of Scotland must be used to getting the better of England at this stage. Having lost nine consecutive editions of the Calcutta Cup between 2009 and 2017, Scotland have now lost just one of the last five meetings between the two teams, winning three of those and drawing in 2019. Indeed, this is the first time Scotland have won successive matches against England since 1984.

It’s becoming a worrying trend for England. It used to be that they could bank on getting a good result against Scotland to boost their Six Nations chances on https://m.skybet.com, but now it seems as though Gregor Townsend’s side is beginning to hold something of a hoodoo over the English. Last year’s 11-6 win at Twickenham has been backed up with another courageous display — this time giving Scotland’s home fans plenty to shout about.

For Eddie Jones, it was the worst possible start to the Six Nations campaign. Having endured a torrid time of things in the 2021 tournament, it was imperative that England got off to a strong start this year, but they just couldn’t shake off a Scotland team that seemed ravenous for victory.

The match swayed over the course of the 80 minutes. Having taken a 3-0 lead in the first half, England were quickly pegged back as Ben White’s try sent Murrayfield into raptures. Scotland led 10-6 at half-time, before England seized the initiative thanks to a Marcus Smith try. Eventually, the scores were level at 17-17 before the chance arose for Russell to land the killer blow.

It could be said that England lacked imagination in their attack at times. They had plenty of possession and territory in the first half, but often squandered it with misplaced kicks in behind, or poor decisions in forward areas. This is where Owen Farrell’s absence was most keenly felt. As talented as Smith is — after all, he scored all 17 of England’s points — he lacks the experience needed to dictate proceedings in these kinds of tight, close-fought matches.

The pressure is mounting on Jones already. Since they reached the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and then won the 2020 Six Nations, it’s been a steady decline for England. Their performances in last year’s Six Nations led to a dismal fifth-place finish, and the loss to Scotland has only served to reinforce opinions that Jones’ time is running out at the England helm.

Scotland’s improvement over the last few years has been notable, and you can’t help but feel that, one of these years, everything will fall into place for them at the Six Nations and they will end up lifting the trophy. For now, they can content themselves with another Calcutta Cup triumph, safe in the knowledge that they have their great rivals well and truly in their pocket.