England Player Ratings v Scotland

England Player Ratings v Scotland
Defending champions England were punished for a lacklustre display as an inspired Scotland got their Six Nations campaign off to a flyer.
 

Scotland ended a 38-year wait for victory over England at Twickenham as a hard-working and industrious display earned a deserved 11-6 triumph and Calcutta Cup glory.

 
 
 
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Not since 1983 had Scotland beaten their biggest rivals at the home of English rugby but the fired-up visitors outbattled and outplayed Eddie Jones' defending Six Nations champions.

Here is how we rated Eddie Jones' charges.


15. Elliot Daly - 5

 
Shoved off by Duhan van der Merwe for Scotland's first try. Won a good penalty in the 66th minute getting over the ball. He was safe enough under the high ball and contested well at times but in the same breath he was caught out positionally by Hogg and Russell kicks. 
 
 
14. Anthony Watson - 4
 
Hard touched the ball went over an hour without a single carry. 
 
 
13. Henry Slade - 5
 
A few touches in the first half but England were starved of possession. He did make a very good kick into the Scotland 22. Had a few moments where he looked as if he may spark the attack into live but it came to nothing. 
 
 
12. Ollie Lawrence - 4
 
Eddie Jones spoke of how Lawerence is a project player in the England squad and his showing against Scotland showed that he certainly has a bit to learn. Although Scotland dominated much of the possession, Lawrence didn't make a single carry to the line and saw very little ball altogether. He made his tackles but certainly has much more to offer than he displayed at Twickenham. 
 
 
11. Jonny May - 4
 
An uncharacteristic spill from a high ball in the 14th minute. Like his fellow outside backs, he saw very little ball and spent the game chasing kicks and dealing with Scotland's attacks. Another fumble at the end of the game was the final nail in England's coffin. A day to forget for May.
 
 
 
 
10. Owen Farrell (C) - 4
 
Kicked well tactically out of hand and was often cleaning up at the back. While he kicked well, he wasn't able to spark the attack well enough to score. The team looked more dangerous with George Ford at flyhalf. 
 
 
 
 9. Ben Youngs - 4
 
 
Had a few sparks on attack including two dummies and takes to the line. However, his kicking wasn't as sharp as it was in the Autumn Nations Cup and was pulled before the hour mark. 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Ellis Genge - 6
 
Enjoyed a good battle up front against Zander Fagerson while he was incredibly busy on defence making 15 tackles in the first hour of play. A relatively strong game overall game from Genge on a rare start.
 
 
 
2. Jamie George - 3
 
Not nearly as accurate at the lineout than he would have liked. Two of his darts did not go to hand. George was far less impactful with ball in hand and had an unusually low tackle count for his standards.
 
 
 
3. Will Stuart - 6
 
Held up well in the scrum against Rory Sutherland and even got the better of the Scottish loosehead before departing the pitch. Impactful on defence making all 16 of his attempted tackles. 
 
 
 
 
 4. Maro Itoje - 5
 
 
 
Ali Price will be glad to see the back of Itoje. The second-rower pestered the scrumhalf from the onset charging two kicks down and almost intercepting a pass. 
 
 
 
While Itoje got through a ton of work, he was penalised numerous times. 
 
 
 
 
5. Jonny Hill - 7
 
Put in a number of thumping hits throughout driving bodies backwards. One of England's better players at Twickenham but ill-discipline let him down.
 
 
 
 
 
6. Mark Wilson - 5.5
 
 
Made a key intervention on a Russell pass in the opening 20 with Scotland attacking dangerously. He made his mark on defence with 14 very good tackles but offered little on attack and with England's lineout faltering, he was replaced by Courtney Lawes. 
 
 
 
 7. Tom Curry - 6
 
 
Hardly a blade of grass at Twickenham left untouched by Tom Curry. Defensively and on attack he was everywhere. 
 
 
8. Billy Vunipola - 4
 
Sent to the sin bin after a number of penalties from his teammates. Got stuck in on defence and piled into rucks but was anynomous with his carries. 
 
 
 
 
 
Replacements: 
 
 
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie - 6: Set pieces operated far better with LCD on the pitch. 
 
 
17. Beno Obano - n/a: Not on long enough for a fair rating. Made five tackles in just 9 minutes. 
 
 
18. Harry Williams - 5: Solid without doing too much or too much wrong.
 
 
19. Courtney Lawes - 6: Solidified the lineout and scrum with LCD. Few good hits and a turnover.
 
 
20. Ben Earl - 5: Less impactful than he would have hoped. Just the one carry but made his three tackles. 
 
 
21. Dan Robson - 4: Started his game with a poor box kick that went straight up. His scrappy start continued when he let the ball spill out the back of a scrum 5m from England's tryline. Once he got going the attack looked more threatening but nothing came of it.
 
 
 22. George Ford - Unfair to rate him on his 12 minutes but Ford looked sharp and looked to have got the attack to flow more but a Jonny Gray hit ended one of the most promising attacks started by Ford.
 
 
 
23. Max Malins - Just the five minutes off the pine.
 

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