Match Review

RBS Six Nations Championship 2008

England 9 - Scotland - 15

By Ntobeko Chidavaenzi

The strong gusts and torrential showers did little to dampen the atmosphere at a packed Murrayfield as England and Scotland prepared to wage battle in the annual Calcutta Cup contest. Much was made of the poor conditions which would have an effect on proceedings, but England simply lacked the intensity and ambition that Scotland seemed to have more of on a grim day in Edinburgh.

It was ominous that a scrappy affair would be on the cards, and the early going confirmed that; long clearances, mis-kicks and careless penalties would be the order of the day. However the first points went the way of the Tartan Army, as full-back Chris Paterson converted a penalty kick and keeping his impress streak of consecutive kicks alive.

Not long after, sunlight burst through the gloomy Scottish skies, giving fans a hope of brighter proceedings, but they were to be denied. England were unable to maintain possession for more than a couple of phases and get any sort of momentum going. Many eyes were on the mountainous figure of Lesley Vainikolo, a roar of anticipation echoing around Murrayfield when he received the ball, but he was unimpressive, dropping or knocking forward the ball on more than one occasion. Conversely, Scotland showed a wee bit more fluidity in their forward play and had good opportunities to break through; however it was also their indecisiveness in the opposition half that brought their promising attacks to a grinding halt.

The game was stopped for a few minutes after a nasty collision between full-back Iain Balshaw and Rory Lamont which resulted in Lamont being carried off the field on a stretcher. Dan Parks was bought on as a replacement. From the resulting penalty, England pressed towards the Scottish try line with increased desperation, but a dogged and determined defense kept England at bay.

One positive from an English perspective was the scrumming. England's sturdy pack, outweighed their Tartan counterparts by only a kilo per player but made their miniscule weight difference pay off in a big way, dominating the scrum for the majority of the game. It was from a scrum that Johnny Wilkinson was able to convert a penalty, tying the game at 3 - 3 and hoisting him into 1^st place on the all-time points list.

Wilkinson's record breaking feat did little to boost the gusto of the English attack and it was instead Scotland who took the initiative, working their way into English territory before winning penalties which allowed Chris Paterson to convert two penalty kicks extending the hosts lead to 9 - 3.

Brian Ashton's team-talk was seemingly ineffective as Scotland moved further into the grey and gloomy distance with kicks from Paterson and Dan Parks. Just as Scotland were being to assert a stranglehold on the game, Wilkinson converted two penalties to bring the game back to within a converted try.  It should have spurred the English army to battle on a snatch a late victory but instead, it was the Scots who dug deeper and thrived off of the vocal home support. Charlie Hodgson came on to replace Wilkinson whose performance had quickly deteriorated in the second half, and captain Phil Vickery was also subbed off, but it was too little, too late as Scotland held on for the remaining twenty minutes. A crestfallen Brian Ashton trudged down from his coaching box to console his fallen army, while the Scottish players and fans alike were jubilant after picking up their first Six Nations win of the year.

In all fairness, the 2008 Calcutta Cup was as dreary and dull as the Edinburgh weather, but the team that showed that extra determination and initiative in their play ended up running out deserved winners.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• Scotland v England Murrayfield Battles
• England vs Scotland - Calcutta Cup Preview 2008
• Six Nations Table 2008

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS