England, in addition to its “mistakes”, paid for a lack of common experience against a Scotland XV “together for a good number of years”, commented England coach Steve Borthwick after the 30-21 defeat of his team in Edinburgh in the Tournament.
“I think we must first of all underline the merit of Scotland who had a very good performance”, while England made “too many errors” with the ball in hand, said the boss of the XV de la Rose on the BBC.
“We saw a Scottish team who have been together for a good number of years and who clearly know what they are trying to do against an English team who are trying to develop,” he also said.
In the opposite camp, “N.10, 12 and 13 started together a dozen times”, while “it was the first time” for the English trio, he illustrated.
“We did a lot of good things, the effort provided was good, but we can’t give the ball to a team like that,” said captain Jamie George.
England led 10-0 after a quarter of an hour before being overthrown by three tries from Duhan van der Merwe, transformed by captain Finn Russell, impeccable against the poles and in the animation.
“If you give the ball to Duhan van der Merwe and Finn Russell, you know they can create a bit of magic and that’s what they did,” summed up George.
“Showing resilience to come back and score 30 points shows what this team is capable of,” said Scottish coach Gregor Townsend.
Scotland won the Calcutta Cup against England on Saturday for the fourth year in a row.
“The victory is huge. We played for the trophy today and it’s very important for us,” Townsend commented.
The XV du Chardon narrowly won in Wales before losing controversially to France, after a final try was refused.
“If we manage to win in Italy (during the 4th and penultimate day, editor’s note), we will watch the match against France with a lot of frustration, but it’s sport and these things happen,” said Russell.