Van der Merwe try not enough as England edge Scotland in thriller
MATCH REPORT: England just did enough to end a run of four straight defeats to Scotland with a 16-15 win at Twickenham on Saturday as they regained the Calcutta Cup to maintain their Six Nations title hopes.
Scotland outscored England three tries to one but, significantly, Finn Russell was off target with all three conversions – including the outstanding Duhan van der Merwe’s 79th-minute score – as the hosts prevailed by a point for the second match in a row following their 26-25 win over France.
Scotland led 10-7 at half-time, scoring tries through Ben White and Huw Jones either side of Tommy Freeman’s lone converted score for England as Van der Merwe once more tormented the hosts’ defence.
But two Marcus Smith penalties and a long-range effort from Fin Smith put England 16-10 up with 10 minutes to play.
Even so the visitors might still have won the game, with Van der Merwe sprinting in for what was his seventh try against England – extending his own Scotland record for the fixture – only for Russell, passed fit after a head injury last time out against Ireland, to skew the conversion.
England’s second win from three championship matches meant they stayed in touch with unbeaten Ireland, who maintained their bid for an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title by beating Wales earlier Saturday.
Scotland took just four minutes to open Saturday’s scoring.
England wing Ollie Sleightholme’s poor kick gave Scotland possession inside their own half.
Van der Merwe, who scored a 44-minute hat-trick against England at Murrayfield last year to follow his brilliant solo Twickenham try of 2023, skipped past a would-be tackler and released Blair Kinghorn.
Fullback Kinghorn found Tom Jordan, with the centre’s excellent inside pass sending in scrumhalf White for a try out wide that Russell could not convert.
But England hit back soon afterwards when Freeman forced his way past several defenders for a close-range try, with Marcus Smith converting to nudge the hosts 7-5 ahead.
Van der Merwe, however, was causing England problems every time he received the ball and in the 20th minute, as Marcus Smith again fell off a tackle, he found Jones with the centre going through a narrow gap near the touchline for his sixth try against England to equal Van der Merwe’s mark.
Russell again missed the conversion but Scotland still led 10-7 in an open game.
England coach Steve Borthwick had kept faith with his ‘dual playmakers’ after Fin Smith had impressed in his first Test start at flyhalf against France, with Marcus Smith moving to fullback to accommodate the Northampton No.10.
But fears this would leave Marcus Smith exposed in defence were realised Saturday as Scotland took every opportunity to run at the Harlequins flyhalf.
Marcus Smith, however, showed his attacking quality on the stroke of half-time with a superb slalom-style run that took England to within sight of Scotland’s tryline only for Ollie Lawrence’s reverse pass out of the tackle to go over Sleightholme’s head and into touch.
Borthwick brought on former captain Jamie George and Chandler Cunningham-South in a bid to bolster his pack early in the second half, with veteran utility back Elliot Daly also coming off the bench before Marcus Smith’s 55th-minute penalty tied the game at 10-10.
Scotland blindside flank Jamie Ritchie won several turnovers before England kicked for a close-range line-out after Kyle Rowe was penalised for a high tackle on lock Ollie Chessum.
Marcus Smith’s simple 67th-minute penalty in front of the posts gave England the lead for the first time in the match.
Minutes later long-range kick specialist Fin Smith, whose Scottish parents were in a Twickenham crowd of over 81,000, landed a penalty from just inside half-way to make it 16-10 before Van der Merwe took Scotland to the brink of another memorable victory.
Man of the match: The award goes to Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe. He had a hand in his side’s two first-half tries and he scored the only try in the second half. He carried the ball 15 times and notched 140 metres in a powerful performance.
Moment of the match: There was drama at the end with Duhan van der Merwe scoring late before Finn Russell missed the crucial conversion.
Villian of the match: Scottish fans might say it’s Finn Russell’s goal-kicking boot
The scorers:
For England:
Try: Freeman
Con: M Smith
Pens: M Smith 2, F Smith
For Scotland:
TrIes: White, Jones, Van der Merwe
Teams:
England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly.
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (co-captain), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (co-captain), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
