A humbling Six Nations defeat at Murrayfield has left the England coach with significant questions to answer
Some of life’s certainties are impossible to sidestep. And to the trinity of death, taxes and rail delays can now be added a fourth familiar staple. When Scotland play England at Murrayfield it is now all but guaranteed the hosts will raise their game to Ben Nevis‑type heights and the visitors will be taken down a peg or three.
Thus it was again at the weekend as Scotland reignited the bonfire of English vanities and once more sent the auld enemy homewards tae think again. A chastened England were exposed repeatedly in thought and deed by opponents unrecognisable from the sodden losers in Rome the previous week and, as a result, the visitors were brutally consigned to a fifth Calcutta Cup defeat in the past six editions.
Amid all the Sassenach muttering on southbound trains, planes and automobiles on Sunday, the main takeaway is that Scotland were outstanding. How good was Finn Russell? How smartly did the hosts exploit the extra space available in the 30 minutes when England were down to 14 men? And how much sharper and more urgent did Scotland collectively look for the vast majority of the game?
