England regains Calcutta Cup after Scotland misses goalkicks at Twickenham

LONDON (AP) — Scotland surrendered the Calcutta Cup when Finn Russell couldn’t convert their three tries and lost to England 16-15 in dramatic fashion at Twickenham on Saturday.

Russell, a hero so often against England, missed his last chance with 20 seconds left in regulation, the angled conversion attempt sailing about a meter wide of the left post.

Despite being outscored three tries to one, England held on to win successive nailbiters after the last-gasp upset of France and kept alive its Six Nations rugby title hopes.

The bonus was regaining the Calcutta Cup from Scotland for the first time since 2020, and a first home win over its oldest rival since 2017. England hosts Italy in two weeks and finishes in Wales.

“Our physical intensity needed to go up and it did in the second half,” England coach Steve Borthwick told broadcaster ITV. “Our bench had a really good impact again. It’s the 23-man effort.

“Whilst there were bits in that game that weren’t pretty, it’s edge-of-the-seat finales.”

Scotland’s title bid was cooked after a second straight loss, and its longest winning run over England since the 1890s and 1970s was over.

England trailed until late

England didn’t lead in the gritty, tension-filled match until the 67th minute after Marcus Smith’s second penalty for 13-10.

Moments later, Fin Smith’s monster penalty kick from halfway was slotted for 16-10 with 10 minutes to go, punctuated by an air punch.

Scotland still had chances but either shot itself in the foot or England’s defense scrambled superbly — captain Maro Itoje stole a ruck ball while practically doing a handstand.

Then in the 79th, Stafford McDowall took Tom Jordan’s inside pass and burst through from halfway all the way into the England 22 and quick hands let wing Duhan van der Merwe stroll across to give Russell a chance to make the match-winning conversion.

But he missed.

“Finn was a big part of us getting three tries,” Scotland coach Gregor Townsend told the BBC. “He has kicked a lot of very important points for us in the past.

“The reality is we didn’t win and are likely now not going to win the championship.”

Scotland enjoys slick start

For most of the game, Scotland made all the running. Its backline took just 3 1/2 minutes to confirm England fears when Van der Merwe slipped Ollie Lawrence, Blair Kinghorn was in support, Jordan tore down the left touchline and passed inside for scrumhalf Ben White to score, untouched, his third try in this fixture.

England’s reply was also typical. Brute strength finished with winger Tommy Freeman crashing over between three defenders beside the left post. Freeman has a try in each of the first three rounds.

Scotland had a flashy answer to that. From lineout ball, Kyle Rowe came off his wing, Kinghorn linked, Van der Merwe stood for the offload and center Huw Jones gassed into the left corner for 10-7 inside the first quarter.

Jones’ sixth try against England equaled the record for a Scotland player in this fixture, dating to 1871, until Van der Merwe scored his seventh try at the end.

England held out and almost stole the lead at the end of the half when Lawrence and Marcus Smith manufactured a break from halfway but Lawrence couldn’t produce a second miracle offload at the try-line.

Scotland’s stats were overwhelming but its failure to finish chances came back to bite it in the second half and its discipline collapsed, partly from frustration. After giving up four penalties in the first half, it conceded nine in the second. The scrum was a liability and, despite the quality of the attack, runners got isolated and jackalled.

England made 194 tackles, more than twice as many as Scotland, and expertly picked its moments to kill Scotland attacks.

Unlike Russell, the Smiths, Marcus and Fin, were perfect off the tee.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby