Scotland beat England 20-17 to retain Calcutta Cup for historic second year
It's their first back-to-back wins against England since 1984
Last updated 6th Feb 2022
Scotland had the perfect start to their Six Nations campaign with a dramatic victory against England at Murrayfield in the Calcutta Cup, in their first back-to-back victories against England since 1984.
England dominated possession in the first half, with the crowd at Murrayfield almost hushed as Scotland spent the majority of the first half in their half of the pitch.
But it was Scotland's Ben white who scored the first try of the match, coming on to replace Ali Price. Just seconds after coming onto the pitch to earn his first international cap for Scotland, the scrum-half was over the line, putting the first points on the board for Scotland.
Into half time, the home team were leading 10-6, despite spending more time defending than attacking.
England began their comeback eight minutes into the second half, with a successful penalty kick from Marcus Smith, who goes on to score a try for England 5 minutes later, taking the visitors into the lead, while missing the conversion.
But a dramatic yellow card for England’s Luke Cowan-Dickie came with a penalty try for Scotland. Cowan-Dickie preventing Darcy Graham from scoring by knocking the ball into touch in a volleyball-style move. The seven points taking the score level at 17 all.
A Finn Russell penalty was enough to tip the scales with 8 minutes to go and a nail-biting finish in overtime, earning Scotland their first back to back victories against England since 1984. In the nail biting final minutes of the match Scotland edged to victory with a late Finn Russell penalty.
With England now losing four of their last six matches against Scotland in the Six Nations, they'll be looking for a big win against Italy next weekend to rekindle hopes of being contenders.
Scotland will face Wales at the Principality Stadium, looking to turn the momentum into another big win.
Historic victory
When Scotland beat England in last years Six Nations, it was the first time in 38 years they had won the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham.
Now with this win, Scotland make it the first back-to-back victories against England since 1984, and Gregor Townsend's team have now won three out of the last 5 meetings in the tournament.
Scotland face Wales in at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff next weekend (12th February)