England arrived at Murrayfield announcing their intentions to be “bulletproof”. Truth be told this was Scotland shooting fish in a barrel. Punishing mistakes, of which there were a litany, Gregor Townsend’s team exposed the glaring limitations of Steve Borthwick’s side that will be desperately difficult to recover from.
Defeats happen, England’s winning run was always going to end sooner or later, but the paucity of this performance is some setback for a side whose grand slam hopes are over for another year. Two years ago Borthwick bemoaned how England had “played small” after a fast start, unable to stem Scotland’s momentum after giving up the initiative. Here they barely played at all. For England unravelled at Murrayfield again. It is as if Flower of Scotland flicks a switch in these players and Murphy’s law makes a mockery of them.
