The questions are adding up for England and Eddie Jones. They always would do, of course, had the team returned from Murrayfield with anything other than victory, but the nature of Scotland’s 20-17 win and England’s late collapse throws the door open to a potentially uncomfortable spring for the head coach.
It’s not all bad news for England. Their opening Six Nations defeat marked the third year in a row in which they had failed to win on the first weekend of the tournament, and not all of those seasons have ended in disaster – they recovered to win the title in 2020.
But victory for this England side – one of the youngest and most inexperienced selected by Jones in the Six Nations during his tenure – was there for the taking and allowing it to slip through their fingers in the manner in which they did has thrown a looming shadow over the rest of their campaign.
The decision to withdraw Marcus Smith with 15 minutes left to play is the moment of wayward in-game management that will be lingered upon in the weeks to come. With England leading 17-10 and Smith having scored all of their points, it all began to unravel once the 22-year-old fly-half was removed from play and in hindsight he was the safe pair of hands required to lead England to victory having already steered his side through troubled waters to that point.
It’s not the only point of contention, though. The Calcutta Cup swung towards Scotland’s direction as Luke Cowan-Dickie was shown a yellow card and the hosts awarded a penalty try in the game-changing moment deep into the second half, but Jones has already held his hands up to acknowledge that he and England lost in their heads as the pressure built and Murrayfield found its voice.
Certainly, more leadership was required to ensure that once Cowan-Dickie was off the pitch, the ball did not end up in Joe Marler’s hands at the lineout, which proved to be just as costly. England found themselves in the eye of the storm.
Scotland rallied and Finn Russell discovered greater influence, but they still had chances at the death. Based on the evidence he offered in his Six Nations debut, Smith certainly appeared the man to get England out of their hole, but the decision to not go for the posts and attempt a long-range penalty from Elliot Daly and the subsequent breakdown at the lineout and in the scrum has come under significant scrutiny too.
Add in a midfield and backline that looked lacking in penetration and incision and England have a plate of problems on their hands. There will be pressure now, too, to ensure that those factors do not combine again and lead to further defeats to any of Wales, Ireland and France.
It’s a relief for Jones, then, that England head to Rome next. Italy are on a losing run of 33 matches in the Six Nations and it grants England time to bring back players such as Courtney Lawes and perhaps even Manu Tuilagi, while keeping faith with those young and inexperienced heads and offering them an opportunity to pick up momentum.
The nature of the Six Nations means pressure is naturally invited by an opening defeat and unfortunately it is not a positive for the tournament that a side like Italy can offer such respite.
Scotland, meanwhile, will take their Six Nations title aspirations to Cardiff and the Principality Stadium, a venue they have not won at in 20 years. There is debate over how assured Scotland looked at Murrayfield in the face of relentless England pressure. Certainly, Scotland absorbed the blows in the first half and looked comfortable doing so but were visibly tired after the break as their penalty count grew, and if it wasn’t for Cowan-Dickie’s error Gregor Townsend’s side could have been handed a chastening defeat.
For there is no doubt that Scotland have their strongest side in a generation, one that was capable of snatching victory from defeat while looking unburdened by previous disappointments. Scotland have racked up plenty of them down in Cardiff over the years and while Wales will be expected to respond following their thrashing at the hands of Ireland, the chance to rewrite a further piece of history under Townsend awaits.
