England vs Scotland - minute-by-minute - COMPLETED

[Puja]

Initial impressions:

We played the game for a grand total of 4 minutes in the first half, in which time we scored a try and came very close to scoring another. The other 36 minutes were spent preparing to kick the ball back to Scotland, kicking the ball back to Scotland, and looking surprised when Scotland did something with all the possession that we handed them.

We were noticeably more ambitious after halftime, which felt like a tactical shift, but still felt like we were scared of Scotland - far from concerns about being arrogant after the media build-up, we were overawed and gave them too much respect.

The general view of the board is that our backs were terrible and I am interested to see if that was the case or if we just didn't use them much. Slade stuck out to me as poor, as did Sleightholme, although not sure of the point of picking him and then kicking every single bit of possession - should pick Roebuck or even Steward on the wing if you're going to do that.

Most of the pack was good and someone clearly had a word with Genge about my threat of starting a counter for him, as he was very direct.

We have two counters this week:
1: Times that Alex Mitchell passed the ball in the first half that were not to set up a ruck from which to box-kick:
2: Times we aimlessly kicked the ball back to Scotland:

I expect one of these to get more use than the other...

Minute 1: FSmith kicks off high into the 22 and the first mistake is made - Freeman is chasing hard, but gets on the wrong side of a Scottish forward, meaning that Dempsey can step to the other side and make a break. Chessum makes a despairing dive to cover across the ground that Freeman has left and we're actually very lucky that he makes it - he only gets one foot, but it's enough to turn Dempsey inside and stop what would've been a try-scoring pass to Kinghorn and DVDM on his outside (as Mitchell has to step in and it leaves them with a 2-on-0 down the wing).

White box-kicks high and it's a belting kick - placed perfectly for Ritchie to leap without breaking stride and tap back. There is an argument that MSmith has started too far back and has to come in from too great a distance for his competition, but I'd say that's a beautiful kick and glorious technique - not really a lot you can do against that. Possible that Steward might've taken it, but I don't see Furbank or anyone else doing so.

Thankfully, the tap back goes to no-one in particular and Itoje is first to react, making good metres. We get the ball out quick, Genge runs hard at the line before putting a lovely ball out the back last minute to MSmith who draws and gives to FSmith, leaving us with a 4-on-2 out wide.

The problem is Slade. He is not on FSmith's shoulder and is showing no inclination to run onto the ball - it very much looks like he has already decided that he wants to sit deep and kick the ball behind, which is what he indeed does when he gets the ball. It's not a terrible tactic, as Rowe is scrambling forward to try and make it into the line and there is space behind him, but it's also a 3-on-1 if Slade just runs forwards! As it is, Slade takes a deeper pull-back rather than a flat pass and then stops to let the defence come onto him - Curry on his outside actually has to stagger to kill his run to stay behind him.

There is an argument that FSmith should've passed across Slade's face to TCurry (which would also have left a 3-on-1) and that he's made the choice by passing to Slade, but if Slade catches and runs forwards, then the overlap is still there (and a good enough line could see him draw the final man and leave a 3-on-0), and I think a 2-start fly-half should be allowed to trust his 55-start inside centre to handle a 3-on-1, rather than having to make the choice to ignore him and trust the blindside flanker to handle it instead.

Anyway, the kick through is **fine** and does find a decent touch 17m out from Scotland's line, but it's taken a try-scoring situation and turned it into an okay territory gain with a mildly-pressurised set-piece situation for Scotland. It's not even a dangerous kick - it's long enough that Sleightholme never stands a chance of regathering it and both Rowe and Kinghorn are across to shepherd it into touch.

Times we aimlessly kicked the ball back to Scotland: Slade x1
Times that Alex Mitchell passed the ball in the first half that were not to set up a ruck from which to box-kick: 1

Fuming. We score there and Scotland have the wind knocked out of them, with all the press comments about them being due a monstering tickling in the backs of their minds. As it is, all we have is a bit of pressure.

Minute 2: We do compete at the lineout and there is a brief moment of excitement where Itoje causes enough disruption that the ball flies over the top, but Scotland regather the loose ball and the ref pings us for closing the gap anyway (which is an absolutely fair cop - we did). Scotland get the free-kick to clear their lines and Russell puts in a belter - earning about 45m and putting us with a lineout 8m inside our half. That's a good 13-14m back from where Slade was when he decided to kick for territory - great decisions, Henry.

Minute 3: Someone mentioned the comedown after watching a game with Amashukeli and it's noticeable - Brousset hasn't made any poor decisions, but his control of the teams is much more lax. I'm having to write a lot less this week because he's allowing a lot more faffing about, meaning the lineout starts in a different minute.

We run a good drill - Chessum moves and then jumps when unopposed to take clean middle ball. We set a maul which moves just enough to allow the backs to come up but then sits stationary for Mitchell to box-kick. I'm not adding this one to the counter, as it's not an aimless one, but very much in our tactical plan - drop it on the winger and then drive him backwards, creating territory and the possibility of a turnover. It looks fine initially - Rowe catches and is hit instantly by Sleightholme and TWillis is due to pile in and march him backwards, but it's poor tackle technique from Sleightholme. He gets his head on the wrong side, which means that he can't piledrive Rowe, but instead has to give him a big of a hug. Rowe spins away and our defence is utterly broken, because our positioning is based upon the assumption that our winger can complete a tackle on a completely unguarded man who only has one foot on the floor.

Rowe does well to jink in the space and evade tackles, but is eventually brought down by Will Stuart - it's free momentum and confidence for the Scots though. Thankfully our blitz defence is up for the next phase and knocks Scotland back behind the gainline, so White sets up a caterpillar and box.

FSmith gathers and gives a little stutter step which loses both Darge and Ritchie and allows him to arc around the kick chase to give a 2-on-1 with Rowe. Unfortunately, he utterly fucks it - Rowe commits early to Sleightholme with the hope that Ritchie will catch FSmith, but Fin is through and, if he holds onto the ball, he's making a clean break there. Unfortunately, he's committed to Sleightholme early too and passes automatically. Sleightholme then kicks through rather than stepping inside, but kicks too long as it lands straight into the hands of Kinghorn instead of finding grass.

Times we aimlessly kicked the ball back to Scotland: Slade x1, Sleightholme x1

Kinghorn has acres to run into and shows good pace to beat TCurry, arc across the pitch and then attack the space between LCD and Lawrence. LCD does well to get him down, but our defence is retreating (having just had to chase back, then up, then back again). LCD does very well to make a nuisance of himself at the breakdown to slow the ball though - we'd've been in trouble if that was quick.

Minute 4: Scotland attempt to move the ball wide the other way, but LCD's fuckery has meant our blitz is back on and we push them backwards. However, Sleightholme is then run over by Rowe - he holds onto him and completes the tackle, but it's gained Scotland forward momentum again. They come the other way and we do catch them behind the gainline, but it's quick ruck ball and we have not folded around enough. It's a 4-on-3 in masses of space and Earl makes it worse by charging up to try and catch Russell man-and-ball, which he does not. This leaves Lawrence facing DVDM one-on-one, with a massive gap on his outside because Freeman's trying to cover the two outside men on his own, and a massive gap in his inside because Earl has gone MIA. He does well initially to tread water and hope support comes, but Genge and LCD are the men tracking across and they look like they're running in treacle, especially with the amount of backing and forthing our defence has had to do in these opening minutes. DVDM puts Lawrence on his heels and then breaks for the outside - Lawrence nearly gets him, but nearly isn't enough, meaning Freeman has to step in and the pass can go to Kinghorn.

Slade has apparently ended up covering in the backfield after that series of play and makes the decision that he can hit Kinghorn man-and-ball and kill the 2-on-1. He cannot.

The ball goes out to Jordan who hits it at pace and LCD and Genge stand no chance of getting to him (although, had Slade not gone for the all-or-nothing and trodden water, they would've been in position to step Kinghorn from stepping inside and thus stopped the try). He flies down the wing, draws MSmith and makes an absolutely glorious pass inside to Ben White who can walk over the line.

Fair play to Scotland as their attacking play and execution was exquisite - the step and outside break from VDM, the offload to Kinghorn, the crisp transition through the hands from Kinghorn to Jordan to allow him to run on without breaking stride, the glorious full-speed, 10 metre, left-handed pass from Jordan that was perfectly timed and aimed to beat Genge (who does a phenomenal job of trying to get back to be in the passing lane and would've done it with even a slightly worse pass). They scored the fuck out of that try and any lower-quality attacking play would probably have not seen it scored.

Having said that, we made four massive defensive errors - Sleightholme's weak tackle draws in players to that left side as they're worried they're going to need to cover if he slips free entirely, then those numbers do not work hard enough to wrap around to the openside, even though there is a ruck in between where Chessum actually knocks Scotland back with a dominant tackle. We could still have coped had Earl not gone kamikaze and left Lawrence isolated, and Slade's decision to blitz at the 2-on-1 was all-or-nothing and it left us with nothing. Any of those 4 errors don't get made, and the try is not scored.

Minute 5: Overhead replays show what I just said (and probably would've been easier to analyse than rewinding and rewatching the live footage a hundred times). Freeman gets praise for doing an incredible job of staying on the outside men while still being in position to step in on DVDM and put in a great tackle once Lawrence has missed him. Lawrence and MSmith get a pass for being in an impossible situation as does Chessum for having made a dominant tackle and being in no position to assist, LCD and Genge get mild praise for very nearly getting there through sheer workrate, but everyone else needs to feel shame for being part of that.

Thankfully, Russell misses a fairly easy conversion. Hope that won't come back to be important later.

We have just enough time in the minute for the kickoff. Freeman again makes an uncharacteristic mistake and overshoots the catcher. Chessum does well to clear up after him, although it changes the situation from a dominant hit to just a tackle.

[Danno]

I don't know whether to applaud or alert the authorities

[Banquo]

1st mistake in try was a terrible low miskick from Sleightholme tbh; our comms in defence is non existent, clearly.

On Freeman, early in the last two games he's been over eager on the chase (or is he hoping to sweep up a palm back?),albeit Chessum was back up.

[Puja]

Minute 6: White puts up the box-kick and it's not quite as good as the first one, but still pretty solid. Freeman has to come in from a distance - I was reading something earlier today that England were expecting Scotland to kick longer in their own half, which is backed up by the distance that we're standing back - but the positioning means that Scotland aren't running onto it and barely get into the air, so Freeman can nick the ball from VDM. His momentum takes him into a pocket of Scots and he shows very good situational awareness to get a knee on the ground immediately rather than trying to drive through. The ref is on the ball and calls "Tackle complete - release", shortly before the Scots pick him up and carry him into touch, creating a penalty for us. Townsend looks like he's bitten a lemon and it is a soft penalty, but it's technically correct and the ref can't let Scotland gain a lineout from it.

Instead, Slade gets to kick to the corner and it's better than his usual. We are still 9 metres out rather than 5, but it's a perfectly decent penalty touch finder.

Minute 7: The lineout is effective - not much movement, but we bounce up and lift Itoje where there's no opposition jumper for clean middle ball. We form a maul to drag the pack in and then Mitchell goes for a snipe around the openside. Lawrence is running a hard line which is attracting a lot of Scots and TWillis is interested in a pass behind him - if it goes, he's got a one-on-one vs Huw Jones and I think he'll at least get close to the line. Instead, Mitchell decides to see if Cherry is paying attention by going himself, but unfortunately he is.

We drive over and win the ball, but it's incredibly slow (not helped by Scotland engaging in fuckery on the wrong side) and our 9 is buried, so Freeman steps in. He puts in a decent 9 pass, picking out Genge, who carries hard to make ground and then lays the ball back for quick possession - amazing what you can do when you do your basics rather than trying to be clever.

Still no Mitchell, so TCurry plays 9 and we send another forward up the guts - no metres, but quick ball and now our 9 has extricated himself from the pit he dug himself into. FSmith thinks he sees something around the corner and sweeps around with MSmith, but the Scots have followed him and it's not on by the time he has the ball in his hands, so he makes the right decision to carry himself instead of sending a pass with blue flashing lights to Marcus.

Minute 8: We go through three more forward phases off 9 - Earl makes ground with some footwork before contact, before TWillis makes ground with brute strength post-contact, before Earl repeats step one. We're camped around 3m out but the Scots defence isn't pushing us back. MSmith is calling down the blind, but we're numbered 3-on-3 and TCurry is in danger of being pushed out before Sleightholme makes a telling intervention and binds on from the touchline to drive him forward and infield.

It gets us 1m from the line, so we eschew the scrum-half and just go for pick and drives - Stuart goes close, LCD goes closer. Scotland are offside in defence twice in a row, and then concede a third offence as Itoje passes out for Earl and he's only stopped by a high tackle. LCD goes for the line again and, once again, Scotland are called offside. It'd be unusual, but I'd say that's a penalty try - Ritchie had his hands down a good foot in front of the line, meaning he can tackle LCD a foot further forward and he still only stops LCD millimetres from a grounding.

Minute 9: It's not hugely relevant however, as Freeman is clapping his hands for the ball. He has to wait a phase while Itoje has ago himself, but he gets it next time - the pass is poor to make him stop, but he takes it in, drives between Russell and Jordan and scores the try.

Note that I don't say "grounds the ball" there. The interruption in his run from Mitchell's pass lets Russell get underneath him and, while the referee is in good position and says he saw the ball on the ground, it's not a view shared by any of the replays (or Freeman, given his wry comments after the game!). We've all been there in amateur rugby, looking up in disbelief at the referee awarding the try despite our hands being *right* *there* underneath it! Poor play by the TMO not to help the ref out there, as it wasn't just a case of no evidence to overturn onfield decision, but the replays being pretty conclusive that it wasn't grounded. Marcus kicks the conversion and runs back to halfway pretty sharpish, suggesting he's had a word with Freeman and doesn't want the ref seeing a replay on the big screen and changing his mind.

Still, I have little sympathy considering the Scots had just conceded 4 offences in 4 phases to stop us scoring - they are lucky not to get a yellow and a penalty try rather than being annoyed about being 7-5 down.

Minute 10: Another replay is shown and I need to apologise to the TMO - the camera angle does not rule out it being possible that the point of the ball brushed the ground, so he's right in not overruling a confident on-field ref decision. Still, I'd be screaming if that was given against us.

Scotland kick the restart long and try and pin Earl on the touchline - it's not quite good enough as he's got room to arc inside and uses that to step inside, leaving Rowe for dead, and barrel into Huw Jones. Jones brings him down, but ends up on the wrong side - he doesn't move immediately and England make sure he can't move after that, so it's an England penalty and an easy clearance.

I remember being miserable throughout the entirety of this game, but we've been pretty good in this first 10 minutes, with the exception of Slade plus that one defensive cockup. I've already forgotten the count of the number of times Mitchell's passed (and I'm not going back to update it - consider it dead) because it's been decent rugby. I wonder when it changed?

[Puja]

1st mistake in try was a terrible low miskick from Sleightholme tbh; our comms in defence is non existent, clearly.

On Freeman, early in the last two games he's been over eager on the chase (or is he hoping to sweep up a palm back?),albeit Chessum was back up.

I did note the kick from Sleightholme (it's on the counter!), but I wouldn't call it a mistake that led to the try. We made the tackle, slowed the ball, and had our defence lined up and in control for two phases after that, so it's not something that was directly relevant to our defence failing and conceding the linebreak.

Puja

[Banquo]

excellent use of eschew

[Banquo]

1st mistake in try was a terrible low miskick from Sleightholme tbh; our comms in defence is non existent, clearly.

On Freeman, early in the last two games he's been over eager on the chase (or is he hoping to sweep up a palm back?),albeit Chessum was back up.

I did note the kick from Sleightholme (it's on the counter!), but I wouldn't call it a mistake that led to the try. We made the tackle, slowed the ball, and had our defence lined up and in control for two phases after that, so it's not something that was directly relevant to our defence failing and conceding the linebreak.

Puja

I'll beg to differ, unnecessary soft yards imo . But as you are doing all this work I'll give in,

On your point about being miserable...look at the passage of play that leads up to the scots try....4 (or IMO 5) significant back to back controllable mistakes. That's enough to make anyone cross.

[Puja]

On Freeman, early in the last two games he's been over eager on the chase (or is he hoping to sweep up a palm back?),albeit Chessum was back up.

At least we have learned our lesson from that Wales game a few years back where they scored a try from an overenthusiatic kick-off chase without anyone covering behind.

Puja

[Banquo]

On Freeman, early in the last two games he's been over eager on the chase (or is he hoping to sweep up a palm back?),albeit Chessum was back up.

At least we have learned our lesson from that Wales game a few years back where they scored a try from an overenthusiatic kick-off chase without anyone covering behind.

Puja

[Charlatan]

Three cheers to you Puja for doing this. I don’t know if it makes me more than a little sad but I’ve been genuinely excited to read the mbm for this game particularly to see how the match and our performance comes across in the cold light of day.

[Mr Mwenda]

Three cheers to you Puja for doing this. I don’t know if it makes me more than a little sad but I’ve been genuinely excited to read the mbm for this game particularly to see how the match and our performance comes across in the cold light of day.

I echo the cheers, although my worry is that the pain has finally knocked him off his hoop.

[Puja]

Minute 11: FSmith kicks us up to the edge of halfway. Chessum once again makes the lineout look easy - Scotland know the ball is going to him, they have a lifting pod tracking him, but he sells the dummy at the front so well that Scotland can't react when he scuttles back, and it's uncontested ball in the middle once again.

We fake a maul and Earl plays away to TWillis on a hard line. He busts through the first tackle and makes ground in contact, but unfortunately Fagerson's failed tackle has left him in the way of the clearout and Genge trips over him as he goes in to secure the ball, leaving a gap for Ritchie to get in over the ball. It's a really tough call by the referee - he's very quick on his whistle as Ritchie only has a split second on the ball before Itoje clears him out and there is an argument that Fagerson is a tackler who has rolled into the path of the clearers, but on the other hand, it'd be an incredibly tough call to ping Fagerson and Ritchie has got the jackal in, even if only for a microsecond. A more experienced referee probably lets that go as play-on and doesn't ping either side, but it is a technically correct decision and luck will come back around to us later. Still, it's annoying to have a good attacking position lost because of something that was absolutely not our fault.

Minute 12: Russell kicks the pen down into the 22 and Itoje gets a telling off from the ref about closing the gap. Good management from Brousset, and good captaincy from Itoje - we don't compete at the lineout to avoid any chance of a cheap pen and instead defend the maul. Scotland don't engage with us though and pop the ball out for Cherry coming around on the peel. He carries the ball two-handed, threatening to feed Jordan as he drifts across, and LCD is absolutely suckered into following him across and leaving a gap at the back of the lineout for Rowe to run into on the switch.

TWillis and Sleightholme do very well to react and pull him down before he makes the line, but Scotland are 3m out and pressing. Will Stuart gets full marks though - gets back onside into the defensive line and barely has time to turn around before he's facing Ritchie hitting the ball at full pace, yet still manages to press up and stop him dead on the gainline (as well as a touch of shenanigans on the floor to slow the ball a touch). Chessum and Curry put in a double tackle to gain us another metre (with more subtle ball slowing) and the defensive line is now set. Three phases of Scots attack sees them fed into our aggressive defence and go backwards each time.

Minute 13: Three more phases and Scotland have moved back over 10 metres from where Rowe was tackled. They attempt to go wide, but England have them well marshalled and it ends up with an optimistic basketball offload that bounces off Rowe's head and hand and into touch. England scrum.

Actually, the ref has a chat with his touch judge and changes his mind, saying it just came off the head, so it's a lineout. Doesn't look right from replays, but the TMO's silent and it's irrelevant anyway, as it's once again clean England ball in the middle. Scotland dutifully mark Chessum as he moves towards the front, waiting for him to break and move, only to be completely nonplussed as we lift Itoje instead. We form a maul and start marching forwards.

Minute 14: It's a good maul and we make ground right up to the edge of the 22, but Jamie Ritchie takes advantage of Genge pulling someone out to sneak around the side and latch onto the ball. It's blatant cheating and right in front of the ref, but he does get away with it and it's Scotland scrum. Regardless of the cheating, we should've protected that better anyway.

Lots of faffing about, so no scrum this minute.

Minute 15: Even more faffing, and it ends up with justice being done as we get the free-kick for Scotland engaging early. The difference in refs from the week before is notable in the scrum-management - that's not to traduce Brousset, but to praise Amashukeli.

FSmith kicks us up past halfway and it's a Scotland line-out.

[Puja]

Minute 16: Scotland go off the top and send Fagerson charging up on the crash. He's a big lad with momentum, but TWillis will still feel a little bit disappointed - he doesn't press up hard and makes a very passive tackle - he does bring him down, but loses about 3m from not blitzing and another 4m post-contact. LCD is once again making an absolute nuisance of himself in the ruck - he's not attacking the ball, but he's in the way and destabilising the Scottish clearer with his manoeuvrings, so Scotland slow it down and go to the box-kick.

Sleightholme is under some pressure, but he jumps highest and will be very disappointed to have fumbled that. Simple handling error, probably brought on by thinking about what he was going to do once he landed. He is lucky enough that the ball bobbles up and he can flail an arm to knock it backwards (by the letter of the law, that's still a knock-on, as it's only a readjustment if you tap it forward and then catch it, not if you slap it backwards). TWillis recovers and makes some ground and then we run a phase to the left to set up a new ruck.

I was debating putting this box-kick on the counter, as we're 40m out, and have made ground - it is a set Scots defence, but we should be backing ourselves to see if there's something we can do for a couple of phases, rather than just kicking as the first reaction. However, Scotland are being a nuisance in the ruck so it's very slow ball and I can kinda forgive this one on a tactical basis.

The kick itself, however, is shit. Far too long and Kinghorn gets to catch it without an England player within 7m of him. Just gifting possession in exchange for 25m of territory. Our kick-chase is solid enough though and we make the tackle.

Minute 17: Scotland give it a phase, but our defence has them pinned on their 10m line, so it's their turn to kick. FSmith is covering back and takes the catch with ease. No interest in quick ball though - Mitchell waits an age, passes out to a pod of forwards who make a metre or two to recycle and, yup, it's setting up another box-kick. We're not even attempting to disguise it and Scotland are sitting people back in the backfield. Surely we can have enough confidence in our ball-retention that we can at least try and see if we can generate an attack?

This one isn't going on the counter either, as it's a very good kick. Kinghorn jumps and catches on the touchline, but is tackled into touch as soon as he lands by Sleightholme - with justice that should be an England lineout, but Kinghorn launches the ball backwards just before he goes and the ball stays in play somehow. Scotland recycle and send Fagerson on another run, but this time he's melted by a tag-team of LCD and TCurry and Scotland set up another caterpillar and box.

Minute 18: FSmith catches and goes on a little run, threatening to feed MSmith before stepping inside and driving through contact to make a few metres. It's quick ball, it's ball with forward movement... it's on our 10m line, so of course we're kicking it. This one is made worse by the fact that Mitchell does his usual pass to a forward pod trundling up on the blind to reset and allow the backs to pick themselves up, but LCD spots a gap, dummies and makes a half-break. We've just gained 5 metres, it's quick ball, Scotland aren't expecting it, WHY AREN'T WE PLAYING RUGBY?!?!

It's a good kick and we're unlucky that Sleightholme's slap-back bounces into touch, but that one's going on the counter. We've just traded possession for a Scottish lineout 10m further forward. Now I remember why I was angry during this game. Actually, sod it, I'm putting the last one on there as well - good kick or no, it didn't work and we just gave Scotland the ball.

Times we aimlessly kicked the ball back to Scotland: Slade x1, Sleightholme x1, Mitchell x2

Minute 19: Scotland take the lineout at the middle and form a maul, which we defend very poorly - Chessum and Genge miss where the main thrust is coming from and get lost, Itoje was jumping and so couldn't defend immediately, so Scotland get a good rumble forwards before we pull it down. Scotland can't use the advantage, so they kick the penalty for touch. It's a bit of a Slade-style kick though and only just takes them over the 10m line.

The lineout is formed, but Scotland throw in low and fast to a player on the floor and England weren't paying attention to disrupt. The ball is then played wide and Lawrence and Slade have their eyes focussed inside for some reason, despite Scotland having numbers wide. As Russell passes, they attempt to drift and would get there, except that a Scots dummy runner in front of the ball runs across the back of Slade and makes sure to hook his back leg as he goes past. If you're Scots, it's a solid bit of skulduggery, but it's hugely annoying for the English because it sets up a break for Rowe.

Slade recovers enough to make a tackle, but by that point Freeman has had to press in and what was 3-on-3 is now 3-on-2. Freeman uses his pace to get back to Kinghorn, but MSmith had to stay on Kinghorn just in case and, while he can get outside to DVDM, he is running and can be stepped inside. Lawrence completes the tackle, but the extra second gives time for the offload and Huw Jones is running onto it with White on his inside. A dummy inside checks Sleightholme and gives Jones enough room to make it in in the corner.

I've seen a lot of hatred for Sleightholme for not stopping him there, but realistically, there's not a lot he can do. He can't go wholehearted because Jones has momentum and the ability to step inside or pass inside and you would back Jones to score from that close to the line against any defender.

Minute 20: Overhead replays tell me it's Huw Jones who trips Slade and it's 100% deliberate. I will give him marks for being sneaky and I'd be highly amused if it was an England player who did it, but right now I'm just annoyed.

We are a touch narrow in midfield and I do think Lawrence and Slade drift in too much and drift out too late, but credit has to be given to Scotland again - two glorious long passes from White and Russell cover literally half the width of the pitch and get the ball outside of 12 of our defenders. I think this one goes down mostly as "Sometimes the opposition are allowed to be good", with a side of "If you don't want them to be good, maybe you shouldn't thoughtlessly continually give them the ball back."

Russell misses a tough conversion from the touchline. 7-10 to the bad guys.

[Puja]

Three cheers to you Puja for doing this. I don’t know if it makes me more than a little sad but I’ve been genuinely excited to read the mbm for this game particularly to see how the match and our performance comes across in the cold light of day.

Thank you very much indeed. I think there's a few people around here that are in the same boat of being a little bit sad, but it does warm my heart every time someone tells me so (and does very much incentivise me setting my time and spoons aside to do it).

It really is a very different game in the cold light of day - when watching, I'm shouting imprecations at the television, bouncing up and down, and I often come away with feeling about players or moves that 100% do not hold up when I've gone through and watched a replay for the 17th time.

Puja

[Puja]

Minute 21: Replays from the other angle and you get to see an even better angle of Huw Jones tripping Slade. Very neat bit of work and helped by the fact that Slade fights to stay on his feet - if he falls, then the TMO probably comes back and looks at it, but because he does eventually make the tackle, it just looks like a stumble.

Anyway, not really relevant. I think I'm harping on it because I've read so many articles about "SCOTLAND WERE ROBBED BY THE REFEREE!!!" over the past couple of days.

England kick off and find the Scots lifting pod outside of the 22. I think this is a tactic - Sneaky Barsteward said in interviews that they'd prepared for Scotland kicking long (as that is their usual tactic when clearing their lines) and had to adapt at half-time to them putting all the ball from their half up as contestible box-kicks - so I think the idea is that we give them the ball outside their 22, they kick long and Marcus gets to attack. Unfortunately, Scotland haven't signed on to this plan, and instead go with their own one of kicking to contest.

It's another belting kick and Ritchie can run onto it and beat MSmith to the ball. Once again, it's easy for a casual to blame MSmith as being "bad under a high ball", but it's unlikely that anyone else stands a chance in that situation - Steward's got the height and jump to contest with Ritchie, but he wouldn't have the pace to get there in time.

The slap back is passed to Russell and he does then kick long, into the space where Marcus used to be, in a nice one-two move. However, England show they can read and react themselves, as FSmith has dropped back to take and has a chance to run. Scotland's kick chase is okay, but it's not insuperable and he has lots of time and space to pick whether he wants to run, seek support, or

Times we aimlessly kicked the ball back to Scotland: Slade x1, Sleightholme x1, Mitchell x2, FSmith x1

Russell catches without contest and feeds DVDM who goes on a run up towards halfway.

Minute 22: Scotland continue this whole "running with the ball malarky" in the next phase, only for Kinghorn to knock it on in a tackle from Itoje. The ball bounces loose and Darge fly-hacks it through, but it bounces up nicely for MSmith on the edge of the 22 and he spots an opportunity down the left as there's some tired front row to attack. He and Lawrence do okay and an offload out the tackle sees Slade presented with a 2-on-1. It's a tight space down the 5m channel, but Rowe is worried about Sleightholme outside, so a show and go sees Slade making a clean break. Instead:

Times we aimlessly kicked the ball back to Scotland: Slade x2, Sleightholme x1, Mitchell x2, FSmith x1

It's a decent kick, but it's not a clean break and retention of the ball in hand. Actually, it's a better than decent kick, as it's a 50:22 by the narrowest of margins (he's just inside his half and the touch judge signals the lineout one pace inside the 22) - however, we're robbed as Scotland take a quick throw-in and the ref waves play-on. To make it worse, Ben Earl rushes up to tackle Kinghorn who looks like he's making a break, but Slade has made a dive to just bring him down. Earl spots this and tries to pivot into being there to jackal, which is a good idea in theory as Kinghorn's completely isolated, but his feet get knocked away by Kinghorn falling and he's left on his hands and knees as he flails at the ball. The dream of the jackal has gone and the smart thing to do is to release and stay on the right side of the ref, but Earl instead bounces back to his feet and continues working over the ball. He is technically legal the second time, but you've got to have some common sense and know when it's not on. Poor penalty and easy clearance for Scotland.

Minute 23: Scotland have the lineout 35m out, same sort of position as the try. England stay wider this time, so Jordan steps inside FSmith to make ground. He is brought down, but it's quick ball again, so Russell puts it wide. Freeman shows Kinghorn the outside and then hauls him down as he tries to take it - great defence. The ball comes inside and Schoeman gets clumped by TCurry in a very satisfying tackle.

Minute 24: Russell pings another wide miss-pass and Scotland test our one-on-one defence in space in the wide channels. Lawrence does very well to make the tackle, then reacts in the next phase to jackal the ball back to our side. It bounces loose (impossible to see how, but it's either overenthusiastic jackalling by Lawrence or a Scots knock on as they resist, possibly both), but Scotland knock on the loose ball so it's an England scrum anyway. Good defence by our lot.

Minute 25: Will Stuart absolutely goes to town on Schoeman in the scrum and the ref does a decent job in spotting Schoeman attempting to escape by driving up (as a few would've seen Stuart pop first and pinged that). Stuart's become such a good player this last year. Probably our second most valuable player in terms of the gap to his replacement, behind Mitchell, although Stuart's currently a lot more consistent.

[FKAS]

Will Stuart has hit those late twenties the years where traditionally you'd see props come into their own and he's just started to become a stronger scrummager. Really come on in the 18 months since the world cup.

[Banquo]

The contestable ball thing is interesting, depending on which player one is currently championing; some say its de superpowered the likes of Steward because its become a lot more lke a 50/50 than when players blocked (I wonder if the stats say actually favours the chasers because of momentum and pre plan)...others say that even depowered, the likes of steward make the odds of securing the ball stronger (which has to be so). So again its compromise mode, which I like, as it puts pressure on the selection and getting the starting 15 right (which in turn then means you have to think more about your bench).

[Banquo]

apologies, thought this might be interesting here rather than the old thread

https://www.planetrugby.com/news/eddie- ... G9aQwJYBzQ

[Puja]

The contestable ball thing is interesting, depending on which player one is currently championing; some say its de superpowered the likes of Steward because its become a lot more lke a 50/50 than when players blocked (I wonder if the stats say actually favours the chasers because of momentum and pre plan)...others say that even depowered, the likes of steward make the odds of securing the ball stronger (which has to be so). So again its compromise mode, which I like, as it puts pressure on the selection and getting the starting 15 right (which in turn then means you have to think more about your bench).

I would actually have been really interested to see a) whether MSmith would've done better had he not been standing so far back expecting a long kick and thus having to come from deep and b) how Steward would actually have gone in the same situation. The two kicks so far were placed so well that Ritchie was imperious and got incredible height and momentum coming in, but Steward does have the distinct advantage of 8 inches on MSmith, as well as a good line in a long and high leap into a catch. I suspect that it would probably have ended with a 2:2:1 ratio between a Steward knock-on, a Ritchie tap-back, and a Steward clean catch - better than the 0:1:0 ratio that happened with MSmith, but whether it would've been good enough to justify losing the playmaker, I don't know.

Puja

[Banquo]

The contestable ball thing is interesting, depending on which player one is currently championing; some say its de superpowered the likes of Steward because its become a lot more lke a 50/50 than when players blocked (I wonder if the stats say actually favours the chasers because of momentum and pre plan)...others say that even depowered, the likes of steward make the odds of securing the ball stronger (which has to be so). So again its compromise mode, which I like, as it puts pressure on the selection and getting the starting 15 right (which in turn then means you have to think more about your bench).

I would actually have been really interested to see a) whether MSmith would've done better had he not been standing so far back expecting a long kick and thus having to come from deep and b) how Steward would actually have gone in the same situation. The two kicks so far were placed so well that Ritchie was imperious and got incredible height and momentum coming in, but Steward does have the distinct advantage of 8 inches on MSmith, as well as a good line in a long and high leap into a catch. I suspect that it would probably have ended with a 2:2:1 ratio between a Steward knock-on, a Ritchie tap-back, and a Steward clean catch - better than the 0:1:0 ratio that happened with MSmith, but whether it would've been good enough to justify losing the playmaker, I don't know.

Puja

… as I said, I like that there’s selection conundrum that you can’t get round without compromising or easily solving cos you have a big bench.

[FKAS]

The contestable ball thing is interesting, depending on which player one is currently championing; some say its de superpowered the likes of Steward because its become a lot more lke a 50/50 than when players blocked (I wonder if the stats say actually favours the chasers because of momentum and pre plan)...others say that even depowered, the likes of steward make the odds of securing the ball stronger (which has to be so). So again its compromise mode, which I like, as it puts pressure on the selection and getting the starting 15 right (which in turn then means you have to think more about your bench).

I would actually have been really interested to see a) whether MSmith would've done better had he not been standing so far back expecting a long kick and thus having to come from deep and b) how Steward would actually have gone in the same situation. The two kicks so far were placed so well that Ritchie was imperious and got incredible height and momentum coming in, but Steward does have the distinct advantage of 8 inches on MSmith, as well as a good line in a long and high leap into a catch. I suspect that it would probably have ended with a 2:2:1 ratio between a Steward knock-on, a Ritchie tap-back, and a Steward clean catch - better than the 0:1:0 ratio that happened with MSmith, but whether it would've been good enough to justify losing the playmaker, I don't know.

Puja

The other question would be, would Scotland have exited with a contestable kick it Steward was stood back there or would Scotland have just pelted it long and tried to force him to counter from deep.

It's worth noting that Steward has several stone of additional weight for the contest in the air as well, hard to knock him off his line.

Re Banquo's point about whether ability in the air would be neutered by the change in the law interpretations with attackers able to just slap the ball back whilst defenders have to catch. However, the only wingers I've really seen be an absolute menace with this has been Roebuck, OHC and Freeman who are all pretty big blokes anyway. I think Roebuck just had a really good game up against Steward in the first weekend after the law change happened in the Prem and it got a lot of headlines and attention.

[Banquo]

The contestable ball thing is interesting, depending on which player one is currently championing; some say its de superpowered the likes of Steward because its become a lot more lke a 50/50 than when players blocked (I wonder if the stats say actually favours the chasers because of momentum and pre plan)...others say that even depowered, the likes of steward make the odds of securing the ball stronger (which has to be so). So again its compromise mode, which I like, as it puts pressure on the selection and getting the starting 15 right (which in turn then means you have to think more about your bench).

I would actually have been really interested to see a) whether MSmith would've done better had he not been standing so far back expecting a long kick and thus having to come from deep and b) how Steward would actually have gone in the same situation. The two kicks so far were placed so well that Ritchie was imperious and got incredible height and momentum coming in, but Steward does have the distinct advantage of 8 inches on MSmith, as well as a good line in a long and high leap into a catch. I suspect that it would probably have ended with a 2:2:1 ratio between a Steward knock-on, a Ritchie tap-back, and a Steward clean catch - better than the 0:1:0 ratio that happened with MSmith, but whether it would've been good enough to justify losing the playmaker, I don't know.

Puja

The other question would be, would Scotland have exited with a contestable kick it Steward was stood back there or would Scotland have just pelted it long and tried to force him to counter from deep.

It's worth noting that Steward has several stone of additional weight for the contest in the air as well, hard to knock him off his line.

Re Banquo's point about whether ability in the air would be neutered by the change in the law interpretations with attackers able to just slap the ball back whilst defenders have to catch.

iirc it was you amongst others making that point....pretty strongly; I was quoting rather than making my own point. I'm interested what the actual objective view is now.

[FKAS]

I would actually have been really interested to see a) whether MSmith would've done better had he not been standing so far back expecting a long kick and thus having to come from deep and b) how Steward would actually have gone in the same situation. The two kicks so far were placed so well that Ritchie was imperious and got incredible height and momentum coming in, but Steward does have the distinct advantage of 8 inches on MSmith, as well as a good line in a long and high leap into a catch. I suspect that it would probably have ended with a 2:2:1 ratio between a Steward knock-on, a Ritchie tap-back, and a Steward clean catch - better than the 0:1:0 ratio that happened with MSmith, but whether it would've been good enough to justify losing the playmaker, I don't know.

Puja

The other question would be, would Scotland have exited with a contestable kick it Steward was stood back there or would Scotland have just pelted it long and tried to force him to counter from deep.

It's worth noting that Steward has several stone of additional weight for the contest in the air as well, hard to knock him off his line.

Re Banquo's point about whether ability in the air would be neutered by the change in the law interpretations with attackers able to just slap the ball back whilst defenders have to catch.

iirc it was you amongst others making that point....pretty strongly; I was quoting rather than making my own point. I'm interested what the actual objective view is now.

Yeah initially it looked like it was going to be a big change but there don't appear to be that many players capable of actually disrupting. Those that can are seemingly very effective though.

[Banquo]

The other question would be, would Scotland have exited with a contestable kick it Steward was stood back there or would Scotland have just pelted it long and tried to force him to counter from deep.

It's worth noting that Steward has several stone of additional weight for the contest in the air as well, hard to knock him off his line.

Re Banquo's point about whether ability in the air would be neutered by the change in the law interpretations with attackers able to just slap the ball back whilst defenders have to catch.

iirc it was you amongst others making that point....pretty strongly; I was quoting rather than making my own point. I'm interested what the actual objective view is now.

Yeah initially it looked like it was going to be a big change but there don't appear to be that many players capable of actually disrupting. Those that can are seemingly very effective though.

The likes of Dan Biggar (when he was a lad) would be even more effective in reclaiming kicks I guess, but then again, because of when he used to be great at this, he didn't have a wall of blockers in front.

[Puja]

Minute 26: The penalty is kicked to touch and it's an England lineout just inside the 10m line. This is going to be a box-kick, isn't it?

Once again, Scotland follow Chessum with their eyes, and we get uncontested ball from Itoje jumping. It's off the top and down to Genge at pace - he definitely has been warned about the risk of me starting a counter for him, as he doesn't try any fancy hitch kicking or side-stepping, but just ploughs straight into Scotland's defence past the edge of the lineout. Scotland get two forwards in the way, but it turns out it's quite hard to stop 19 stone of prop when he's running at pace, so we comfortably make it over the gainline, get quick ball and then... slow it the fuck down.

I understand the premise for "We don't play in our own half" but when it's only 5m inside the halfway line and we've just got decent, front-foot ball, surely it's worth a phase or two to see what we can make? What magical property makes attacking 55m from our own line significantly less risky than attacking 45m from our own line? I know it's within kicking range, but surely we can be trusted to have a couple of phases without a penalty? What's the point of picking double playmakers if we're not going to let them have the ball?

Times we aimlessly kicked the ball back to Scotland: Slade x2, Sleightholme x1, Mitchell x3, FSmith x1

Anyway, enough venting my spleen. There's box-kicking to describe! Wheeee! Actually, let's make it fun - I'm going to write my description of the rest of this minute without watching it beforehand and we'll see how close I got.

"Mitchell gets his line of forwards ready and then box-kicks. It's too long and Scotland catch. They set up a ruck and box-kick it back. One of the Smiths catches it in the backfield and launches it back up in the air."

[Presses Play]

The only thing I got wrong was the length of the Scots return box-kick - they go short and contestible again and, once again, Ritchie is there to slap it back, this time beating Sleightholme to it. Scotland regather and carry forward to set a ruck just inside our half.

Minute 27: Russell spots space behind Freeman and puts in a beautiful kick over his head to bounce into touch just outside the 22. It's a lovely read - Freeman is hovering near the frontline as he's worried about Scotland passing it wide and it's opened up space behind him. Scotland earned the opportunity to do that with their attacks earlier.

The television director embarrasses England by showing a graphic of the list of top ball-in-hand metres made this game - the top 4 are the Scots backline, with FSmith just ruining the symmetry by having more metres than Huw Jones.

Pressured lineout, just outside our 22 and we call to the back - bold, given our lineout woes last week, but fair play to LCD, he does nail it. Scotland get someone up with a good defensive lift though and he gets a hand in to knock it loose. Stuart reacts to fall on the bobbling ball and we do secure it for a caterpillar and box, but frankly, I'd rather have had the scrum for the knock-on 5m further forwards. The ref doesn't seem interested in giving it and England don't appear interested in complaining about it (presumably because a ruck inside the 22 allow a direct kick to touch), so box-kick, it is.

Minute 28: Fantastic kick by Mitchell (who, frankly, owes us one from his performance so far - finds touch inside the Scots half while getting it far enough off the field that they can't go quickly.

The lineout is uncontested Scots ball at the front (I think we think they're dummying and preparing to shift, and are caught out when it turns out to be the real jump), tapped down for White to fling a long pass into midfield. England defend the first phase, so Russell puts up a high ball towards Sleightholme's wing. MSmith is under it and looks to have the catch, but Jordan just chucks a hand at it and slaps the ball away. Slade gets back and falls on the loose ball and England recycle.

Minute 29: Caterpillar and box, but this one is less egregious as it's 30m out and with us having gone backwards. It's a good kick too - Sleightholme enjoys being the attacker and beats Rowe to the ball, tapping it back down. Unfortunately, the bounce of a rugby ball always hates you and a horrible bounce sees it escape from Earl's grasp for a knock on.

A Scots foot gets chucked at the loose ball and it goes into the 22 - FSmith goes back to reclaim and passes across to MSmith. For a moment, there is a thought of a counter-attack being on, but Slade does a shitty job of getting behind him and being an option for a pass, so Marcus runs across field to get in position to clear, only to then slice the kick. It still makes touch, but it's a Scottish lineout just outside the 22, rather than being significantly further down the pitch as he would've hoped.

Minute 30: Scotland throw to the back, dummy the maul and pass the ball out to Dempsey on the peel. Chessum and Earl however are awake and shepherd him away from having a free run at the backs - he ends up running sideways for little ground. Next phase is fun - Lawrence reads the wide pass like a book and absolutely levels Ritchie as he gets the ball. It bounces loose and, while DVDM picks it up, he's got Slade grappling him as soon as he does and looks certain to be brought down about 15m behind the play... only for Slade to somehow not complete the tackle that he looked like he'd already completed? How the hell did you miss that one Henry?

VDM gets a free run, cause everyone had kinda assumed that Slade was going to finish making the tackle that he was 3/4 the way through and it's a scramble for Chessum and Sleightholme to get back and bring him down just inside the 22. We reset the defence well and knock back two phases without incident, but Russell spots something down the blindside and switches back - we've ended up with LCD and Stuart covering a lot of space and, while LCD does just about make the tackle, it costs us a lot of ground, going up to the 5m line.

Scotland go one-out runners for a few phases and it's soaked up easily by our defence, so Russell calls for it wide. We defend it well though and credit goes to Slade for that one - he was watching Russell and started hollering for support when he started looking interested. Freeman makes an excellent read to see where Russell's long pass is going and lunge up on Rowe - the Scots winger tries to flip it on, but the ball hits the deck, giving Mitchell enough time to bury Jordan, and the ref rules it's gone forwards anyway. England scrum a just reward for a decent bit of defence, Slade's tackle notwithstanding.