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England player ratings vs Scotland | 2022 Six Nations

Marcus Smith scores for England at Murrayfield (PA)

Scotland won consecutive Calcutta Cups for the first time since 1984 by claiming a tense 20-17 win at rainy Murrayfield.

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A try from replacement scrum half Ben White plus a conversion and penalty from Finn Russell gave Scotland a 10-6 half-time lead.

Marcus Smith kicked two penalties before the break for the visitors then added a try and two further three-pointers after the restart.

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However, a third Russell penalty plus a penalty try awarded by referee Ben O’Keefe when England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie deliberately knocked the ball into touch gave Scotland the spoils.

Following their fifth-place finish in the 2021 Six Nations this result piles the pressure back on Eddie Jones following their unbeaten Autumn Series which brought wins over Tonga, Australia and World Champions South Africa.

Jones’ team went into the opening round of action without a number of established faces including Owen Farrell, Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson, Jonny Hill and Courtney Lawes while Scotland lost Glasgow prop Jamie Bhatti to injury a few days prior to the game.

Having lost only one of the last four Calcutta Cup clashes and beaten Australia during November, Gregor Townsend’s team entered this year’s Six Nations with high hopes of building on a 2021 campaign in which they were a one-point loss to Wales and a three-point defeat by Ireland away from a Grand Slam.

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15 FREDDIE STEWARD – 6
Typically reliable under the high ball until he spilled under no pressure at the start of the second half, but badly sliced a first-half clearance kick. Played his part in a cohesive defensive effort from England’s back three who saw plenty of high balls raining down on them in persistent rain.

14 MAX MALINS – 6.5
Saw plenty of the ball in the early stages as England’s back three sought to counter from deep. A neat inside ball almost created a try-scoring chance before Scotland’s cover defence swarmed across the field.

13 ELLIOT DALY – 6.5
Forced a turnover deep in Scotland territory with a thumping tackle direct from a restart. Had little front-foot ball in space but worked hard defensively.

12 HENRY SLADE – 7.5
In the absence of Manu Tuilagi the Exeter man wore no.12 and was asked to truck the ball into contact on more than one occasion, winning a penalty under the home posts in the third quarter.

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His superb angled diagonal gave England a good attacking position only for his forwards to ship a penalty in the first half then another fine kick – this time off his weaker right foot – gave Stuart Hogg a heart-stopping moment just ahead of the hour mark.

11 JOE MARCHANT – 6
Charged Stuart Hogg down deep in his own 22 following Slade’s superb diagonal and looked perfectly at home playing out of position on England’s left wing despite seeing a lot less of the ball than his back three colleagues.

10 MARCUS SMITH – 7
Tasked with kicking his country’s points Smith started with a scuffed-but-successful penalty which brought a smile to his face and went on to miss only a tricky touchline conversion.

Showed he can mix his game to good effect but over-cooked a kick pass which would have left Max Malins with the easiest of walk-ins and missed touch with a penalty at a vital moment. Claimed a memorable try in the second half with a well-judged outside break.

9 BEN YOUNGS – 6
A typically sharp break from the base of a breakdown created a good chance which ended when Smith’s kick-pass missed its target.

His box kicking was not quite on point at times which, with England dominating possession, reduced the first half pressure on Scotland’s back three.

Took a good option to go blind and send Smith racing to the line for Engand’s second half try.

1 ELLIS GENGE – 6
A couple of powerful first-half bursts followed neat handling combinations with fellow prop Sinckler. Penalised in contact to present Scotland with a 40-metre opportunity which Finn Russell accepted on the stroke of half-time.

2 LUKE COWAN-DICKIE – 5.5
Kicked possession away in the Scotland 22 following a turnover with plenty of space outside him. Connected consistently with his lineout jumpers on a wet night when accuracy was essential.

Was then at the centre of a match-turning moment when exposed under a cross-field kick pass and yellow carded for deliberately knocking the ball into touch in an incident which also cost England a penalty try.

3 KYLE SINKLER – 7
Prominent with ball in hand in the early stages and showed some deft touches. Disrupted a Scotland maul to win a turnover early in the second half. Not really required to scrummage in a contest which saw only five set-pieces prior to his departure on 63 minutes.

4 MARO ITOJE – 6
Always a threat to Scotland’s lineout ball. Got up quickly in defence to block Finn Russell’s intended kick ahead early in the second half but generally less prominent than usual in the loose.

5 NICK ISIEKWE – 5
Picked off in the defensive line by Darcy Graham for Scotland’s opening try then pinged for going across the lineout.

Otherwise played an important role in England’s lineout which functioned extremely smoothly.

6 LEWIS LUDLAM – 8
Used as England’s third lineout option and secured some useful front ball throughout the game. Also carried to good effect and won a penalty in contact with a powerful early burst.

7 TOM CURRY – 6
England’s first-time skipper delivered a typically industrious display without producing any showreel moments and probably shared the battle of the breakdown with Lions colleague Hamish Watson.

8 SAM SIMMONDS – 7
Carried hard from set plays with Ali Price feeling the full force of one such thrust and being temporarily sidelined for an HIA as a result.

REPLACEMENTS – 5.5
England changed their props, introduced Alex Dombrandt for Lewis Ludlam and perhaps surprisingly swapped George Ford for 17-point Marcus Smith shortly after the hour mark.

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3 Comments
i
isaac 1003 days ago

England dominated throughout....first 20minutes scots had touched the ball only 3 times for 3 meters while England had 17 runs for over 150 meters and looked dangerous all over the park...its a pity they couldn't come away with points ...

p
paul 1003 days ago

The loyalty shown to Ben Youngs is mystifying. His box kicking is at best average for an international scrum half, pedestrian and often erratic passing, but his biggest weakness is his predictability which makes it so easy to defend. Try someone new Eddie.

R
Roy 1004 days ago

England dominated posession and territory, Scotland took their only 2 chances, 1 was a breakaway try and the other a penalty try. They were winners, but at home, in these conditions with a full team, they should have had parity at least.

So how do the Scottish players get better rankings? How does their pack get better rankings when they didn't dominate the scrum or lineout, they were pretty even, and they didn't keep hold of the ball?

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RedWarrior 1 hour ago
Three-way race to be number one in World Rugby men's rankings

IF SA and NZ win then its 1,2,3 SA/NZ/IRL Otherwise as you were. This is largely irrelevant beyond bragging rights.


As I have pointed out elsewhere the practical use of the Rankings is to determine the seedings bands for the RWC draw. The draw takes place early 2026 and hopefully the rankings will be taken from then.


Important to be in the top 6, the top 12. (and likely the top 4).

This is because there are now 6 groups in the RWC 2027.

If you are in top 6 you are in Seeding Band 1. That means none of the other top 6 will be in your group.

Seeding Band 2 are teams from 7-12, who will have a top 6 team but no other 7-12 team.

After England's defeat by NZ there is clear water between NZ in 3rd, France in 4th and England in 5th. England are desperate for top4, ill come back and explain why later.

Lets look at Seeding Band 1 and 6th place. If you make 6th, no top 6 team is in your group, you are top dog. If you win your group, you won't be facing a top 6 team in your 1/8th final, you will be facing a weaker team. If you fail to make 6th place you WILL have a top 6 team in your group and if you don't win your group you WILL (probably) meet a top 6 in the 1/8 final. That's massive.


Its Argentina holding 6th now. Assuming England hold 5th, then its a 4 horse race for 6th. Argentina, Scotland, Italy and ...Australia. (ranked 6,7,8,9)

Australia play the Lions in NH summer 2025 they are running out of time to get up to 6th for their own RWC. They MUST make a move now. They must beat Wales and they really must beat Scotland to gain points and take points off them. Could they surprise England or Ireland? England may be the better bet but Schmidt knows Ireland so well having masterminded their downfall in France.

Another one to watch is Italy V Argentina. Italy are ambitious and they will want to start pushing the likes of Argentina. If they win this they are still in the hunt. Well worth a watch either way.


Top4: I think the top 6 will be seeded, all the way through from the draw. If thats the case then the top 4 will be seeded to avoid each other until the semi. Good for more certainty around ticket sales etc. That's a possible reason why England want in there. You're not in there you are hitting a top 4 team in a QF. That's an extra 50:50 match you can do without and avoid by being top 4.


Lets look at what Seeding bands might look like with todays rankings:


Seeding Band 1

IRE/SA/NZ/FRA/ENG/ARG

Seeding Band 2

SCO/ITA/AUS/FIJ/WAL/GEO


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: FIJI

1/8 final opponent GEORGIA

Prognosis: advance to 1/4 and potentially beyond


Sample Aussie strongest pool opponent and 1/8th final opponent if NOT in top 6

Strongest pool opponent: SOUTH AFRICA

1/8 final opponent NEW ZEALAND

Prognosis: You know the prognosis


I am pretty sure this is not lost on Joe Schmidt?


Keep in mind when enjoying the matches.

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