Scotland could have beaten All Blacks the way they played – Andy Goode

Scotland were scintillating on Saturday and deservedly sent England packing with their tails between their legs, but they have to back it up and win away to be serious contenders.

They were outstanding at Murrayfield and it’s a strong statement but I think they could even have beaten the All Blacks the way they played. They were better than England in every facet of the game and Ireland wouldn’t have been able to live with them either.

Some people have said that they got the rub of the green and the bounce of the ball but you make your own luck. They were completely dominant at the breakdown and their X-factor players stood up.

Finn Russell had a great game in terms of his distribution and ability to find holes in England’s defence and Huw Jones was ludicrously good again. He’s scored eight tries in his last eight Tests now and is a major reason why Scotland have managed to take their game on to another level.

They dominated England and it all started in the warm-up. Whatever happened between Ryan Wilson and Owen Farrell in the tunnel did seem to get to England’s main man. I’ve never seen him fly out of the line defensively so many times, he looked rattled and that spread throughout England’s game.

A good example was Jones’ break through the middle. People have pointed the finger at Nathan Hughes but that was Farrell’s tackle. When a centre comes on a short line and goes in between two defenders, you’ve got to defend the ball.

Chris Robshaw was non-existent at openside for me. He got through a fair amount of carrying and tackling as always but he didn’t have the impact you’d want. He was massively exposed at the breakdown and England’s policy of picking three second rows didn’t help him and was found out as well.

Scotland had three back rowers who were all competing at the breakdown and we had none. John Barclay was the pick of the bunch, making 12 tackles without missing any and winning three turnovers, but Hamish Watson was brilliant as well and Wilson was a menace from the pre-match scuffle to the moment he went off after 68 minutes.

Hughes was blowing after 10 minutes and was off the pace. That’s not his fault but there’s no way he should’ve been thrust straight back into Test rugby after being only playing 23 minutes since suffering a knee injury in December. He’d only played an hour and a half of club rugby in total since the autumn internationals.

There’s a bit of inconsistency as well because Eddie Jones has said Manu Tuilagi needs to find another couple of cylinders after he’s played six Premiership games in a row but Hughes is considered ready with just 20 minutes off the bench after over two months out.

Clearly, we’re missing Billy Vunipola massively and then the next cab off the rank Sam Simmonds gets injured as well but it did expose a lack of depth and the back row is an area where England have found a way to get by in recent times but needs addressing now.

Jones didn’t think Robshaw was a number seven a few years ago and he still doesn’t but has been using him there because of injuries. This might just prompt him to look a bit harder for an out-and-out openside in one of the Curry brothers or maybe Sam Underhill.

Dylan Hartley and Mike Brown are others who people will talk about being at risk of getting dropped and they were disappointing at the weekend but it’s really difficult for Eddie Jones. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t but it’s now or never in terms of changing things with a view to the 2019 World Cup.

England have still won 24 of 26 games under Eddie Jones, so it’s hardly time to throw the baby out with the bathwater but have they stagnated in recent times? Yes, they have. Nobody can say that England’s performances have been good since losing to Ireland at the end of last year’s Six Nations.

England failing to get even a losing point against Scotland and Ireland getting a try bonus point against Wales was a huge swing and so it isn’t just the defeat that is an issue. Ireland are now five points ahead of England and six ahead of Scotland.

If Scotland replicate their performance from Saturday, they can beat Ireland in Dublin and throw the competition wide open. Then both Scotland and England would still be in with a shout of winning the tournament but there’s no doubt Ireland have taken a massive step towards the title.

Scotland’s challenge is to back this victory up now. They haven’t won an away game in the Six Nations outside of Rome for eight years, so they have to change that to be considered a contender but this should be the landmark win that gives them the confidence to do so.