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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Gerard Meagher at BT Murrayfield

Scotland 20-17 England: Six Nations player ratings from Murrayfield

Stuart Hogg celebrates with the Calcutta Cup
Stuart Hogg celebrates with the Calcutta Cup. Photograph: Tim Williams/Action Plus/Shutterstock

Scotland

15 Stuart Hogg (capt) Another excellent Six Nations performance for the catalogue. Kept busy by England’s varied kicking game but coped well. 9

14 Darcy Graham Excellent work in buildup to White’s try to wrongfoot Marchant and made a scintillating break in the second. 8

13 Chris Harris Is growing in stature as one of the best defensive centres in the northern hemisphere. Not many frills but a calming presence. 7

12 Sam Johnson Two carries for six metres – he was another victim of how little ball Scotland enjoyed in the first half in particular. Defensively solid, though. 5

11 Duhan van der Merwe Felt hard done by when penalised with Scotland well placed and always looked dangerous when in space. 8

10 Finn Russell Has a knack of upping the tempo with one perfectly fizzed pass and after a quiet start he grew in authority. 8

9 Ali Price Off for HIA on 13 minutes – and his replacement scored a dazzling try while he was receiving treatment – but proved his worth when returning. 7

1 Rory Sutherland Not his best performance in that Sinckler got the better of him at scrum-time. Schoeman was more involved when he came on. 5

2 George Turner Ran a decent lineout despite Itoje and Isiekwe doing their best but did not offer much with ball in hand before he was replaced. 6

3 Zander Fagerson Put England under pressure at the breakdown and got through plenty of tackles in a busy first 52 minutes. 7

4 Jonny Gray Having missed the autumn internationals his was a welcome return to the Scotland boiler room. 7

5 Grant Gilchrist Got through a mountain of unseen work and is developing into one of Scotland’s most reliable forwards. 7

6 Jamie Ritchie A real menace in his hour on the pitch. It was not always legal but most of the time it was effective and his injury-enforced withdrawal was a blow. 8

7 Hamish Watson Not many of his barnstorming carries but Scotland edged the back-row battle and he has to take his fair share of credit for that. 7

8 Matt Fagerson Led the resistance, tackling everything that moved as England dominated possession and territory in the first half. 8

REPLACEMENTS: Stuart McInally (for Turner 52) Improved things 7; Pierre Schoeman (for Sutherland 52) Got stuck in 7; WP Nel (for Z Fagerson 52) Strong scrummaging 6; Sam Skinner (for Gray 63) Crucial late lineout steal 7; Magnus Bradbury (for Ritchie 60) Strong showing 7; Ben White (for Price 59) Fairytale try 7; Sione Tuipulotu (for Johnson 60) Couple of carries 6

England's Luke Cowan-Dickie commits a deliberate knock on leading to a yellow card and a penalty try for Scotland
England's Luke Cowan-Dickie commits a deliberate knock on leading to a yellow card and a penalty try for Scotland. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho/Shutterstock

England

15 Freddie Steward First away performance for England suddenly not looking so assured under the high ball. That may sound harsh but a wobble was inevitable. 6

14 Max Malins Plenty of early touches, cutting infield and taking on his man on the outside but couldn’t deliver a telling contribution that a more specialist winger might have done. 5

13 Elliot Daly Flitted between centre and wing but showed some classy touches in both positions. Should he have demanded a late shot at goal? 7

12 Henry Slade Did his best to prise open Scotland’s defence but was well shackled, often facing two-man hits. 6

11 Joe Marchant Outfoxed by Graham for White’s try but stuck to his task. Not as involved as he would have liked. 6

10 Marcus Smith Backline was a bit clunky but England’s boy wonder took matters into his own hands with a fine try. England unravelled almost immediately after he went off. 8

9 Ben Youngs Clever break when England were searching for some inspiration but his kicking seemed a little prescriptive and was less effective as a result. 6

1 Ellis Genge Likes playing here, having scored the decisive try two years ago and gave it everything but was unable to influence proceedings as much as he’d have liked. 6

2 Luke Cowan-Dickie Can’t argue with his yellow card nor the penalty try decision – it was blatantly slapping the ball into touch and a deliberate knock-on to boot. Costly. 4

3 Kyle Sinckler Won a scrum penalty, gave one away just before half-time and showed his delightfully soft hands. A typical performance from a player now established as key member of England’s pack. 7

4 Maro Itoje Tried to get to Hogg for opening try but that ultimately created the opening. England’s go-to man at the lineout and was influential in his side’s maul dominance. 7

5 Nick Isiekwe No major complaints on his return to the side after a long wait but England lost the battle of the back five of the scrum. 5

6 Lewis Ludlam Palpably fired up on first start since this fixture two years agoin 2020. Tried a bit too hard at times but England went backwards when he went off. 6

7 Tom Curry (capt) Vowed to lead by example and always gets stuck in but this was the kind of match where England needed cool heads as the temperature rose. 6

8 Sam Simmonds Made an eye-catching break down the left on his first start for four years and a crucial tackle on Van der Merwe when the Scot was flying. 7

REPLACEMENTS: Jamie George (for Cowan-Dickie 77) Lineout stolen n/a; Joe Marler (for Genge 63) Lineout throw didn’t work 4; Will Stuart (for Sinckler 63) Solid 6; Charlie Ewels (for Isiekwe 77) N/A; Alex Dombrandt (for Ludlam 63) On the fringes 5; George Ford (for Smith 63) Poor penalty to touch 4; Jack Nowell (for Marchant 80) n/a

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