Chris Ashton sealed England's narrow 16-12 win over Scotland after a less than convincing performance against the Scots.
Andy Robinson’s side went into the game knowing that they had to beat England by 8 points or more to ensure qualification into the Quarter-Finals. The match took place on a wet and windy night in Auckland with both teams fighting for their World Cup survival.
Right from the start Scotland applied pressure to the English set-piece as England’s scrum faltered and the line-out stuttered, the set-piece would prove a deciding factor in the first half as Scotland took their chances well. Unfortunately for the Scots, Rory Jackson went off with a pulled hamstring after only 4 minutes of the match. However, Scotland was able to call on the highly experienced Dan Parks as a more than capable replacement.
Parks made his presence known early on threading through an early kick that was well chased by Max Evans. A few phases later Parks put up a high cross kick out to Sean Lamont on the left-wing which nearly paid off, however, Lamont knocked on. The following scrum was a mess and England gave away an early penalty. Chris Paterson slotted the conversion to open Scotland’s account. England 0 Scotland 3
England managed to get on the wrong side of the referee in the early stages of the match just like they did against Argentina in the 1st round of the competition. Tom Croft gave away a simple penalty for an offence at the breakdown and then England were marched back a further 10 metres because of back-chat from the forwards. Scotland kicked down into English territory and after a few phases they were awarded a penalty due to Dan Cole’s indiscretion at a ruck. The penalty was just out of Patterson’s range so Parks stepped up to take the kick. The Glasgow fly-half made no mistake as he stretched Scotland’s lead by 3 points. England 0 Scotland 6
England had got off to a terrible start, they were giving away too many penalties and were not fronting up in the set piece, but they looked to have had a good chance to get on the scoreboard when Ben Youngs had been turned over. Scotland held onto the ball after the turnover and Jonny Wilkinson was given his first shot at goal. The wind was blustering, but it was in England’s favour. Unfortunately, the usually reliable Wilkinson dragged the attempt to the left of the uprights. It did not take England long to have another chance at the posts after Peter Jacobson did not retreat following Patterson’s up and under. Wilkinson’s 2nd attempt was from 50 metres out and he missed again. There has been a lot mentioned in the press about the ball being used in this year’s tournament, but most kickers have coped well with the Gilbert ball. Wilkinson had possibly psyched himself out with all the talk about the ball and his poor kicking performance against Argentina.
After some strong carries from Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes, Scotland went off their feet at the breakdown and were penalised. Wilkinson pushed his 3rd attempt to the right of the posts and it looked like England was going to regret the missed chances. Scotland’s Dan Parks started to pull the strings at fly-half and took advantage of England’s inability to kick their points as he kicked down to the corner twice. Parks put England under real pressure and the pressure tolled as England once again lost a line-out.
England survived the scare in their half and managed to put some strong phases together. However, Scotland gave away a penalty by going in at the side of a ruck which gave Wilkinson another chance to kick at goal. Wilkinson opened his account in the match with a well struck kick at goal. England 3 Scotland 6
From the kick-off England did their best to throw away the three points Wilkinson had just won them, James Haskell misjudged his jump and knocked on in his own 22. This was a schoolboy error and something that should not feature in a side looking to progress in the tournament. England defended well with Tuilagi just about doing enough to haul Joe Ansbro down on the wing. England lost a scrum that followed and gave away a penalty which Parks kicked into touch. After a few phases, Parks played the percentages and slotted a penalty on the stroke of half time to make the score at the break: England 3 Scotland 9
Half time: Scotland was commanding in the set-piece as they repeatedly disrupted the England line-out and dominated the scrum. Martin Johnson’s men were making poor mistakes and not taking their chances at goal.
Martin Johnson’s half-time team talk clearly struck a chord with Manu Tuilagi as he came out for the second half with a huge tackle on Sean Lamont. From the resulting turnover, Tuilagi released Delon Armitage who sprinted down the left-wing. England had what they needed in phases and territory, however, Ben Youngs shipped out a horrible pass to James Haskell above his head which made him knock the ball on. Surprisingly, England won the scrum against the head, Youngs was sharp as he ran off the back of the scrum and fed Mike Tindall. However, the Gloucester centre could not take the ball cleanly as he knocked the ball on. England won the ball from a turnover and Jonny Wilkinson missed an easy drop-goal attempt from in front of the posts, Wilkinson had clearly not brought his kicking boots to Auckland.
England won a line-out in Scotland’s 22 and looked to put pressure on the Scottish. However, Dan Parks picked off an English pass and Scotland cleared the ball deep into England’s half. Simon Danielli had a fantastic chance to score for his country as the Scottish winger chipped ahead of himself and looked to have beaten Ben Foden to the ball. However, Foden just about did enough to stop the try as he knocked the ball on diving on the ball. From the resulting scrum, Scotland was awarded a penalty. Chris Patterson slotted the attempt from the right touchline. England 3 Scotland 12
This gave Scotland a lead of more than 8 which would have been enough to win them a place in the Quarter Finals if the score had stayed that way. However, from the kick off, Manu Tuilagi took the ball with authority and charged forward. To the confusion and frustration of the England fans who had witnessed Wilkinson miss a few kicks at goal, the Toulon fly-half managed to fire over a drop-goal on his weaker right foot. England 6 Scotland 12
The English were growing in confidence and won another penalty, Wilkinson kicked to touch and the English pack set up a driving maul. Wilkinson made a dreadful decision to try a drop-goal at the wrong time and was charged down. England should have played a few more phases and tried the drop goal or looked for try. Scotland cleared the ball deep into English territory once again and Foden showed his true class to track back and gather the ball. Chris Ashton showed another side to his talent with a huge kick down into the Scottish 22. The English piled on the pressure and The English were given another penalty. Wilkinson struck the ball beautifully and added the three points. England 9 Scotland 12
Dan Parks decided to show his skill once again with a dangerous cross-kick out wide to Richie Gray; however, Tom Croft showed his dynamism and pace to get back to touch the ball down for a 22 drop-out and to stop a likely try. England worked their way up field and won another penalty. Wilkinson, who had grown in confidence after some successful kicks stepped up; however, he left the penalty just short of the crossbar.
A few minutes later, Toby Flood, who was on in place of Mike Tindall was playing at fly-half after Jonny Wilkinson had been replaced by Matt Banahan, kicked to the corner from a penalty. This was an interesting call as the kick at goal would have secured a draw. However, the English were so confident in their potential that they felt they could score in the final minutes. After a powerful maul from the front-five, Tuilagi was put on a crash ball up the middle. Youngs passed the ball out to Flood who threw a wide pass out to Chris Ashton on the wing who made the finish look simple as he scored in the right hand corner. Ashton scored the deciding try in the match and Flood put the nail in Scotland’s World Cup coffin by slotting the conversion from the right touchline. England 16 Scotland 12
The final two minutes were now down to clock management; England had to run down the clock with the forwards. However, Scotland were given one more phase of possession. With the final play of the game Scotland threw the ball out wide, however, Banahan managed to throw Ansbro into touch. England’s players threw their arms up in the air in a mixture of joy and relief as they secured the vital win that guaranteed them a place in the Quarter Finals to face a weak French team.
Full Time: England 16 Scotland 12
My Man of the Match: It was a tough call as Manu Tuilagi was outstanding in defence and looked like the only bright spark in attack for England; however, Ben Foden fielded several kicks that stopped near certain tries. Foden gave a performance that any International full-back would have been proud of. In the Quarter Finals he needs to get himself into the attacking-line more as he has the pace and footwork that can cause defences problems.
Summary: England just about did enough to win, however, the Scottish were outstanding for 60 minutes or so without their 1st choice fly-half. Martin Johnson will be pleased with the win, but there is plenty of work to do, the video analysis session this week will be vital to turning around England’s lacklustre first half performance.
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