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Full player ratings as Scotland win Calcutta Cup thriller over livid English

Published 18:49 5 Feb 2022 GMT

Patrick McCarry
Full player ratings as Scotland win Calcutta Cup thriller over livid English

Homerugby

SCOTLAND 20-17 ENGLAND

Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 1984 after rallying in the second half to stun Eddie Jones men.

Marcus Smith had put England 3-0 ahead and the Scots had Ali Price off for a Head Injury Assessment when Darcy Graham made a stunning clean break and teed up sub scrumhalf Ben White to score. Finn Russell converted but Smith tagged back three points before half-time. The second half started with Russell and Smith trading penalties before England went ahead after a scrum under the shadow of the Scottish posts. While the Scots dug in for a big drive, England had a strike-play planned, and Smith came haring in to score a fine try. England ratings

Luke Cowan-Dickie and a costly decision

With 15 minutes to go, a cross-field kick had England in lots of trouble. Luke Cowan-Dickie blatantly batted it down, preventing what would have been a sure score. The result was a penalty try that levelled matters, a yellow card for Cowan-Dickie and prop Joe Marler throwing into lineouts. The momentum was firmly behind the home side and Finn Russell held his nerve with a kick when England erred. Seven minutes to go and Scotland led 20-17. England had a late chance to get a score but had a lineout stolen. There was a knock on, four re-set scrums, and England spill and the last hope flew out the win. Many of the England players were livid at the re-set scrums, at the death, when they clearly had the upper-hand. As it stands, though, there Grand Slam and Triple Crown dreams are dashed. They now must win all four final games to have a championship chance. Here's how we rated both sets of players from the starting XVs.

ENGLAND PLAYER RATINGS

Freddie Steward - 7 Max Malins - 7 Elliot Daly - 5 Henry Slade - 6 Joe Marchant - 5 Marcus Smith - 8 Ben Youngs - 7 Ellis Genge - 7 Luke Cowan-Dickie - 5 Kyle Sinckler - 7 Maro Itoje - 6 Nick Isiekwe - 5 Lewis Ludlam - 7 Tom Curry - 5 Sam Simmonds - 8 England ratings

SCOTLAND PLAYER RATINGS

Stuart Hogg - 7 Darcy Graham - 8 Chris Harris - 6 Sam Johnson - 6 Duhan van der Merwe - 7 Finn Russell - 8 Ali Price - 7 Rory Sutherland - 7 George Turner - 7 Zander Fagerson - 8 Jonny Gray - 7.5 Grant Gilchrist - 7 Jamie Ritchie - 6 Hamish Watson - 7.5 Matt Fagerson - 8 REPLACEMENT RATING - Ben White gets a 7 for his try-scoring cameo.