6N 2016: Scotland v England, 6 February

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SCOTLAND v ENGLAND
6 February 2016
KO: 16:50 GMT
Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Live on BBC, RTE, FR2, DMAX / ITV(H)

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Touch judges: [tbc]
Television match official: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

133 Played 133
42 Won 73
18 Drawn 18
73 Lost 42
1,132 Points 1,547

B. Recent Form

14 March 2015
Twickenham, London
25 – 13 to England

8 February 2014
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
0 – 20 to England

2 February 2013
Twickenham, London
38 – 18 to England

4 February 2012
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
6 – 13 to England

1 October 2011
Eden Park, Auckland
16 – 12 to England

C. Teams

SCOTLAND

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Sean Maitland
13. Mark Bennett
12. Matt Scott
11. Tommy Seymour
10. Finn Russell
09. Greig Laidlaw (captain)

01. Alasdair Dickinson
02. Ross Ford
03. Willem Nel
04. Richie Gray
05. Jonny Gray
06. John Barclay
07. John Hardie
08. David Denton

16. Stuart McInally
17. Gordon Reid
18. Zander Fagerson
19. Tim Swinson
20. Blair Cowan
21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22. Duncan Weir
23. Duncan Taylor

ENGLAND

15. Mike Brown
14. Anthony Watson
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Owen Farrell
11. Jack Nowell
10. George Ford
09. Danny Care

01. Joe Marler
02. Dylan Hartley
03. Dan Cole
04. Joe Launchbury
05. George Kruis
06. Chris Robshaw
07. James Haskell
08. Billy Vunipola

16. Jamie George
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Paul Hill
19. Courtney Lawes
20. Jack Clifford
21. Ben Youngs
22. Alex Goode
23. Ollie Devoto

Laughable by Lacey, about 3 Scottish players with their hands on the floor there

nathan wrote:Scotland off their feet a fair bit

In attack theyre sealing off wherever possible!

However England good work at the breakdown is forcing them to

We've competed more over the ball already today than we did in the RWC.

Scotland will be pleased to be only four points down so far, you would expect England to enter a lull soon.

Well played Russell beautiful kick over Watson

Hogg is certainly fired up today!

Kicking to the Scottish back three is not a great decision.

maestegmafia wrote:Kicking to the Scottish back three is not a great decision.

Particularly with a non-existent chase.

What are you English fans view of the Ford Farrell 10 12 partnership so far? I think its been quite good.

Not sure if Ford was released in the tackle there either ...

Scotland not playing well at the moment, need to turn it around or they will have more than a 4pt deficit soon.

Duty281 wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Kicking to the Scottish back three is not a great decision.

Particularly with a non-existent chase.

Aye

England's 10-12 axis are not impressing themselves on the game. Looks very conservative, but the back three and Joseph look like they want some fast ball.

An odd first half not helped by a pedestrian pace set by the ref

Not been a great game for me so far. Far too error strewn and stop start. Hopefully we'll see some better continuity second half.

wales606 wrote:Scotland not playing well at the moment, need to turn it around or they will have more than a 4pt deficit soon.

Both teams are misfiring..!

What was that penalty for?

Someone needs to put some superglue on the scottish players hands

What I Would give for England to have a quality scrum half!

wales606 wrote:Someone needs to put some superglue on the scottish players hands

Scots backline look like they have some pre-rehearsed moves that are opening small gaps..

wales606 wrote:Someone needs to put some superglue on the scottish players hands

Handling for both teams has been pretty dire. Quality is lacking so far but it's early on still...

Where was the TMO for the late hit on Ford as well - all the officials seem poor ...

Literally had his arms on the floor. Off his feet.

Counter-rucking is working well for Scotland, they should try it more often

wales606 wrote:Someone needs to put some superglue on the scottish players hands

Both teams are full of errors, suppose they are a bit rusty.

Laughable decision by Lacey. He's such a shut ref

Danny care does know he can move the ball before the ref tells him too?

Dan Coles not the sharpest tool in the shed is he

I know Hartley has a past but he is being totally disrespected by Lacey...

England need to cut out the stupid penalties.

If England can keep Scotland out in this half I think they will win this

Poor game so far and Scotland making too many mistakes. England look like a lot of fat boys in the forwards

Another mistake.

When you're camped on the opposition line and your scrum half is arriving at the ruck about 30 seconds after your tight head

Poor end to the half by Scottish halfbacks... They need to turn the screw in that position.

Well done England

Shame old England, trying to play a tough forwards game yet they can't do the basics right, gym monkeys

8 penalties conceded to 3.....

Interesting first half, England clearly have the brawn, but do they have the brains to make the right decisions?

Thought Care had a poor half, Ford wasn't the greatest.

At the moment, not happy with the performance but it's early days

Both teams are a bit scrappy. Scotland though in last minutes of the game looked far stronger than England.

Still England in the lead . just.

Absolutely predictable from England, methinks:
Start fast. Dominate.
Come away with fewer points than the possession and territory would suggest.
Go in the tank for the rest of the half. Seemed rudderless to me - this is the 9-10 axis.

Ford is having a bit of a stinker. Haskell has been impressive, justifying his selection.

Very poor quality half.

Scotland should be able to take this because England are so poor at the ruck (again!) and in intensity. Joseph has barely been in the game, thus far.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Ford is having a bit of a stinker. Haskell has been impressive, justifying his selection.

I don't think he's behind hope by car though. Everyone seems very nervous

TightHEAD wrote:

Heaf wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:England score a try despite a massive obstruction missed by the ref.

??? where?

There wasn't one

Yes there was - Care blocked Laidlaw - not that Laidlaw would have stopped Vunipola much quicker

Enjoying the game very much. Really don't know which side will win it - both could and would deserve to: both playing with ambition and making breaks.

My prediction: Scotland win after a Haskell brainfart.

eirebilly wrote:I know Hartley has a past but he is being totally disrespected by Lacey...

He Annoyed Lacey right at the beginning shouting at him.

Lacey is without doubt the worst referee in international rugby. How does he stay on the panel as he is always this bad.

eirebilly wrote:What are you English fans view of the Ford Farrell 10 12 partnership so far? I think its been quite good.

Has Farrell actually touched the ball?

It is the first game of the 6ns. Both teams need to find there feet.

Scotland are looking really threating, England, not doing much wrong at the moment, but that is down to Scotland not allowing England much room to do the things right.

TJ wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:

Heaf wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:England score a try despite a massive obstruction missed by the ref.

??? where?

There wasn't one

Yes there was - Care blocked Laidlaw - not that Laidlaw would have stopped Vunipola much quicker

That's stretching the trust a bit as Care didn't move, Laidlaw just grabbed him off the ball though.

England need to get Joseph and Nowell into the game - Joseph especially is looking very sharp

TJ wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:

Heaf wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:England score a try despite a massive obstruction missed by the ref.

??? where?

There wasn't one

Yes there was - Care blocked Laidlaw - not that Laidlaw would have stopped Vunipola much quicker

Care was entitled to stand where he was - Laidlaw put himself in the wrong position ...