Twickenham triumph for Chiefs duo
By Mark Stevens
4/2/23
Exeter Chiefs duo Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray enjoyed Twickenham triumph as Duhan van der Merwe's late try gave Scotland back-to-back wins at Twickenham for the first time, turning Calcutta Cup history on its head with a stunning 29-23 victory against a spirited England in their Guinness Six Nations opener.
After Huw Jones and Max Malins traded scores, Van der Merwe scored an individual try that will go down in Six Nations history to take Scotland ahead again.
England stayed patient and were rewarded as Malins finished off a well-worked team try before Owen Farrell's penalty put them one point up at half-time.
Ben White kept Scotland within one after Ellis Genge's try, before Farrell and Scotland fly-half Finn Russell traded penalties to leave the score at 23-22 with 10 minutes left.
A sensational attack followed, allowing Van der Merwe to score another and make Scottish wins at Twickenham almost as regular as Glastonbury after claiming the first in 38 years in 2021.
Head coach Gregor Townsend believes Scotland can deliver even more after their stunning win.
"I don't know if it's this fixture, but it got me emotional at the end," said Townsend, whose contract ends after this year's World Cup. "To see the way the players came back, in a venue where we struggled for a lot of occasions, shows what a team we have. We weren't at our best today.
"To win from behind, when you've only got five minutes, to score such a good try makes it all the more special."
New head coach Steve Borthwick says England have to go through some pain to grow as a team.”
“This is part of the growth of the team," he said. "We got ourselves in a position when we should have won the Test match in the second half. At 20-12 up, we shouldn't be letting that game get away from us. You have to go through some pain. Really good teams would go on and win that.
"We were playing against a Scotland team who have controlled this fixture in recent years. We need to make sure we limit chances and can shut them down.
"We saw some growth, particularly in the attacking side of the game. The game was quicker but clearly we're disappointed in the result.
"The team in the autumn, if they conceded a couple of scores early didn't come back from that. These guys did. Unfortunately we let the opposition back in. We want to be a really successful team that wins Test matches. When you get to that level, you don't give the opposition the opportunities we did.
"I am disappointed for the supporters, who I thought were incredible for us today. We'll make sure we come back here in eight days' time and are a better team."