Winning was all that mattered to Eddie Jones in his first match as England coach.
So the scrappy, error-riddled nature of the 15-9 victory over Scotland in the Six Nations at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Saturday did not concern Jones one bit.
England maintained their dominance in world rugby’s oldest fixture by scoring the only two tries of a dour match, through lock George Kruis in the first half and winger Jack Nowell in the second.
Photo: AP
Scotland barely threatened England’s try-line, managing just three penalties from captain Greig Laidlaw, as they slipped to their eighth loss in the past nine meetings with their bitter rivals.
“Come up here, win the Calcutta Cup, score two tries to none, and you don’t get any injures. It’s a good day at the office,” Jones said. “It was an easy win.”
Jones was hired in November last year — as England’s first foreign-born coach — to shake up English rugby after a dismal home Rugby World Cup, but had had only 10 days with the squad. It meant he was delighted with the way England grew into the game, especially up front, where he wants the players to restore their hallmark strength.
“We stuck at it and found a way to win,” said Dylan Hartley, the uncompromising hooker who captained England for the first time and kept out of trouble.
England would have had an excuse if they had lost, but not the settled Scotland lineup. It was a step backward for a team that came into the competition with optimism, after their recent improvement under coach Vern Cotter that nearly took them to the Rugby World Cup semi-finals in October last year.
Scotland have not scored a try at home to their bitterest rivals since 2004 — a span of 504 minutes.
“The guys are enormously frustrated,” Cotter said. “There’s so much more to come from this team.”
Scotland promised to unleash “chaos” to rattle England’s attack and stuck to their word. Both halves were frantic and scrappy.
England’s scrum — a platform Jones was looking to build from — was a mixed bag and Kruis’ try came from one of the few early ones that held up well. From second-phase ball, the lock took a pop-pass from scrumhalf Danny Care and barged through four tacklers to ground the ball one-handed.
Scotland had less territory in the first half, but replied with two successful penalties from three attempts by Laidlaw to leave the match well poised at 7-6 at halftime.
The quality was hardly better after the break, although England’s second try was razor-sharp. Nowell arced round Scotland’s wide defense to collect a short outside pass from Owen Farrell and squeezed into the right corner for a try that Farrell failed to convert, keeping Scotland within a score.
Farrell and Laidlaw traded penalties, but there was no late drama.
England No. 8 Billy Vunipola capped a man-of-the-match display with a couple of late charges over the gain line, keeping Scotland deep in their own territory
Earlier on Saturday, Virimi Vakatawa and Jules Plisson shone in a new-look France team, who secured a hard-fought 23-21 victory over Italy in their Six Nations opener.
Coach Guy Noves made a winning start as sevens stalwart Vakatawa, who had not played 15-man rugby in more than two years, scored the first try from the wing.
Damien Chouly and Hugo Bonneval also crossed the line, while flyhalf Plisson kicked a conversion and two penalties.
Italy responded with tries by Sergio Parisse and Carlo Canna, who also added a drop-goal, a penalty and a conversion. Kelly Haimona kicked a penalty.
Stade de France was under tight security as the gates reopened for the first time since the Paris terror attacks on Nov. 15 last year.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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