England needed a late try from winger Chris Ashton to overcome a fired-up Scotland 16-12 and creep into the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup as Pool B winners yesterday.
The 2003 champions, who just needed to avoid defeat by seven or more points to progress, looked like losing before Ashton crossed two minutes from time to give them a perfect four wins out of four matches.
They now face another familiar foe in France in a quarter-final clash back at Eden Park on Saturday after France earlier reached the last eight in even more ignominious fashion with a loss to Tonga in Wellington.
Photo: Reuters
Scotland, whose last-gasp defeat to Argentina last weekend left them with an uphill battle against their oldest rugby rivals, gave everything they had, but are now almost certain to exit the World Cup before the knockout stage for a first time.
Two Chris Paterson penalties and a penalty and drop-goal from Dan Parks helped keep Scotland in front for most of the evening, but ultimately they will rue their inability to take the few try-scoring chances they carved out.
England showed almost nothing in attack until Ashton’s late score and relied heavily on the kicking of Jonny Wilkinson, who had another disappointing night with the boot, but still kept his team in the match with two penalties and a drop-goal.
Things had looked bad for Scotland’s avowed intent of running England ragged when rain showers poured down on the pitch all day and then again when they lost flyhalf Ruaridh Jackson to injury after just five minutes.
However, fullback Paterson got them on the scoreboard with a penalty after the ill-discipline that has dogged England throughout the tournament surfaced once again in the ninth minute.
Replacement standoff Parks added another eight minutes later, although it took the television official to confirm it had crept over the crossbar, and Scotland had the sniff of a famous upset.
England continued to kick possession away to try and keep Scotland in their own half, but when their pressure led to three penalties in five minutes, Wilkinson missed them all.
Wilkinson finally got England off the mark seven minutes from halftime, but Scotland charged straight back and Parks gave them a 9-3 lead with a drop-goal before trotting straight off the pitch for the break.
England got some momentum going at the start of the second half with impressive winger Delon Armitage coming close to scoring down the left wing soon after the restart.
Scotland should have scored their first try after 53 minutes, but Nick de Luca dropped the ball with the line at his mercy after Simon Danielli’s chip and chase had stretched the England defense to their limits.
Paterson added his second penalty soon afterward to extend Scotland’s lead to 12-3 and that seemed to focus English minds with Wilkinson replying within a minute with a trademark drop-goal.
The 32-year-old brought England even closer with a 63rd-minute penalty, but Scotland continued to attack at every opportunity and lock Richie Gray almost latched on to a Parks cross-kick a minute later.
Wilkinson missed another penalty 13 minutes from time and it appeared England would advance with a bonus point defeat until their pack found an extra burst of energy and surged toward Scotland’s line.
The ball was finally released and replacement Toby Flood’s long miss pass gave Ashton time to size up the single defender and crash over to score and save England’s blushes.
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