Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said his team had got a “monkey off our backs” after ending their 38-year wait for a win at Twickenham, with an 11-6 victory over reigning champions England in the teams’ Six Nations opener on Saturday.
None of the squad were alive when Scotland triumphed 22-12 at Twickenham in 1983, with Townsend himself then only nine years old at a time when Margaret Thatcher was British prime minister and Michael Jackson was No. 1 in the UK charts with Billie Jean.
All that history was put to one side in a rain-swept match, where Scotland dominated the set-piece, besting England at the scrum and line-out, while flyhalf Finn Russell and skipper Stuart Hogg expertly directed play behind their pack.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe struck in the 30th minute to score the only try of the match, with Russell and England captain Owen Farrell landing two penalties each in a match where the final scoreline did not reflect the visitors’ superiority.
“I came down here a number of times as a player and then as a coach and hadn’t come away with anything,” former Scotland flyhalf Townsend told reporters. “So this result is definitely up there with the best ever results in our history, and certainly myself in my coaching career.”
“Today, the players were outstanding in really tricky conditions,” he said.
Photo: AFP
The match marked the 150th anniversary of rugby’s oldest international fixture.
Scotland have shown signs of progress since their group-stage exit at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, and in October last year, they beat Wales for the first time in 18 years.
“We had moments before and after the World Cup, and that’s how we’ve been shaped as a group of players and coaches,” Townsend said.
Not even Russell landing in the penalty box shortly before halftime disrupted Scotland’s game.
“It was so good to see the players play so well in the period of Finn Russell’s yellow card, and we won that 10 minutes 3-0,” Townsend said.
His developing team have a home clash against Wales next.
“It [beating England at Twickenham] is definitely a monkey off our backs,” he said.
England coach Eddie Jones said: “We just couldn’t find a way to get into the game... We just seemed to be off the pace, and I have to blame myself, we didn’t prepare the team well enough.”
One consolation for England is that next week they are at home to perennial strugglers Italy.
The Azzurri, thrashed 50-10 by France in Rome earlier on Saturday, their 28th consecutive Six Nations defeat, have yet to beat England.
Nevertheless, Jones said: “You never atone for a game like this. This stays with you for a long time, but the most important thing is that we get together and we find a way to improve our performance and play like England do against Italy next week.”
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