Valentine’s Day massacre breathes new life into Scotland’s Six Nations campaign

WITH their backs to the wall and expectations on the floor, Scotland mustered an almighty show of defiance. A Valentine’s Day massacre of England, this breathes new life into their Six Nations championship.

Against the strongest England team he has ever faced, one which arrived in Edinburgh on the back of 12 straight wins, the obituary writers were sharpening their quills on Gregor Townsend’s tenure as head coach.

Instead, suddenly, Scotland have a pulse. This was a result and performance which will, almost certainly, be enough to see Townsend remain in a job beyond the end of the championship.

We can argue about the rights and wrongs of that until we are blue in the face. In one sense, it really doesn’t change a whole lot for Scotland in the grand scheme of things.

We have long known them to have England’s number in this fixture. This was the seventh time in nine years Scotland have wound up with the Calcutta Cup in the Townsend era.

This was their biggest margin of victory over England since 2018. That was the year when Finn Russell and Huw Jones terrorised England and tore them apart.

Scotland’s dynamic duo were at it once again. Especially in the first half, Russell turned Murrayfield into his own personal playground once more.

He was superb, carving England open time and again, and laying on two of Scotland’s three tries during the opening period.

There was one pass in particular he made to Jamie Ritchie that summed up the swagger of Scotland’s greatest showman, flicking the ball one-handed out wide for the back-rower to score in the corner.

Jones was electric, scoring twice, just as he did in 2018. From Russell’s one-handed brilliance, it was England who left Murrayfield empty-handed.

Their bid to win a Grand Slam was derailed in a way that few thought possible. But where does this leave Townsend in the bigger picture?

Scotland supporters celebrated this triumph with typical passion and gusto. But, in the cold light of day, no one should lose sight of the fact that we are going round in circles under Townsend.

In terms of a one-off victory over England, no matter how much everyone enjoyed it, doesn’t move the dial in terms of Scotland making genuine progress under the current head coach.

That is not to downplay the performance in any way. Scotland were outstanding and thoroughly deserved their victory.

Jamie Ritchie touches down for Scotland’s second try at Murrayfield

But we have been here umpteen times before against England. Under Townsend, Scotland have come to view the Calcutta Cup as their own personal property.

A true gauge of their progress lies not in their ability to beat England, but to mount a proper challenge over the course of a full championship.

If Scotland can go down to Cardiff next weekend and beat Wales, they would then face the prospect of France at Murrayfield before a showdown in Dublin on the final day.

Can they win those next three games and hope to challenge for a title? You can’t make an argument for them doing that based purely on one victory over England.

They are a team who still blow hot and cold in infuriating fashion. Whilst it was a brilliant performance and result, nobody should get carried away just yet.

Scotland started like a steam train. They led 10-0 after 10 minutes thanks to a try from Huw Jones. That quickly became 17-0 after 15 minutes when Jamie Ritchie went over in the corner.

The gasps of disbelief around Murrayfield were audible. What on earth was happening? They were ripping up the script.

England looked rattled. Maro Itoje had that distant look in his eyes. This totemic figure of English rugby, who has only won once at Murrayfield in 10 years, was watching another horror show unfold.

Itoje must have had it in his mind that he and Ollie Chessum would feast on Scotland’s lineout, given how shambolic it has been in Rome last weekend.

But every reference point of Rome last weekend was being made redundant. Every single department of Scotland’s game was miles better than it had been in the monsoon at the Olimpico.

England got up and running when Henry Arundell darted through a gap close to the line and scored after a decent period of pressure.

Huw Jones runs through for the opening try for Scotland

Ben White hails Huw Jones after the centre claimed the opening try for Scotland

But any thoughts of a comeback were swiftly disabused when Ellis Genge blundered and spilled the ball as he chased back towards his own line, allowing Ben White to dot down for an easy try.

In poppy in his coaching box, Townsend roared and punched the air. His team were rampant, playing at a pace with which England simply could not cope.

They led 24-10 as the teams went down the tunnel at half-time, with England badly hampered by the 20-minute red card issued to Arundell after he took out Kyle Steyn in the air.

Up against 14 men for the next chunk of the game, Scotland needed to go in for the kill. It was England who had actually build good pressure, until another dreadful error from George Ford saw it all unravel.

His attempt at a drop-goal was charged down and gobbled up by Matt Fagerson. Jones raced away to score under the posts after being fed by his Glasgow Warriors team-mate.

With Russell and Jones weaving their magic, this was 2018 all over again. The party will stretch long into the wee small hours.

But it’s now incumbent on Townsend and this team to go down to Cardiff next weekend and take care of business. If they don’t, this will only be a distant memory.