Jones, who took over from Stuart Lancaster in the wake of England’s World Cup pool-stage exit, had made it clear he wanted a win at any cost and will have enjoyed seeing his forwards gradually wrestle control and finish in command of a scrappy but typically intense Calcutta Cup encounter.
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But it was the same old story for Vern Cotter’s team as they failed to make the most of their openings while Eddie Jones’ men claimed a 15-9 Calcutta Cup victory thanks to tries from George Kruis and Jack Nowell.
“Six Nations games are always special, but to get to play at home against England, there really isn’t anything better”, said an optimistic Hogg, who last tasted victory over his southern rivals in 2012 when Scotland “A” defeated England “A” 35-0 at Netherdale in Galashiels.
“The guys are enormously frustrated”, Cotter said.
“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.
“The refereeing was hard so it was never going to be a free-flowing game”.
“We got off the bus (before the game) and the Scottish fans were going insane”, Jones recounted. We made two defensive errors and they scored twice off them and that’s the ball game right there.
– Scotland have failed to score a try in their last five home games against England in the Six Nations.
England’s scrum ” a platform Jones was looking to build from ” was a mixed bag, and Kruis’ try came from one of the early ones that held up well.
Vunipola had 19 ball carries in the match, bashing holes in Scotland’s defense, and Jones was effusive in his praise.
“He wasn’t bad was he”, said the coach with a smile. “He’s doing a pretty good job as a slow number eight”, Jones told reporters.
“I’ve said it’s going to be a faster game so we could pick a faster pack”.
Scotland flanker Blair Cowan, in contention for a starting spot in Cardiff after coming on for the last quarter against England, insists the squad are itching to put their Murrayfield mis-fire behind them.
Asked why there weren’t more fresh faces to start the new era, he added: “We picked the best 23 for this game”.
“In Test matches it’s those fine margins that you have to take”.
Tommy Seymour was guilty of one such mistake during the first half when he allowed Jonathan Joseph to steal possession with the whitewash in sight, while Finn Russell inexplicably kicked the ball out of play while clean through following the interval after snatching a Ben Youngs pass.
“It’ll be the toughest match we have played against Scotland in a while”, Robshaw says.
“We probably weren’t accurate enough”, he confessed.
Supporters are still nursing their disappointment from last summer’s World Cup when the Scots were just 90 seconds away from booking a place in their first tournament semi-final. “There’s so much more to come from this team”.
“We have to learn from that, when these opportunities arise, it’s non-negotiable that we’ve got to take them”.
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Uncapped pair Maro Itoje and Elliot Daly have been overlooked despite being in outstanding form for their clubs, prompting Toulon back row Steffon Armitage to warn that Jones is sending out the wrong message to England’s aspiring internationals.
