Scotland 30-21 England: Gregor Townsend hails side's Six Nations mental growth
- Published
BBC Sport pundits react to Scotland's win against England in the Six Nations
Scotland have "grown a lot mentally", said head coach Gregor Townsend after his side's 30-21 Six Nations win over England at Murrayfield.
Duhan van der Merwe was the star of the show, scoring all three tries, with Scotland recovering from 10-0 down.
The Edinburgh winger is the first Scottish player to score a hat-trick in 130 Calcutta Cup meetings.
"The guys showed really good resilience to find solutions, to work out how we could win," Townsend told BBC Scotland.
"I think we have grown a lot mentally since the World Cup, from the experiences we've had over the past couple of years."
Scotland exited the autumn World Cup at the group stage following defeats by South Africa and Ireland.
Townsend's side have won two of their three Six Nations matches, with a frustrating home loss against France following a narrow win in Wales.
"We know we should be three out of three, but we're two out of three and we need to go to Rome with a better performance," added Townsend, with Italy up next and the campaign finishing in Dublin.
'There's a lot more growth in us'
'There's improvement to do' - Townsend reacts to Scotland's win
Townsend has lost just once in seven encounters with England since taking the job in 2017, with five wins and a draw.
"You know there will be huge emotion and intensity in a game like this," he said.
"This has been the only one where we haven't had to defend right at the end, so it was a little bit more relaxed.
"There's a lot more growth in us. I felt in the last 20 minutes we could have kept on going and attacked the space out there.
"But look, to beat England and score 30 points, it's remarkable what this set of players have done in the last few years."
Van der Merwe will get all of the headlines, but Townsend was also full of praise for his replacements.
"If you give someone like Duhan an opportunity, whether it's from 60 yards or close to the line, he's got the pace and power," he said.
"The bench were excellent, the energy they brought. They really helped us over the line. It was a massive squad effort. I know I should probably have brought guys on against France."
