Scotland 31-20 England: What ifs nag hosts after more Calcutta Cup joy
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Six Nations highlights: Scotland beat England as Van der Merwe scores hat-trick
Much of the pre-match chat ahead of the Calcutta Cup centred around the English blitz defence and how it might throw Scotland off their game, but it was the visitors who were blitzed by a stunning hat-trick of Duhan van der Merwe tries.
The big man has form against England.
He scored a try as Scotland ended a 38-year wait for a win at Twickenham in 2021. He returned to the same stadium last year and scored two tries in another famous victory - one a jaw-dropping solo run from 60m, the second a trademark finish to a wonderful team move to snatch the win in the closing stages.
His second try in Scotland's latest Calcutta Cup triumph - their fourth on the bounce - was Van der Merwe at his devastating best. The arcing run around the English defence and his surge to the line was a finish very few players in the game are capable of.
Van der Merwe is an attacking player the calibre of which England just do not possess.
When Scotland were in a hole early on it was Van der Merwe, ably assisted by Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, that snapped them into gear. When the tide turned against England, they had no such players to turn to.
The visitors came out the blocks fast and when George Furbank's well worked try helped them into a 10-point lead, you did wonder if we might perhaps be witnessing this team's coming out party as a serious force.
That opening try was as good as it got in an attacking sense and when Tuipulotu and Jones unpicked that blitz to put Van der Merwe away for the first Scottish try, the home side rarely looked troubled by an England side that quickly ran out of ideas.
The noises coming from the England camp in game week was about the power they were going to bring to Murrayfield. They were "ready to kick the door down" as Kevin Sinfield put it.
That sort of stuff may have done for Scottish teams of yesteryear, but not this one. This Scotland team has stood up to and beaten bigger, stronger outfits than this iteration of England.
They needed more to turn over this Scotland team in their own backyard. More power, yes, but more sophistication to their attacking play. The Scots ate up just about everything that was thrown at them and England had neither the personnel nor the nous to find a way through.
The England bench was supposedly an area that would give them the edge. Aside from a well taken try from the lively Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, the English subs struggled to impose themselves. Instead it was the Scottish replacements making the big impacts.
Cam Redpath made an important break to turn defence into attack in the build-up to the third try. Andy Christie again made a compelling case to be elevated to a starting berth. And the much maligned Elliot Millar-Mills came up with a big turnover to help extinguish any English hopes of a late revival.
Van der Merwe 'buzzing' after hat-trick
It was telling that from head coach Gregor Townsend, the man who regularly reminds us that this fixture will always mean more to Scots than any other, there was no hint at giddiness in the aftermath.
He has after all masterminded five victories and a draw in his seven Tests against Scotland's old rivals. There was satisfaction of course, but he immediately pointed to the chances his team left behind.
There will be a frustration at scoring 30 points and not securing a bonus point, just as there was after round one in Cardiff when Scotland led 27-0 after 43 minutes yet still came away with just four points.
Winning is what it's all about and yet there is that nagging knowledge that those bonus points can be crucial in the final shake-up. Scotland need to be better at properly putting teams to the sword when they have them where they want them.
France got off the hook with the help of the match officials in round two, but Scottish players and coaches spoke about how they contributed to their own downfall by not putting that game out of sight before the dramatic and controversial finale.
Had they got over the line against the French and burnished their victories over Wales and England with the bonus points that were surely there for the taking, there would be a one-point gap to leaders Ireland in the table rather than six.
"There is definite room for growth in this team," Townsend said of his men, and the truth is this England side are no longer a barometer from which to measure yourself as one of the top sides. That true test will come, after a trip to Rome to face Italy, in Dublin on the final weekend.
England will get that examination a week earlier when the champions come to Twickenham having already dispatched France, Italy and Wales in pretty ruthless fashion.
If England can reach the levels they did in taking South Africa to the wire in the World Cup semi-final then they can perhaps give Andy Farrell's juggernaut a proper examination. Anything less than that and Ireland could well head into that final round meeting with Scotland with the maximum 20 points - and the title - already in the bag.
Head coach Steve Borthwick said before the Calcutta Cup that England were further behind in their journey than Scotland. The Scots brought home to him just how true that is.