As Mike Tyson once said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Well, England have certainly taken a heavy slap here. Three blistering tries by Huw Jones, Jamie Ritchie and Ben White have rocked Steve Borthwick’s side. It has not yet been a sucker punch, but with Henry Arundell receiving a red card for his second yellow just before half-time, if they are to land their first major win on the road in the Six Nations since the last World Cup, they are going to have to demonstrate the kind of resilience we have not yet seen from them during their run of 12 successive Test wins.
Scotland have been simply joyous to watch, attacking with the ball in hand and at a stunning tempo and have too easily found gaps in the England defence on the edges. Finn Russell has been at his masterful best, fizzing the ball around but also mixing up his game. An unconventional flick pass allowed Jones to around Maro Itoje and then he single-handedly opened England up with a staggering blindside break and chip that led to Ben White’s try from a fumble by Ellis Genge.
England have simply not been able to impose their game on Scotland, hampered by poor discipline. Arundell’s try after a series of drives by the forwards from a line-out, was a rare demonstration of their verve. Fourteen points adrift and with only 14 men to launch a comeback, Scotland are in the box seat for a famous victory.
