SCOTLAND’S hopes of winning the Triple Crown and going on for a tilt at the Six Nations Championship next week were obliterated yesterday as they lost 61-21 at Twickenham. England’s victory was enough for them to reclaim the title they won last year and equal the All Blacks’ record of 18 Test wins in a row, as well as keeping them on track for a consecutive Grand Slam.
Scotland can still claim second place if they beat Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday and other results go their way, but they have severe injury worries in a campaign that has already seen them lose several key players, with the biggest concerns now being over Stuart Hogg, Mark Bennett and Ryan Wilson. “My biggest concern of the Championship was to see how many players I’ll be able to put on the field the next week,” head coach Vern Cotter said. “In two away games we’ve had eight concussions.
“There wasn’t too much to say,” he continued when asked what was discussed after the game. “It wasn’t a great performance from us, but we always say you win together and you lose together, so we’ll take this on the chin.
“We didn’t put in the plays we needed or the defence we needed to get close to England today. They performed very well.”
Captain John Barclay offered a forthright verdict on how the team had performed. “We’re trying to move away from the tag of plucky losers, but that wasn't even that,” he said. “We were useless.
“We just didn't show up. We got off to a bad start and continued, our discipline was very poor, and we gave away soft tries.”
England head coach Eddie Jones offered limited praise of Scotland, but admitted his team could have been given a tougher contest. “I’ve got to say Scotland didn’t defend well.
“They worked hard and had a lot of injuries. I think they’ve generally played well [in the tournament] and they’re a good team. We’ve got a power advantage and Scotland struggled with that.”
Scotland are now fifth in the table, behind Wales on points differential. France have gone second following their 40-18 win in Rome.
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