England defeated by Scotland in Six Nations opener
Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup defeating England 20-17 at Murrayfield.
Despite 17 points from Marcus Smith, England were pipped in Edinburgh by the boot of Finn Russell in their opening Guinness Six Nations match.
It was a tentative start to the Test as both sides jostled for possession and territory, but England applied the early pressure, Max Malins linking well with Freddie Steward down the right flank inside the opening 10 minutes only for the full back to be tussled into touch five metres from the line.
Marcus Smith converted a 30-metre penalty on the 17-minute mark, but England's lead was short lived, as Darcy Graham burst through their defence moments after the restart, before squaring up Steward and sending substitute Ben White over on debut. Russell's extras made it 7-3.
England's promise continued though as Ben Youngs kept tempo high at ruck time, sniping when opportunities presented, and Smith soon had another penalty attempt from close range, which he duly converted to cut the deficit to one point.
But despite making 167 more metres, 33 more carries and boasting 63% possession, a Russell three-pointer on the stroke of half time saw England go in 10-6 down at the break.
Smith kicked his ninth point a few minutes into the second half, as Eddie Jones' men grew in confidence, and the fly-half scored England's first try on the 53-minute mark. Youngs peeled off a dominant rolling maul, and hit Smith as he fired through a gap in the Scottish defence to slide over.
He missed the extras but converted another penalty on 63 minutes, which was his last contribution to the game, as he made way for George Ford.
Luke Cowan-Dickie was deemed to have deliberately hit a ball into touch, as Graham challenged him in the air. He was shown a yellow card, and Scotland were awarded a penalty try to level the match.
Then Russell added another three to his tally, as England's scrum buckled five metres from their own line, handing the hosts a 20-17 win.
Teams
England
1. Ellis Genge, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Nick Isiekwe, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Tom Curry (c), 8. Sam Simmonds, 9. Ben Youngs, 10. Marcus Smith, 11. Joe Marchant, 12. Henry Slade, 13. Elliot Daly, 14. Max Malins, 15. Freddie Steward.
Finishers
16. Jamie George, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Charlie Ewels, 20. Alex Dombrandt, 21. Harry Randall, 22. George Ford, 23. Jack Nowell.
Scotland
1. Rory Sutherland, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Jonny Gray, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Matt Fagerson, 9. Ali Price, 10. Finn Russell, 11. Duhan Van Der Merwe, 12. Sam Johnson, 13. Chris Harris, 14. Darcy Graham, 15. Stuart Hogg (c).
Replacements
16. Stuart McInally, 17. Pierre Schoeman, 18. WP Nel, 19. Sam Skinner, 20. Marcus Bradbury, 21. Ben White, 22. Blair Kinghorn, 23. Sione Tuipulotu.
Fixtures & results
Scotland 20 - 17 England
Italy v England - Sunday 13 February
England v Wales - Saturday 26 February
England v Ireland - Saturday 12 March
France v England - Saturday 19 March
