6N 2016: Scotland v England, 6 February

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SCOTLAND v ENGLAND
6 February 2016
KO: 16:50 GMT
Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Live on BBC, RTE, FR2, DMAX / ITV(H)

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Touch judges: [tbc]
Television match official: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

133 Played 133
42 Won 73
18 Drawn 18
73 Lost 42
1,132 Points 1,547

B. Recent Form

14 March 2015
Twickenham, London
25 – 13 to England

8 February 2014
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
0 – 20 to England

2 February 2013
Twickenham, London
38 – 18 to England

4 February 2012
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
6 – 13 to England

1 October 2011
Eden Park, Auckland
16 – 12 to England

C. Teams

SCOTLAND

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Sean Maitland
13. Mark Bennett
12. Matt Scott
11. Tommy Seymour
10. Finn Russell
09. Greig Laidlaw (captain)

01. Alasdair Dickinson
02. Ross Ford
03. Willem Nel
04. Richie Gray
05. Jonny Gray
06. John Barclay
07. John Hardie
08. David Denton

16. Stuart McInally
17. Gordon Reid
18. Zander Fagerson
19. Tim Swinson
20. Blair Cowan
21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22. Duncan Weir
23. Duncan Taylor

ENGLAND

15. Mike Brown
14. Anthony Watson
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Owen Farrell
11. Jack Nowell
10. George Ford
09. Danny Care

01. Joe Marler
02. Dylan Hartley
03. Dan Cole
04. Joe Launchbury
05. George Kruis
06. Chris Robshaw
07. James Haskell
08. Billy Vunipola

16. Jamie George
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Paul Hill
19. Courtney Lawes
20. Jack Clifford
21. Ben Youngs
22. Alex Goode
23. Ollie Devoto

Pretty much because of history, because our 6N record is such grim reading!

Haven't beaten England since 2008
Haven't scored a try against England at Murrayfield since 2004
Haven't won in 6N in 12 games
3 out of the last 4 wooden spoons

I know history doesn't mean anything over the 80 minutes tomorrow but feck me our record is miserable!

yappysnap wrote:Wasn't Protheroe expected to opt for a Wales cap over England after the U20s?

Real surprise result that. Luckily it means little. I hope.

Who knows.....Swansea born and bred but that doesn't seem to matter nowadays, seems you can pick and chose who you play for these days

IanBru wrote:Really amazing result for Scotland!

The headlines will inevitably concentrate on the try count, but what amazed me was the granite wall of their defence - absolutely nothing was getting through, despite England being camped on Scotland's line on countless occasions. The tackling was brutal, yet well timed and intelligent. Despite being utterly dominated in the scrum, the Scots themselves were utterly dominant at the breakdown, especially in the second half.

There are some very special players coming through for Scotland, not least Jamie Ritchie at 6, Blair Kinghorn at 15, Scott Cummings (what will he be like in a decade?) at lock and young Adam Hastings at 10 (son of Gavin). Happy times.

One player stood out for me for England U20s - Mat Protheroe the fullback was absolutely tireless, and frankly his team mates didn't deserve him. Chapeau.

Agreed the defence for the u20s was outstanding. The line speed was immense and just didn't let England have any time on the ball.
1 to 23 played very well, the outstanding players for me were matt smith at openside and Tom Galbraith at 12. Both put in huge hits and were a real threat in attack, matt smith took his try very well.

I think Ms Scotland has the nicer hair.

gregortree wrote:I think Ms Scotland has the nicer hair.

I think Miss England is Cipriani

Majestic83 wrote:Agreed the defence for the u20s was outstanding. The line speed was immense and just didn't let England have any time on the ball.
1 to 23 played very well, the outstanding players for me were matt smith at openside and Tom Galbraith at 12. Both put in huge hits and were a real threat in attack, matt smith took his try very well.

Very true - it seems strange to even pick individuals from such a fantastic team performance. Matt Smith was great and Galbraith was like some chap running an iron man challenge - huge hits, blood streaming from his face, he just never stopped. Incredible.

RubyGuby wrote:

gregortree wrote:I think Ms Scotland has the nicer hair.

I think Miss England is Cipriani  

And you Ruby are Lord Lucan, and I claim my £5.

That is some win for Scotland well done

gregortree wrote:

RubyGuby wrote:

gregortree wrote:I think Ms Scotland has the nicer hair.

I think Miss England is Cipriani  

And you Ruby are Lord Lucan, and I claim my £5.

The full match of the u20s is on YT - here.

Kinghorn's try is fantastic!

So are we decided yet?  Is it

or

Majestic83 wrote:

IanBru wrote:Really amazing result for Scotland!

The headlines will inevitably concentrate on the try count, but what amazed me was the granite wall of their defence - absolutely nothing was getting through, despite England being camped on Scotland's line on countless occasions. The tackling was brutal, yet well timed and intelligent. Despite being utterly dominated in the scrum, the Scots themselves were utterly dominant at the breakdown, especially in the second half.

There are some very special players coming through for Scotland, not least Jamie Ritchie at 6, Blair Kinghorn at 15, Scott Cummings (what will he be like in a decade?) at lock and young Adam Hastings at 10 (son of Gavin). Happy times.

One player stood out for me for England U20s - Mat Protheroe the fullback was absolutely tireless, and frankly his team mates didn't deserve him. Chapeau.

Agreed the defence for the u20s was outstanding. The line speed was immense and just didn't let England have any time on the ball.
1 to 23 played very well, the outstanding players for me were matt smith at openside and Tom Galbraith at 12. Both put in huge hits and were a real threat in attack, matt smith took his try very well.

I take from this unusual air of Scottish positivity that your U20s won? I think you've done Wales U20 a big favour there! Good news on the Protheroe front, I expect he'll be back playing in Wales next year .

Fantastic result last night, the attack and defence were really brilliant. The problem being is how to give these guys the playing opportunities to kick on to the full Scotland team. Should we ship a lot of them off to London Scottish?
Kinghorn was obviously good last night but from what I could see Rory Hutchison looked excellent at 13, I think he was the stand-off last year.

Cautious optimism here for the match. However, for my wish list:
1) Restarts to have been improved to 'adequate' at the very least.
2) Maul defence has been worked on hard.
3) Hope that the perception of our breakdown work and scrummaging by the referees matches the reality of what is happening.

After that an exciting contest awaits...

DaveM wrote:

Cumbrian wrote:I'm glad other people rate Ford as much as I do, he seems to be coming in for some stick recently but he isn't doing THAT badly in a Bath team that as a collective isn't playing well. Ford is a once in a generation talent, we need to persevere with him rather than look elsewhere as soon as his form dips.

See I'd argue that both Farrell and Cipriani are once in a generation talents too. And both are playing better than Ford at the moment. But hopefully the fresh environment will restore Ford to his best.

I'd agree Cipriani WAS a once in a generation, he was unbelievable at age grade and made a really good start to his senior career. Things went off the rails mostly due to injuries and his personal choices, but I don't believe the English rugby fraternity helped him much either. He should have had dozens of caps now, he could have been such a boon when Wilkinson was broken down and we had average at international level Flood. I would hate to see Ford go down the same route as Cipriani. Farrell is a very good player, but I would argue that he isn't as mercurial as the other two.

Did not realise Glove was playing 12 for Italy

Im not looking forward to this, I think we'll lose

Got to say that I don't think Scotland will win this one but I sure hope they do.

nathan wrote:Im not looking forward to this, I think we'll lose

This going to be a huge test for both teams and their background staff.

Can't wait for kick off. Here's to a good game
Good luck Scotland - I hope it's not decided by a dodgy call.

nathan wrote:Im not looking forward to this, I think we'll lose

I think so too.

If it is a loss, I hope it's a loss with Scotland playing their new-ish, free-flowing style, rather than a dull 9-8 sort of game.

Doesn't look like its been raining

Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

maestegmafia wrote:Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

I'm sure they will survive, they like everyone is here for the game. Especially not inverdull

nathan wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

I'm sure they will survive, they like everyone is here for the game. Especially not inverdull

Ha ha ha...!

maestegmafia wrote:Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

I know what you mean, I don't like Andy Nicol either.

God those bagpipes are annoying, no wonder they were banned during the RWC

TightHEAD wrote:God those bagpipes are annoying, no wonder they were banned during the RWC

stub wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

I know what you mean, I don't like Andy Nicol either.

Considering there have been so many great Scottish players who have personalities, it's a crying shame.

Jason Leonard wiping his hands clean after shacking the Scottish teams hands, priceless!

TightHEAD wrote:God those bagpipes are annoying, no wonder they were banned during the RWC

Could be worse, could be Flower of Scotl-...oh for god's sake.

Acoustic version too!

maestegmafia wrote:

stub wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

I know what you mean, I don't like Andy Nicol either.

Considering there have been so many great Scottish players who have personalities, it's a crying shame.

Yeah but he's the only Scotsman you can understand, I have no idea what Grieg laidlaw says when he talks

I've just noticed the ref....

True Raven wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

stub wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

I know what you mean, I don't like Andy Nicol either.

Considering there have been so many great Scottish players who have personalities, it's a crying shame.

Yeah but he's the only Scotsman you can understand, I have no idea what Grieg laidlaw says when he talks

Steven Shingler maybe?

Nice line out, that's how you do it tom youngs!

True Raven wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

stub wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Scots rather poorly represented in the pre-match commentary team doing the build up.

I know what you mean, I don't like Andy Nicol either.

Considering there have been so many great Scottish players who have personalities, it's a crying shame.

Yeah but he's the only Scotsman you can understand, I have no idea what Grieg laidlaw says when he talks

Mind you

Can barely understand Brian Moore today, think he forgot his false teeth..???

nathan wrote:I've just noticed the ref....

indeed - how does he get to ref internationals ...

Great try from a solid scrum. Well done england

Oh dear Scotland

England score a try despite a massive obstruction missed by the ref.

Good strength by Kruis, richly deserved for the start England have made.

Scotland are playing very well but England already look well coached. Quality match.

Happy to see Farrell taking the kicks. Cares threw a couple of dodgy passes so far. Hope he calms down

VinceWLB wrote:England score a try despite a massive obstruction missed by the ref.

??? where?

Heaf wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:England score a try despite a massive obstruction missed by the ref.

??? where?

There wasn't one

Another Mis-read by care there

Ref ignoring England lying all over the ball before it spills out and he gives England a penalty :/

Vunipola plays the ball on the ground, completely ignored.

Keep up the good work Lacey.

Scotland off their feet a fair bit