Scotland - the bound to contain detail breakdown

[Digby]

It occurs in setting about this that actually one could just write the wind blew hard, the rain streamed down, and Stuart Hogg has issues holding onto the ball near a try line

[Peej]

Nailed it

[Digby]

Minute 1

Stuart Hogg kicks off with plenty of height into the English 22 and May has to backpedal to take the ball, he's not set catching the ball and gets knocked back by Johnson spilling the ball in the process. Worth noting Johnson is not a speedy centre (as we saw last weekend) and he's metres ahead of the other Scottish players because he started running from behind Hogg at the point the kick was made, had other Scottish players made similar efforts one might have been there to gather the loose ball and flop over the line for a try. Ford gathers and kicks almost up to halfway where Hastings gathers about 6m infield

Scotland potter about around the 22m line, sometimes making a couple of metres, sometimes losing contact. Ruck speed isn't bad but they're not stringing together the positive phases, it's more win a collision then lose a collision.

[Digby]

Minute 2

Price probes the fringe and can't get the ball away to Brown, partly he's got arms holding him but also it does rather look like Sinckler tackles Brown off the ball

Scotland run a series off one out passes before Itoje is quick to get at Price and drags the ball back on the England side prompting Gray to fall on the ball and not release, penalty England

[Digby]

Minute 3

England kick out almost up to halfway, Scotland don't move off the line after being told to do so and it's a free kick to England

[Digby]

Minute 4

Farrell boots the ball high into the sky and England set about chasing the kick, but the wind is strong enough the ball starts coming back at England and is caught by Heinz with 7 England players ahead of him. Heinz is scragged and Mako does well to get around and rip the ball back on our side but can't get any go forward on the carry, ball comes out to Sinckler and he does make it over the gain line coming onto Heinz's pass rather than being static, who knew. Bit of a messy ball presentation from Sicks, don't think he was helped by the footwork of George and especially Kruis coming to make the clearout.

Ball passed back to Farrell in the pocket and with the Scottish winger up in the line he drills a kick down into the Scottish 22 that goes out for a 5m line out.

We don't really see the lineout but Gray it would seem catches the ball, or at least he's got the ball as he comes down from his jump.

[Mr Mwenda]

Respect for doing this.

[Digby]

Minute 5

Price doesn't take on the box kick but passes back to Hastings, not the best pass and Hastings hurries a clearance which from deep in goal almost makes halfway but is also almost 5m from finding touch.

Daly catches and floats a pass to Furbank, Furbank floats a pass behind Curry, hard to blame either on the conditions. Easy to blame Curry though as he runs forward with a defender being drawn to May on his outside and once the defender has lined May up Curry gives the pass, that's a bad call no matter the weather.

England get away with it because Heinz plays the ball quickly and Sinck crashes up a few inches. It's not much but it's this sort of position that Yonungs is simply playing too slowly and then we're backing up negative plays. Heinz feeds the ball back to Faz and he makes another decent kick with a low kick down the right which Hastings fumbles, but at least fumbles backwards and gathers at the 2nd attempt. I suppose Fez's kick might have struck a leg of an advancing defender on another day being grubbered through, but this time it has worked out well.

Hastings clears to touch and Ford tries to go quickly but Johnson who'd chased up on Farrell is there to block any such attempt. Cute play from Johnson who was (sort of) running back after the Farrell kick until the ball went over the touchline after the Hastings kick, just somehow Johnson made 30m less than any other player in Blue

[Digby]

Minute 6

England win lineout at the front with Ludlam, decent tap down to Heinz and we work the ball to Curry carrying in the middle. England pass early and with plenty of depth, normally it'd be stupid but maybe it's all there is in this game. Curry makes the the gainline and Underhill and Mako stop Ritchie getting at the ball, and Ritchie was close to getting at the ball with a nice side entry and going off his feet.

Ball is passed back to Ford in the pocket who puts up a high kick down the Scotland right, Daly goes up with Maitland and nobody touches the ball before it bounces and runs into touch. No idea how Daly wasn't pinged given how far in from of Ford he was, normally an area we show discipline in. But this time I'd guess Daly was comfortably 2m in front of Ford.

Scotland mess up their lineout, almost caught at the front but spilled and Sincks I think reclaims before Mako carries and sets up a ruck around 15m in from the left ad about 5m outside Scotland's 22

[Digby]

Minute 7

Heinz passes to a deep lying Ford who tries to kick diagonally towards the Scotland left, but Hogg is easily able to get across and call a mark before the ball is even close to finding grass.

Hogg sends a kick down into England's half which Ford catches runs to maybe 5m or so short of halfway and launches a high kick coming down just outside the 22, Hogg comes forward and knocks the ball on ongoing his previous decent cover. Decent chase from Daly to put a white shirt in Hogg's eyeline

George gathers the rebound off Hogg and feeds Heinz who in turn feeds Faz who feeds May. The passes from Heinz and Farrell are simply there as England work on transition, they're not bad but they exist more than they're actually doing anything. May has a decent sized hole on the field to run at between Fagerson and Cummings, but in the event steps off his left to look for space between Fagerson and Ritchie and that's a much smaller hole. I don't know what May saw in doing that, it can't be he didn't fancy taking on Fagerson's outside shoulder with the prop having to try and defend more than 5m of space, and either way he had support. Anyway, England pass to the left and again (probably due to the awful conditions) the passing is early and deep and Scotland are just drifting across no worries until Johnson misses his tackle on Curry, and then Curry drives a few metres into a tackle from Maitland. Next up is Itoje who carries into Cummings and Gray. I think Cummings and Gray are doing well, even with Itoje getting help from Kruis and Sincks at most we're making no ground, but then as Gray goes down with the tackle Cummings isn't working hard enough, Itoje gets boosted a few metres and Cummings flops over on the wrong side. Penalty England. Cummings should have continued pushing Itoje back and stayed on his feet, poor play.

[Digby]

Minute 8

Faz opts for the kick at goal, normally that's fine but in these conditions it's a brave/stupid call depending on one's bent.

Bar electing to kick at goal nothing else happens

[Digby]

Minute 9

It'd be a decent attempt in normal conditions, here it drifts to the right and falls short. Kick also took about 70 seconds from informing the ref we'd go for 3

Kinghorn catches the penalty attempt and boots the ball off the park halfway between the 22 and 10m line. We don't see the lineout as we're watching a replay of a Kinghorn's bang average kick to touch, but England have the ball

[Digby]

Minute 10

England pass on a series of phases going right to left, mostly winning contact and winning the battle for inches at a time. Heinz slides a kick in after an advantage is given for Scotland going offside, nothing comes from the kick so it's back for the penalty.

[Digby]

Minute 11

Faz makes the kick this time, an attempt that was closer to the posts. Probably takes slightly over 70 seconds to take the kick this time but it's not obvious exactly when England confirmed a shot at goal.

[Digby]

Minute 12

Having just said it's not clear how long England took to confirm a shot at goal and make the kick I can say from the moment the penalty was awarded to Scotland taking the restart it's 113 seconds, so I've some sympathy for the crowd thinking that's not value for money.

Anyway, Hogg takes the restart, again deep to May but this time the wind doesn't catch the ball and May gathers and runs the ball up a few metres and Heinz exits with a box kick. Hogg gathers inside the Scotland half and pass infield to Hastings who carries back over halfway and sets the ruck.

Price complains Mako is in the way, and he is in the way of where Price is stood but not so much the ball, Price could have ignored Mako and just played the ball but I can't blame him for wanting a penalty. Itoje doesn't blame him either and makes a high tackle so the minute ends with an advantage to Scotland

[Which Tyler]

This is going to be more entertaining than the match itself

[Oakboy]

This is going to be more entertaining than the match itself

Even the title is!

[p/d]

I just keep reliving Minute 8

[Oakboy]

I just keep reliving Minute 8

I wonder if it ever occurs to any of the players under Jones to tap and run a penalty?

[Banquo]

I just keep reliving Minute 8

I wonder if it ever occurs to any of the players under Jones to tap and run a penalty?

Youngs has done it a fair few times.

[Digby]

Minute 13

Price chips ahead for Scotland and they regather only to knock on at the base just outside our 22, they were probably fast closing on advantage over at that point, but we're going back for the penalty. Not a bad high tackle by Itoje, and nothing like the multiple brain farts against France, but it is a pen.

Scotland kick the ball out for a lineout in our 22, and the weather has taken a turn for the worse

[Oakboy]

I just keep reliving Minute 8

I wonder if it ever occurs to any of the players under Jones to tap and run a penalty?

Youngs has done it a fair few times.

Yes, but nothing like as much as he used to in the pre-Jones era. It just would have been good to see it as a possibility in that wind. After all, the 6/2 bench split had to have had wearing down the opposition as an original thought, presumably? I'm still baffled as to why Jones would pick that set-up and then leave two of them on the bench.

[Banquo]

I wonder if it ever occurs to any of the players under Jones to tap and run a penalty?

Youngs has done it a fair few times.

Yes, but nothing like as much as he used to in the pre-Jones era. It just would have been good to see it as a possibility in that wind. After all, the 6/2 bench split had to have had wearing down the opposition as an original thought, presumably? I'm still baffled as to why Jones would pick that set-up and then leave two of them on the bench.

Not sure about that, he's also likely slowed down since then. Normally I'd agree keep ball into the wind is a good plan, but conditions were so crap I can't really criticise the tactics overly- I have a problem with execution tho.

[Digby]

Minute 14

Timing issue in the Scottish lineout sees the ball easily clear their middle jumper and Underhill gathers the loose ball over the top. Johnson is rushing up so hard to try and regather he ends up just hurdling Underhill down on the floor, I get not sliding in with knees or studs slamming into Underhill, I don't get running so hard in a lost cause he's taken himself out of play, instead of contesting the ball Johnson is 6m behind play as Underhill gets to his feet and drives forwards into Hastings.

England then cock up the exit play as there's no protection for Heinz to make a clearing kick, and we're a distance from the touchline so maybe they're not thinking box kick anyway. Farrell isn't there as an option as he not unreasonably removed Watson from contesting the ball Underhill takes into contact, but we are nearer the left than right touchline and Daly is close by but heads off to the wing leaving Ford as the only option to kick.

Not sure Daly wasn't the best option even before Ford's kicks out to the right touchline shapes like a banana and only just makes it out of our 22 before going into touch, the wind fooled Kinghorn too who was starting to run back for the kick and was wrong footed when it shot off into touch. Maybe England didn't want to kick down our left thinking the wind was worse that side.

[Digby]

Youngs has done it a fair few times.

Yes, but nothing like as much as he used to in the pre-Jones era. It just would have been good to see it as a possibility in that wind. After all, the 6/2 bench split had to have had wearing down the opposition as an original thought, presumably? I'm still baffled as to why Jones would pick that set-up and then leave two of them on the bench.

Not sure about that, he's also likely slowed down since then. Normally I'd agree keep ball into the wind is a good plan, but conditions were so crap I can't really criticise the tactics overly- I have a problem with execution tho.

Burt used to talk about us running other teams off their feet, Eddie doesn't seem to rate our fitness levels and rarely even suggests trying to run teams off their feet.

For sure we're missing a bit with a lack of running options at 9 and 10 though, and our current 9 and 10 have both shown they can run even if Youngs is likely slower than once was the case