Van der Merwe try not enough as England edge Scotland in thriller
Yesterday at 01:56 PM
MATCH REPORT: England just did enough to end a run of four straight defeats to Scotland with a 16-15 win at Twickenham on Saturday as they maintained their Six Nations title hopes.
Scotland outscored England three tries to one but, significantly, Finn Russell was off target with all three conversions - including wing Duhan van der Merwe's 79th-minute score - as the hosts prevailed by a point for the second match in a row following their 26-25 win over France.
More to follow...
Man of the match: The award goes to Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe. He had a hand in his side's two first-half tries and he scored the only try in the second half. He carried the ball 15 times and notched 140 metres in a powerful performance.
Moment of the match: There was drama at the end with Duhan van der Merwe scoring late before Finn Russell missed the crucial conversion.
Villian of the match: Scottish fans might say it's Finn Russell's goal-kicking boot
The scorers:
For England:
Try: Freeman
Con: M Smith
Pens: M Smith 2, F Smith
For Scotland:
TrIes: White, Jones, Van der Merwe
Teams:
England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben Curry, 22 Harry Randall, 23 Elliot Daly.
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (co-captain), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (co-captain), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
