By David van der Merwe

Scotland hosted England, current Six Nations champions and holders of the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield on Saturday in their opening 2012 Six Nations match. If you had asked English fans before the game, they would have told you that England had as much chance to win as you had staying warm in only a t-shirt in the -10 degree weather. But England walked away 13-6 victors on the day.

England started with 3 uncapped players and 4 on the bench. The first half was dull and boring with Owen Farrell and Dan Parks exchanging penalties. Farrell put England ahead only to see Parks erase the lead and swing it 6-3 into Scotland's favour at half time.

The only other highlight in the first half came when a mini wrestling match broke out. England won a penalty and when Chris Robshaw, the English captain, tried to get the ball he got into a tussle with a Scottish player. Two more Scots got involved before it looked like it would become a free for all royal rumble. The referee restored order with the help of some players and the game could continue. Robshaw however had his jersey torn and looked like the Incredible Hulk with his shirt hanging from his shoulders.

Owen and Andy Farrell

The second half started with a bang as 29 seconds into it Charlie Hodgson's charged down a Dan Parks kick and fell over for the only try of the game. Parks had it coming. It looked like he first wanted to sit down for dinner before he took the kick and that gave Hodgson the time to charge it. Farrell added the extra two points to make it 10-6. From then on it looked like England wanted to win. It was also the first try in a Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield since 2004.


Had it not been for Dave Denton's defence on David Strettle, England would have had a second try mere minutes later. The Number 8 tackled Strettle out in the corner after a Hodgon crossfield kick put him away.

Scotland had the better of England on the attack. England missed at least 1 in every 8 tackles, but the Scottish handling cost them the game. The way they knocked on the ball I would n ot trust them to hand me a drink. Everytime they did break the defence they made sure England could cover and gave the ball back to the English.

Greig Laidlaw nearly scored for the Scots after he chased down his own chip kick. The TMO however ruled that he didn't get a hand to the ball before Ben Youngs did. Farrell missed a long range penalty after this in the 70th minute but closed out the game with a 35m attempt minutes later.

Lancaster can be proud of his young team and the grit and determination they have shown in this match. There is still a lot of work ahead for them if they want to retain the title. But from here they can only grow and become better.

Andy Robinson will not be a happy coach. It is now 4 games without a Scottish try. And as we know tries win games. Handling is costing the Scots tries. They can break defences but then they leave the ball behind. Andy must maybe focus on the basics this week before he does anything else.

Follow Dave on Twitter @djvanman