31-20: A hypermotivated Scotland leaves England without a Grand Slam and without the Calcutta Cup

A hyper-motivated Scotland, after losing to Italy a week ago in Rome, ruined its eternal rival’s Grand Slam chances this Saturday in Edinburgh and also left England without the Calcutta Cup that has been settled every year since 1879 by the founders of the oldest competition in world rugby.

England was, along with France, which it will visit on the last day of the tournament, the great favorite for the title and the Grand Slam, which is won by the team that wins its five matches.

This Saturday the XV of the Rose It left the Gauls already on the second day as the only ones who can hope to defeat the other five, since all of them (Ireland beat Italy this afternoon) have a defeat in their locker, except the French.

The visitors also see an extraordinary 12-game winning streak that began on the first day of the 2025 Six Nations ended when Ireland defeated them.

The Scotland led by the questioned coach Gregor TownsendFor his part, he took out all his pride after falling in Rome to win the Calcutta, a trophy that he has dominated in recent years. In six years, the Caledonians have only lost once.

In the beginning, those of XV of the Cardo They swept their neighbors by outplaying them in all phases of the game. On, Arundellauthor of three tries against Wales a week ago, saw a yellow card that led him to the bench at the historic Murrayfield stadium for 10 minutes.

The lively and aggressive rugby of the Caledonians raised the score to 17-0 in just 15 minutes through two tries from Jones and Richie, and the accurate boot of Russell. England reacted, there was no other option, and as soon as Arundell returned, those selected by Borthwick crossed the local try line.

Ford added a blow (17-10), White He took advantage of a mistake by Genge, out of his natural place, in the English 22 to add the third local try converted by the infallible Russell (24-10)

One of the moments of the game was about to arrive. In the 38th minute, Arundell unbalanced Steyn in a jump in the oval dispute. Rather, the Englishman did not jump and caused the spectacular fall of both. The Georgian referee Amashukeli showed the second yellow card to the Bath player.

With another blow, Ford gave the whites some air after the restart but an interception by Jones, in his 22nd, on a drop attempt by Mitchell gave rise to a great run by the Scot who crossed the goal line of the XV de la Rosa for the second time, the third time for his team: 31-13, in the 55th minute.

The XV de la Rosa recovered an element, since the red of Arundell There is a 20-minute penalty, although the sanctioned player cannot return but another player can. Even so, the blues continued to take the initiative and only their own blow in the English 22 prevented the XV del Cardo from ending the match after a long attack with 13 minutes remaining.

The changes barely changed the landscape. Although with Pollock on the pitch the Borthwick players pushed to at least win the offensive bonus. A try by Earl, in ’78, brought the whites closer to this meager objective. It was a mirage.

England, waiting for what France does in Wales tomorrow, loses the leadership of the Six Nations in favor of Scotland, in whose capital it has not won the Calcutta Cup since 2020.

Technical sheet:

31. Scotland: McBeth, Turner, Fagerson, Brown, Cummings, Richie, Darge, Dempsey; White, Russell; Dobie, Tuipolotu, Huw Jones, Steyn and Tom Jordan. Millar-Mills, Schoeman, Fagerson, Cherry, Horne, Hastings, Williamson and Graham also played.

20. England: Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Heyes, Itoje, Chessum, Pepper, Underhill, Earl; Mitchell, Ford; Arundell, Dingwall, Freeman, Roebuck and Steward. Pollock, Coles, Curry, Fin Smith, Jamie George, Rodd, Davison and Spencer also played.

Marker: 3-0, min.4: Penalty blow that Russell passes. 10-0, min.10; Jones essay, which Russell passes. 17-0, min.14: try by Richie, which Russell passes. 17-7, min.22: Arundell try, which Ford passes. 17-10, min.26: Ford hit. 24-10 min27: White try, which Russell passes. 24-13, min.45: Ford hit. 31-13, min.53: try by Jones, which Russell passes. 31-20, min. 78: Earl’s test that Ford passes.

Referee: Nike Amashukeli, from Georgia. He showed yellow in the 8th minute, and red for a double yellow in the 38th minute for Arundell, from England.

Incidents: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh. Full.