Scotland in heroic 13-7 win over Saxons
June 3, 2006

Heroic tackles over ten phases at the death allowed Scotland to have a dramatic 13-7 win over the England Saxons, going against the popular form sheet set by experts heading in the first round of the Barclays Churchill Cup.

Scotland played the majority of the rugby over eighty minutes and had fewer handling errors on the day, making them deserved winners as it seemed England would put a try across just before full time.

Calum Macrae gave the Scots a slim 3-0 lead from a penalty in the third minute, but it was the ironclad defense that saw the Celts take the famous win over the course of the game.

In fact England did not cross the tryline on the afternoon, garnering only a second half penalty try after New Zealand referee Gary Wise gave the Scottish warnings about collapsed scrums and mauls near their own line. On the third transgression Wise marched to the posts, awarding the try, and giving England its first lead of the wet afternoon at 7-6.

Five minutes later wing Simon Danielli took a pass from Graeme Morrison at pace and strode untouched for thirty meters to give his side a 13-7 lead with the Macrae conversion, a score that would ultimately last through the remainder of the match.

It appeared in the dying minutes that all of Scotland's hard work would be for naught - as England had multiple scrums and managed to assuage earlier ball handling problems to try and drive across the Scottish line - fully ten times, before a spilled ball into the tryzone was smothered by a Scottish defender and the full time whistle confirmed the huge win.

England have won three of the first four Churchill Cup events but will have to beat Canada and hope Scotland does the same, but with fewer points if they hope to finish in the top of the Canadian grouping and play the first place finalist from the USA pool.

At the five minute mark it appeared that Saxons wing Chris Bell had scored, striding down the left wing unobstructed, only to have the ball squirt loose just before he slid across the line.

England had a five metre scrum in the 29th minute but despite a promising run by Kai Hortsmann, another spilled ball spelled disappointment for England supporters.

Dave Walder had a chance to put England on the board in the 46th minute, but his thirty metre effort was well off the mark, the Scots kicking it into touch to bring the half to a close.

Simon Danielli released Scottish second row Craig Hamilton for a run that saw the huge forward finally brought down by a Delon Armitage tackle near the line. An English clearance kick saw the threat pass, and from their the Scottish defense settled in for a busy but rewarding half of rugby.

Scoring

Scotland A: 13
Penalty: Calum Macrae (2)
Try: Simon Danielli
Conversions: Calum Macrae

England Saxons: 7
Penalty try:
Conversion: Dave Walder

This article was posted on 3-Jun-2006, 21:24 by Hugh Barrow.