'Hadrian's Wall' of resolve shuts down England

Scotland 18 England 12

No half measures from Scotland. At least not pre-match. England's welcome was like something from an extras convention of Braveheart meets Rob Roy.

England's riposte to their "welcome" was virtually immediate, once they had assimilated an early penalty from Chris Paterson.

Andy Robinson had exhorted his men to "run over hot coals, through brick walls, to make England successful", and they took him at his word.

Unfortunately for the England coach, as the elements deteriorated, they found themselves confronted by a Hadrian's Wall of Scottish resolve.

They were also confounded by their own poor ball handling, a fault epitomised by winger Ben Cohen as he was poised to break the try deadlock as half-time beckoned.

In the first period, Robinson's men dominated possession, apart from a period when Danny Grewcock was despatched to the sin-bin.

The centre partnership of Jamie Noon and Mike Tindall has been blamed for England's lack of adventure. Even Charlie Hodgson believes England need something more - for one of those players to be more of a playmaker.

Though Noon, unperturbed, espouses a "win ugly" credo, it sounds rather hollow after this defeat in which all the points came from the boot.

One had always suspected Scotland would be this combative.

Josh Lewsey, who had missed the victory in Italy, was a member of the Wasps team who suffered a surprise defeat against Edinburgh in this season's Heineken Cup.

He admits that "a few [Wasps] players were not right mentally. It is not in the character of English players to make the same mistake."

How wrong he was. After the interval, too many of Robinson's men looked as though they would prefer to be back over the border.

Scotland have emerged from the slough of despondency with renewed belief following their eclipse of France. Not even a subsequent defeat by Wales could deflate them, particularly as the loss of sent-off Scott Murray had a significant impact on the outcome.

Without their lineout mastermind, they were conceding an enormous advantage to England in the pack, but there was more than a suspicion that the threat would emerge on the flanks, through Paterson and Sean Lamont, and so it proved after the interval.

Intriguingly, Scotland coach Frank Hadden and Robinson claim to have "empowered" their players. Whatever that means, it produced a compelling encounter which combined attacking play from England and defensive resolve from Scotland in the first half, and the reverse in the second.

Six years ago, when Scotland last defeated England at Murrayfield, it took an act of God only Noah and the home team would appreciate to help them on their way. Yesterday, England had no such excuse.

- INDEPENDENT