Scotland’s win at Twickenham proves upsets can happen
Shock results come along every so often in professional sports. Now and again the sporting gods shine down on a team and guide them to an unlikely win. The English FA Cup is famous for it, heavyweight boxing is no stranger to a hard-hitting underdog and Scotland’s famous win over England proves there’s nothing predictable about Six Nations Rugby.
Whether you’re betting on rugby, boxing, football or laying bets for march madness in the world of basketball, players love to uncover a big prize contender. An underdog with a bite.
It’s not as easy as it seems with major online betting sites ensuring value is difficult to come by, but Gregor Townsend’s tartan army proved on February 6 just what spirit, organisation, hard luck and a generous helping of good fortune can achieve.
First win in nearly 40 years
Arriving in London to face Six Nations competition favourites England on their patch the odds were dead against the dark blues. The history books showed Scotland hadn’t beaten England across the border since 1983. Yes, a drought lasting almost four decades.
As the old saying goes in sport, records are there to be broken and that’s just what the Scots did. They marched south, put on a show to bag an emphatic 11-6 win before returning home as history makers.
If it is another 38 years before Scotland beat England at Twickenham again, last week’s result will live long in the memory. In the kind of sportsmanship we have come to expect from rugby, even England fans could not grudge their noisy neighbours their day in the sun. Scotland won the match and fully deserved to do so.
Flying Finn the match winner
It was no fluke. They were responsible for the only try of the match, kicked with confidence, and stood firm under pressure during a late onslaught from the English forwards who battered down the door but could not gain entry. At the full-time whistle, the players wearing blue, caked in mud, bloodied and battered were the ones cheering.
Duhan van der Merwe scored a thrilling try for Scotland after the opportunity was laid on a plate for him by man of the match Finn Russell. The winger was well-placed to receive the ball wide with Scotland on the attack and showed the fleet of foot to step inside and charged into the corner.
Despite van der Merwe getting the glory of a match-winning try it was teammate Russell that shone brightest. The fans’ favourite scored two penalties, as reliable with the boot as his teammates, coaches and supporters watching the live TV action needed him to be.
Ill-discipline cost England
There was surprisingly little for England supporters to cheer on Saturday and some may have been pleased fans were locked out of the venue due to the current COVID-19 restrictions. The hosts suffered from bouts of ill-discipline, bad temper, and plain sloppiness in possession of the ball. They failed to take their chances and turn ball possession into points.
At the end of the play, only two penalties scored by captain Owen Farrell separated England from a blank scoresheet. The loss will go down as a bitter disappointment and upset but perhaps it shouldn’t with coach Eddie Jones fielding an inexperienced front row with three props out injured.
They made a shaky start, conceding four penalties in the opening five minutes of the game. It was a weak opener and one that seemed to crush all confidence in the team. Speaking to the press at the conclusion of the play, Jones told reporters his team weren’t at the races and thought that may have been the result of no crowd.
What’s next
The Six Nations schedule moves on as Scotland return to Murrayfield where they’ll host Wales then visit France. March begins with a home game against Ireland and finishes with Italy coming to Edinburgh.
England must dust themselves down from that opening day defeat as a determined Italian side aim to pile on the misery at Twickenham in week two. The Red Rose are then in Wales, host France and finish in Dublin.
