Finn Russell. Photo: photosport
Finn Russell missed a last-minute conversion that would have given Scotland a record fifth successive Calcutta Cup win, and instead England claimed a tense 16-15 Twickenham victory that keeps them in the hunt for the Six Nations title.
England had a six-point lead heading into the final minutes but Duhan van der Merwe scored against them yet again, only for Russell to miss his third conversion of the match and let the hosts off the hook.
Having edged France at the death two weeks ago it was another nail-biting finale for the Twickenham crowd who had endured a flat first-half performance as their side trailed 10-7 but were lifted by their second-half fightback.
"You have to give Scotland credit as they played a real smart game," said England coach Steve Borthwick.
"They put pressure on you and as soon as they get a chance they move the ball wide quickly.
"But this young group stayed in the fight and they kept composure and they kept running hard. They eventually found a way to win."
The tale of the tape will leave Scotland wondering how they did not make their dominance pay. They scored three tries to one, carried the ball more than twice as far as England, made nine line breaks to two, beat 35 defenders to 10 and made 247 passes to 99.
"In the first half, our execution was very good - our contact work was outstanding," said coach Gregor Townsend.
"We created opportunities. We will look back and think we could have scored more. Performance-wise it probably surpasses what we've done down here in the last two or three years.
"England defended very well in their own 22 but with that amount of possession we're normally good at converting into points."
Ireland, who beat Wales 27-18 earlier on Saturday, top the standings with 14 points. England have 10 and France, who play Italy on Sunday, and Scotland, have six.
England host Italy next before visiting Wales on the final day and though they will almost certainly need France to do them a favour by winning in Dublin to open the door, they remain in the hunt for a first title since 2020.
They made hard work of it on Saturday, however, managing only one early try and earning boos at times from the home fans after repeatedly kicking away possession.
Scotland were on the board after four minutes when Van der Merwe slipped through two tackles and slick passing sent scrumhalf Ben White over.
England hit back when Tommy Freeman blasted over, with Marcus Smith converting for a 7-5 lead.
Smith's sometimes brittle defence was then exposed again when he was brushed aside by Van der Merwe as the Scots poured down the left to leave centre Huw Jones a simple task to score.
Scotland continued to make all the running, taking full advantage of England's strangely passive defence and Van Der Merwe's defender-sucking, marauding runs but, with Russell missing both conversions, they led only 10-7 at halftime.
Scotland started the second half strongly too but, slowly but surely, England began to get a toe-hold and levelled it at 10-all after 55 minutes with a Marcus Smith penalty their first score in 46 minutes. They followed it with a spirited defensive set and, after finally finding some cohesion in attack, earned a penalty in front of the posts that Marcus Smith slotted for a 13-10 lead with 14 minutes to go.
First-five Fin Smith extended that lead to six soon after with a penalty from almost halfway.
England looked to have done enough only for Stafford McDowall to blast through on a 40-metre swerving run that scattered England's defenders and allowed Van der Merwe to score in the corner for a record-extending seventh Six Nations try against England.
With less than a minute on the clock Russell lined up the two-pointer from out wide but missed again and England then survived a nervous minute of defending to claim the win.
Ireland beat Wales
Wales slipped to a 15th straight defeat in a 27-18 home loss to Six Nations champions Ireland but the hosts played with endeavour and ambition not seen in recent games.
Ireland winger James Lowe in action against Wales. Photo: photosport
Ireland secured the Triple Crown and top the table with 14 points from three matches, while Wales are bottom with one, but interim coach Matt Sherratt can have few complaints over the performance of his side.
Ireland, who lost centre Garry Ringrose to a 20-minute red card in the first half, were under pressure for much of the game, especially in the scrum.
Their defence was excellent, however, and they scored tries through number eight Jack Conan and fullback Jamie Osborne, before the boot of first five Sam Prendergast carried them to victory.
Wales were vastly improved from the side who slipped to dour defeats under former coach Warren Gatland, and scored tries through flanker Jac Morgan and winger Tom Rogers, begore falling short of what would have been a shock victory.
"That was exactly what we expected coming to Cardiff, it was a proper test match," Ireland captain Dan Sheehan said.
"We said all week that [Wales] will have their moments of strength and we have to stick to what we do, stay calm and not panic, and that is what we did.
"We rely heavily on our bench, they came on and made a huge impact to lift the boys with huge energy."
The Wales players looked as though a weight had been lifted off their shoulders as they played with invention and the freedom to run the ball at every opportunity.
"Really proud, for the week we have had, there has been a lot of learnings and to put in a performance like that against one of the best teams in the world is superb," Morgan said.
"]Sherratt] has been great and driving the message to the players of enjoying the game, being brave and taking opportunities.
"We will gain a lot of confidence to build on today's performance."
Ireland took an early lead thanks to a try from Conan, but Wales settled into the game and put pressure on the visitors.
Four scrum penalties and the red card for Ringrose helped their cause and having trailed by 10 points, Wales led 13-10 at halftime.
Ringrose received a yellow card, later upgraded to red on bunker review, for a dangerous tackle on Wales centre Ben Thomas that resulted in head-on-head contact.
Wales took the lead on the stroke of halftime when Morgan burrowed his way over the tryline under a pile of bodies.
The home side extended their lead early in the second period as they made their numerical advantage count when Rogers dotted down in the corner with a spectacular flying finish.
Ireland landed a penalty before Bundee Aki came on at the completion of the 20-minute red card and the visitors were restored to 15 players.
They scored a super second try as a cross-kick to the corner was athletically tapped back by winger James Lowe into the hands of Osborne who levelled the game at 18-18.
Trailing by six points, Wales thought they had scored a late try through winger Ellis Mee that was chalked off by the Television Match Official for a knock-on, and the unerring boot of Prendergast kept Ireland ticking over on the scoreboard.
- Reuters
