England come up short on Borthwick's big day as Duhan the destroyer bags double

05 February 2023 , 09:22

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Duhan van der Merwe runs through and around England's flailing defenders to score a Twickenham classic (Image: Getty Images)

Through the speakers boomed the voice of the man charged with putting the pride back into England rugby.

Part Churchill, part Henry V, Steve Borthwick spoke to his nation in rousing words which dripped with feeling.

The match day programme carried his face on the cover and more stirring words inside which told of his determination to put the wheels back on the English chariot.

He promised to bring clarity and clear purpose to the job and, yes, to do things differently from the man who had gone before.

He picked a winger with painted fingernails in Ollie Hassell-Collins and a flanker Ben Curry who bore an uncanny resemblance to the last man to wear the no.7 shirt - identical twin brother Tom.

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Sadly for England that was not the only case of unable to spot the difference from the awful autumn that sealed Eddie Jones’ fate.

England come up short on Borthwick's big day as Duhan the destroyer bags double

Max Malins scores his and England's second try (The RFU Collection via Getty Ima)

For come game time they kicked a lot, without reward, or ran ball in hand and either dropped it or were penalised. New England, old failings.

Scotland, in contrast, carried themselves with a confidence born of not having lost at Twickenham since 2017.

They had a spring in their step which evoked memories of 2019 and their comeback from 31-0 down to bag a draw.

Marcus Smith is closed down by Finn Russell and WP Nel (Getty Images)

A joie de vivre, as they don’t say in Glasgow, to remind us of 2021 when they won in England’s backyard for the first time in 38 years.

Ringmaster Finn Russell led the way as he always does and on their first meaningful attack Huw Jones scored with some ease.

Borthwick looked intensely at the screen in front of him and sidekick Kevin Sinfield scratched his head.

Van der Merwe scores Scotland's winning try five minutes from time (PA)

The two of them had warned that things would not be plain sailing, that there would be mistakes. They had only been on board for seven weeks after all.

So Twickenham stayed with them, singing Swing Low dutifully then rising as one when Max Malins scored the first of his two tries with a brilliant finish.

But rather than consolidate on that score England gave it straight back, lining up to wave through Duhan van der Merwe in a manner so lame that it will give defence coach Sinfield sleepless nights.

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England captain Owen Farrell lands a conversion (Alastair Grant/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

What the rugby league legend made of it was not hard to imagine, which explained the urgency in his charges to make amends.

Passes started to stick, phases were strung together and captain Owen Farrell first narrowed then stretched the Scots defence for Malins to bag a second.

England were ahead for the first time and when Ellis Genge powered over soon after half-time for a moment they seemed set.

They were winning twice as many rucks and requiring Scotland to make double the number of tackles. It seemed a decent combination.

But they couldn’t make it count and handed the visitors a route back into the contest when leaving an escape route to the try line for Scotland scrum-half Ben White.

It was such a cheap score to concede and though Dan Cole came off the bench to banish his 2019 World Cup final demons with a scrum penalty at his first set-piece, it was all England had to celebrate.