England’s players conceded afterwards that they had been caught off-guard by a considered, creative gameplan from their visitors. Test teams that win the try tally three to one seldom lose; Test teams that carry for 459 metres more than their opponents come out on the wrong side of the ledger even more rarely.

England just did enough to end a run of four straight defeats by Scotland with a 16-15 win at Twickenham this morning as they regained the Calcutta Cup to maintain their Six Nations title hopes. Scotland outscored England three tries to one but,