England reclaimed the Calcutta Cup with a strong, but certainly not flawless, performance against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon in their final Six Nations match of 2009.

The emotion of the match was clear on both sets of players faces as they lined up for the anthems. Scotland particularly would no doubt have received an emotive pre-match speech from their under-pressure head coach Frank Hadden, while England, after a tough first three weeks of the campaign, would have been desperate to show that last weekend was no fluke.

It was the visitors who did in fact start the brighter of the two sides - scoring the first points with an 8th minutes Chris Paterson penalty.

With 11 minutes of the game gone it saw its first real try scoring opportunity.

Exciting wing Thom Evans broke from nothing and, chased by Toby Flood, looked certain to go all the way. Unbelievable, with Usain Bolt-like speed, Ugo Monye covered across from the left wing and edged Evans out just a metre short of the line.

The last-ditch tackle seemed to spark England and give them renewed confidence.

The game had a scary moment after 16 minutes when England scrumhalf Harry Ellis had to be stretchered off the pitch after taking a knock to the head. Thankfully Ellis was later seen to be walking around the medical area and is believed to have not sustained any serious injury, but the stoppage halted the game for a number of minutes.

With 24 minutes of the game gone it was Monye again who provided the magic for England. The flyer scored the opening try on the end of a ten phases worth of build-up for England. The forwards provided the platform before, after two swinging movements, the wing was able to burst through two weak tackles and dot down in the left corner.

The home side were then enjoying all the possession and Flood was also clearly relishing sending his line forward. The England No.10 then pounces on a wayward Scottish throw at the lineout, putting the Scots under pressure - Flood was held up just inches from the line. The resulting ball though went wide and Flutey just about forced the ball down for England second try. Flood made no mistake with the kick and England were in front 12-3.

Flood added another penalty on the stroke of half time, making it 15-3 at the break. An exciting first half simply flew by and, while England dominated on the scoreboard, and deservedly led at the break, Scotland had shown glimpses of creating try scoring opportunities and putting England under pressure.

The second half started well for England and, after Jason White took Delon Armitage out in the air, they had an early second half chance to extend their lead. Flood duly delivered from the kicking tee and the Red Roses led 18-3.

Paterson responded just three minutes later with his second penalty of the day to take the Scottish tally up to six points. They were certainly not out of the game, but 12 points behind Scotland knew they could not afford to concede again.

The visitors were certainly controlling possession better in the second half and, struggling to get their hands on the ball, England once again slipped into their habit of conceding penalties.

One of those, just inside their own half, was slotted by Phil Godman, and brought the Scots back to within 10 points of their hosts.

With 12 minutes gone in the second stanza the English finally strung some attacking phases together. With Flood orchestrating well, and the forwards providing some good ball, they launched attack after attack - Scotland did well to withstand the assault.

Both sides, knowing they still had everything to play for, were keen to attack. For the neutral particularly it was a great encounter - open and exciting, both sides had chances to score.

With an hour gone, England were showing glimpses of the attacking style which helped them destroy France six days ago - just lacking the finishing touch. First Flutey, and the Lee Mears, made great breaks and put the Scots on the back foot.

Mears charge, which came off a brilliant little inside ball from Flood, forced a penalty just 15 metres out from the line. Leicester star Flood unbelievably missed the chance and Scotland were still in the game.

With 67 minutes gone a moment of madness from Nick Easter gave Paterson his third chance for three-points. Having been awarded a free-kick inside the England 22, the Harlequins No.8 tapped and went. With Easter penalised for holding on at the subsequent breakdown, Paterson kept up his 100% record for the championship and took the Scottish score to within 6 of the home side.

Unable to break their opposition defence, England had a penalty advantage but Care wasn't going to give Flood the chance. The replacement No.9 stepped back into the pocket and, receiving the pass from Flutey, struck a drop goal through the posts - giving England a nine point gap, and effectively wrapping up the win for Johnson's men.

With just two minutes left on the clock England secured the win with a try for replacement wing Matthew Tait. An attacking scrum, which was uncontested due to an injury to Julian White, allowed England quality possession. Armitage hit the line at pace and, creating the overlap, ensured an easy run in for Tait in the left hand corner. The conversion from Andy Goode, on for Flood, was missed but the win was already secure.

The final score, of 26-12, was probably a fair reflection of the difference between the two side. England never quite hit the heights they achieved last weekend but certainly offered a greater attacking threat than their opposition.

When playing well, attacking the line, England showed what they might be capable of. Scotland meanwhile will have to take a long hard look at themselves after yet another disappointing Six Nations campaign.

The win sees England climb, temporarily at least, climb up to second place in the final standings of the Six Nations. What is certain however, is that, after a year in Edinburgh, the Calcutta Cup returns to England.

Man of the match: For once I agree with the pundit - Riki Flutey is a deserved Man of the Match. The Kiwi-born star is growing into his role in the England side and, both on attack and defence, he was a class above.

Moment of the match: There were three good tries from England but the moment of the match has to be Monye's early cover tackle on Evans. With SCotland leading just 3-0 at that point, a try then could have changed the match drastically. He simply should not have been able to get there - he did.

Villian of the match: The scrum - well everyone involved - the referee, the front rows - there was such great hype about the battle between the two packs and it never quite happend. Very little else to complain about really.

The Scorers:

For England:
Tries: Monye, Flutey, Tait
Pens: Flood 2
Cons: Flood

For Scotland:
Pens: Paterson 3, Godman.

England: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Julian White, 18 Nick Kennedy, 19 James Haskell, 20 Danny Care, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Mathew Tait

Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Scott Gray, 6 Al Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Jason White, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Al Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Hugo Southwell.

365

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