Gregor Townsend last night savoured one of the sweetest victories of his career after a stunning triumph over England reignited Scotland’s Six Nations campaign.
Scotland blew England away during a blistering opening period which saw them score three tries and race into a 24-10 lead by half-time – with Townsend branding it some of the best rugby they have ever played on his watch.
Inspired by the brilliance of Finn Russell and a brace of tries from Huw Jones, it was a win which saw them lift the Calcutta Cup for the seventh time in nine years during Townsend’s reign.
Townsend and his players had faced a barrage of criticism after falling to such a dismal defeat against Italy in Rome last weekend.
But, in an almighty show of defiance against an England team who had won 12 straight matches, Townsend insisted this was a day when he fell in love with the job all over again.
‘I am so proud,’ said Townsend, who marked his 100th match in charge in the best possible fashion.
Gregor Townsend (left) and skipper Sione Tuipulotu embrace with the Calcutta Cup
Tuipulotu hoists the Calcutta Cup in the air with his Scotland team-mates at Murrayfield
Huw Jones sprints clear to score the decisive try for Scotland after charging down George Ford
‘During that first 20-30 minutes, I had to snap myself out of what I was thinking because it was just tremendous. We played some outstanding rugby in that period.
‘Being a supporter, seeing the rugby the team were playing, I had to realise I was a coach again. I snapped out of it quite quickly.
‘It gives you massive purpose in your life and reminds you why you do it.
‘We wanted to do it for our supporters. Against an England team in good form, we knew we had to deliver a top performance – and we did.
‘From an attacking point of view, the ambition, the accuracy, the speed, the decision-making was outstanding in that first half hour.
‘In that period, that was some of the best rugby we have ever played.
‘It’s all you want as a coach and then to see the effort in the second half, we became a team that would fight for each other and the supporters.
‘I thought that was one of Finn Russell’s best games for Scotland and the work rate of our forwards was superb.
‘Defensively right throughout the game, England had a lot of possession at times and we kept our discipline. We fought really hard in the tackle and run the ball back.
Ben White celebrates scoring Scotland’s third try in a blistering first-half display
The scrum-half seized on an English mistake to score for Scotland
‘It’s tough times when the opposition is throwing everything at you, they’ve emptied their bench and to be in control at the end of the game was very pleasing. I am so proud.
‘A special mention to our supporters. We’ve given them something to shout about for the next 12 months.’
Russell was at the peak of his powers, tearing England apart during a first half where Scotland came flying out the traps.
Backed by a raucous home crowd at Murrayfield, this was their biggest margin of victory over England since 2018.
‘It’s obviously a special fixture for us,’ said Scotland’s star fly-half. ‘A bounce back was really important for us. The forwards fronted up and allowed us backs to throw it around and score some great tries.
‘It’s us that’s out there so we have to take ownership for last week. We had two good training days and felt good coming into it.
‘It’s thick and fast now. We’re in a good place and we showed that today. We need to be tough on ourselves to get these performances.
‘England had a lot of territory in the second half, so we couldn’t do it as much. The mindset was to go at England. There’s a big game next week as well. We win, but let’s not ease off.’
Scotland now head to Cardiff next weekend to play Wales, before facing France and Ireland in the final two matches.
But the victory over England came at a cost, with Jack Dempsey, Jamie Ritchie and Jamie Dobie picking up injuries which Townsend described as ‘serious’.
Full-back Tom Jordan epitomised the passion shown by the Scots in another famous triumph
Jones darts over through the posts for Scotland’s fourth try that put the game beyond England
They are both highly doubtful for next week, with Dempsey potentially even being ruled out for the remainder of the championship if the injury proves as bad as first feared.
‘I think they’re all pretty serious injuries,’ added Townsend. ‘I don’t usually say that. Let’s wait and see. I think both Jack Dempsey and Jamie Ritchie looked serious.
‘Jamie Dobie was a bit more positive in the changing room. It’s the third test match in a row coming up next week.
‘It would take a lot to turn around to be available for training this weekend. We knew that coming into these three games. We have a strong squad.
‘Jack has a bicep injury. There’s been a few of them this season from a number of teams. You can pretty much diagnose quite quickly that it’s serious.
With Jamie Ritchie, we don’t yet know. It was a knee, a hyperextended knee. Let’s hope it’s just the extension and the mechanism that gave everybody a fright. Let’s hope there’s no ligament tears.’