Six Nations

Scotland and England played to a dreary 15-all stalemate in their Six Nations encounter at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, on Saturday.

What is there to write home about? Two teams came to Edinburgh as they did in 1871 and butted each other on a cold March day and it ended in a draw with almost only the score to get excited about.

Perhaps it was Murrayfield's fault for it ploughed up easily and perhaps helped to make a mess of the scrums -  10 scrums, 12 resets, 12 collapses, two free kicks and a penalty. One scrum took 2 minutes 42 seconds. That's not worth paying to see. But it did a few moments when tempers flared and Dylan Hartley tried to punch somebody. But even that was a damp squib.

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It may have been the cold, it may have been a too great desire to win. It may have been a too great fear of losing.

Gripping it may have been; thrilling it was not - except when penalty kicks hit the uprights and when a drop was charged down.

It was a draw; nobody won. Five kicks drew with five kicks. Scotland missed two kicks; England missed two kicks.  Scotland missed when the ball hit uprights; England missed when the ball dropped just under the bar. One of Scotland's scores was a dropped goal and with time over, England moved Toby Flood into a position to drop at goal. He stood back a long way in the middle of the field. Somehow, showing the ardour of the occasion, Rory Lawson got close enough to charge the drop down.

It would have been a pity had either side won.

It was not a classic match and yet the will was there to make it one. Both sides try to run with the ball, though with little innovation or creativity. Perhaps it was a dull match because of the quality or approach of the players.

Scotland were more creative but then they enjoyed more quick balk from tackles. England could also probably have had quick ball but even when it came back quickly they preferred to make it slow, turning attack into a grind. Perhaps that had an effect. And yet, twice Scotland had turnovers, beautiful things, and then kicked them into touch on the full.

Perhaps it was the tightness and organisation of the defences. But if there is no innovation, defences have an easy time.

There were some sparks - Louis Deacon once, Max Evans a few times, Mark Cueto and Ugo Monye once each, Chris Cusiter once so sharply and so promising, Alastair Kellock once when the ball came back of an upright, Simon Danielli twice and Ben Foden once.

The match started with a lot of feeling kicks and then Dan Cole was penalised at a tackle - one of 12 penalties at the tackle in the match - and Parks goaled. 3-0 after 6 minutes.

Deacon had a good burst but Jonny Wilkinson threw the ball into touch, John Barclay was penalised at a tackle and Wilkinson made it 3-all after 14 minutes.

Scotland attacked down the right and Parks kicked a long diagonal to the left where Evans caught the ball and Scotland were close. England were penalised at the tackle and Parks kicked out for a five-metre line-out where a free kick was awarded against England. Scotland opted for a scrum and attacked again but when James Haskell was penalised, Parks opted to kick at goal, 6-3 after 18 minutes.

When Euan Murray was penalised at an angry scrum, Wilkinson made it 6-all.

Scotland attacked and Parks, who had missed two drops at goal, goaled the third and the score was 9-6 at half-time.

James Hamilton was penalised at a tackle ruck when he pawed the ball out of Danny Care's hand then it was 9-all. Soon afterwards Wilkinson left the field injured and Toby Flood took his place, Flood it was who gave England the lead with a penalty goal when Barclay was penalised for being offside at a knock-on. In no time Parks levelled the scores when Haskell was again penalised at a tackle. 12-12 after 51 minutes.

After that Scotland had a great period of attacking and were close when Cusiter broke and Allan Jacobsen ploughed ahead. They went right wand then Monye and Kelly Brown clashed heads. There was a long stoppage. Brown was supported off and Monye taken off on a motorised stretcher with a brace on his neck.

Then England had phases and Murray was penalised at a tackle. 15-12 to England with 16 minutes to go.

Cueto was penalised and Parks hit the upright but Kellock was following up, picked up the bouncing ball and Scotland attacked till Mathew Tait and others were offside in front of the posts and Parks kicked the easy penalty.  15-all with 12 minutes to play.

There were the best moments in the match in those 12 minutes. Danielli ran and Scotland went through phases. Foden ran. Courtney Lawes lost the ball forward deep in Scottish territory and the Scots ran eagerly in counterattack.

Back came England and Flood was close. Cueto had a burst and then Flood dropped towards the goal.

Man of the Match: Those who come to mind are Scots - diligent, strong Johnnie Beattie, lively Chris Cusiter and our Man of the Match - Max Evans who was the brightest spark of them all, the man most likely to score or create a try.

Moment of the Match: The charge-down of Toby Flood's drop.

Villain of the Match: Whoever or whatever caused those messy scrums

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Pens: Parks 4
DG: Parks

For England:
Pens: Wilkinson 3, Flood 2

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Nick de Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Max Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter (captain), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Simon Danielli

England: 15 Delon Armitage; 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye; 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Danny Care; 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 James Haskell; 5 Steve Borthwick (captain), 4 Louis Deacon; 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Tim Payne
Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 David Wilson, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 Lewis Moody, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Toby Flood, 22 Ben Foden

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)