Ackford in the Torygraph still suffering from that Mendez punch I think, maybe he needs another smack to level him out? Struggle to see what Strettle did better than Max Evans and he didnt seem to notice that Botha was rubbish how he scored higher than Gray is beyond me.
Ben Foden: Strong run from poor Parks’ kick led to first Farrell penalty attempt. A decent match. Still England’s best attacker. 8/10
Chris Ashton: Very conservative for him. Struggled to find space and get free. Caught by Cusiter to give Scotland 6-3 lead but saved a score near the end. 6
Brad Barritt: Defensively sound which was what he was brought into the side to do. Will settle in over the next few games. 7
Owen Farrell: One big hit in defence but couldn’t get his attacking game going. Looked comfortable. An astonishing effort for one so young. 8
David Strettle: Good start. Grabbed kick off and made important early tackles. Gave England confidence to kick on. 8
Charlie Hodgson: Increasingly inventive. Charged down Parks’ clearance kick for first try for new-look England and got better as game went on. 8
Ben Youngs: A mixed effort. Harried into errors and unable to stamp his authority on the game. Is better than this. Replaced by Dickson. 5
Alex Corbisiero: Carried powerfully and dug in well in the tight. For a guy who doesn’t start for his club, did really well. 8
Dylan Hartley: Lineout was a real fight all game. Also penalised for standing up in the scrum. A battler though. 6
Dan Cole: Missed an early tackle on Hamilton but fronted up in the scrummage. Was on the pitch at the end still working. 7
Mouritz Botha: Mr Industrious, his red scrum cap was all over the place. A few too many errors for this level, but hugely courageous. 8
Tom Palmer: A quiet afternoon in which he was eclipsed by his second row partner. Replaced by Parling. Needs to find consistency of performance. 5
Tom Croft: Magnificent final quarter when he was in the teeth of the Scots in all areas. Came good just when it mattered. 8
Chris Robshaw: High work rate from the off, including a decent skirmish with Cusiter but missed Ashton with an overlap pass. A proud, proud man at the end. 7
Phil Dowson: Dropped the ball twice in the first quarter and never really recovered. One of the few England players who appeared out of his depth. 4
Replacements: Didn’t affect the result of the match but they were all introduced when Scotland were on almost constant attack and they all defended as if their lives depended on it which they probably did.
Stuart Lancaster: A marvellous start. Now, if he could only sort out the global recession, problems in the Middle East … Just fantastic. 10
Scotland
Rory Lamont: His spilled high ball from Charlie Hodgson ended in England’s opening penalty and he failed to make his physical presence felt in attack enough 6/10
Lee Jones: Looked nervous on his debut when he gave away penalty for holding on early on and had little time on the ball to make an impact 5
Nick De Luca: Part of a solid if unspectacular midfield. Took the ball up to give his back row a target and a rock in defence but lacked creative spark 6
Sean Lamont: Managed to breach the gainline on several occasions but will have been disappointed he could not have put more pressure on debutant Owen Farrell. 6
Max Evans: He looked dangerous every time in possession and his first-half break and chip should have resulted in points. Scotland should have made more use of him. 7
Dan Parks: Should have put more pressure on England but tactical kicking was poor and his charged down kick gifted decisive try to his opposite number 5
Chris Cusiter: Box-kicking at times off-target but snapped at England’s heels all night with brave tackling and sniping break and gave slick service to his backs. 6
Allan Jacobsen: Mixed scrummaging display and dropped pass early on squandered good attacking position. Made amends with several strong carries and toil in the tight 6
Ross Ford: Good accuracy out of touch but appeared to struggle in his scrummaging battle with Dylan Hartley. Lead from the front in the loose however. 6
Euan Murray: Solid performance from the Newcastle prop in the loose but crucially, like his front row colleagues, struggled to contain England’s scrum 5
Richie Gray: The Sale-bound lock was a constant supply of quality line-out ball and generated some momentum for his side with some dashing carries in the loose. 7
Jim Hamilton: Outstanding first-half display by Gloucester lock. Set the tone early on with great carry. Disrupted England’s line-out and showed some deft touches with ball in hand. 7
Al Strokosch: Huge physical presence at the breakdown as part of hugely impressive back row trio. Only blot was dropped pass after fine break by Gray. 7
Ross Rennie: Penalised early on at breakdown but impressive all-around display, slowing up England’s ball and carrying with intent. Failure to put Mike Blair however away was costly. 7
Dave Denton: An outstanding debut from the Zimbabwe-born forward. Delivered some big hits at the breakdown early on and his explosive ball-carrying proved to be Scotland’s biggest threat. 8
Andy Robinson: Put pressure on his side in the build up by telling his side it was time to deliver. Four early second half subs brought new energy but lack of finishing again proved costly. 6
Subs
Greig Laidlaw Crucially TMO refused to give try after his chip and chase. 6 Al Kellock gave physical display. 6 Mike Blair eager moments but little impact. 5 John Barclay. Plenty of energy 6 Geoff Cross. No time to make impact. 5
