Six Nations: Scotland beat England at Murrayfield

A hat trick of tries by Duhan van der Merwe powered Scotland’s 30-21 win over England at Murrayfield to get back into the Six Nations title race this morning (NZT).

England’s first defeat left both teams with two wins after three rounds. Scotland rose to second and England was third. Both are yet to meet unbeaten leader Ireland.

Scotland started as the favorite but had to come from 10-0 behind in a frantic match full of handling errors. England dominated territory but Scotland scored all three of its tries from its own half.

The South Africa-born Van der Merwe became the first Scot to score a hat trick against England in the Six Nations era. Zooming to 26 tries in his 37th Scotland test, Van der Merwe was only one try behind the Scotland record held by Stuart Hogg, who retired last year.

He finished the match in the sin-bin, but received a huge applause walking off after he was yellow-carded in the 79th minute for a dangerous tackle.

Van der Merwe’s finishing was complemented by captain Finn Russell off the tee. He went six for six at the posts, and he’s perfect in the tournament with 15 out of 15.

Russell picked up the Calcutta Cup, which Scotland won for a fourth consecutive time. They hadn’t done that since 1973, and not in the championship since 1896.

George Furbank, the surprise pick by England, and replacement back Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scored the visitors’ tries and George Ford tried to keep them close with 11 points, including a 35-meter drop goal.

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