Scots put the boot into English hopes

Wilkinson cemented his place as one of the game’s greats by landing a first-half penalty to overtake Welsh legend

Neil Jenkins’ points record of 1090.

But despite reaching the historic tally of 1099, he was substituted by Charlie Hodgson, as England suffered

back-to-back Calcutta Cup defeats at Murrayfield for the first time since 1986.

In contrast, another perfect kicking display from Paterson and a vital longrange effort from Dan Parks put the

boot into England’s title hopes and turned around Scotland’s fortunes with just their third win in the fixture

in the Six Nations since 2000.

The Murrayfield triumph was beleaguered coach Frank Hadden’s second home win over the Auld Enemy in two years but it was achieved against greater odds than his triumph in 2006.

Last time, a shock win over France raised the bar and a home win against England gave him a dream start in his

first season in the competition.

This time though, against all the odds and being tipped for the Wooden Spoon, Scotland found themselves clutching the Calcutta Cup after a torrid 80 minutes.

Hadden admitted that pressure after defeats to France, Wales and Ireland had taken its toll but when asked if he felt vindicated by the result, would only say: “To be honest, it’s amazing what you can achieve if nobody cares who takes the credit.

“We’re not the biggest country in the world. We haven’t got a huge amount of resources.

“The national team is a flagship for Scottish rugby and we have to do well. It’s as simple as that.”

The players’ reaction was a mixture of relief, joy and defiance after they had been written off by press and public alike. And Paterson admitted he had been stunned by the flak.

He said: “It’s a tricky situation. We’ v e al l been supporters and everyone has an opinion.

“But when people have their opinions so venomously, you wonder. It’s quite hard to take at times but we’ll be supported well after today. The fans were awesome.”

Paterson gave Scotland the lead after eight minutes and they never looked back.

After spurning early opportunities to take points and go for territory, England were forced to put points on the board after 26 minutes when Wilkinson levelled and became world rugby’s top scorer to a chorus of boos.

But, after Paterson had banged another goal over, a Wilkinson longrange effort fell short and Paterson made it 9-3 with the last kick of half.

The masterclass continued after the break when more English indiscipline allowed him to stretch the lead to 12-3. A long-range chance presented itself shortly afterwards and Parks delivered another hammer blow.

Wilkinson then landed two penalties to bring England within a converted try of snatching victory but the introduction of Jason White – after Rory Lamont was stretchered off and taken to hospital after a sickening clash with Ian Balshaw – brought immediate dividends as he single-handedly routed an England attack with an awesome hit on England wing Paul Sackey.

There were plenty of heroes in the Scots ranks.

Mike Blair had an outstanding match and Graeme Morrison should keep his place at centre after making a successful step-up from the A team and the back row, led by rampaging Simon Taylor, outclassed their opposite numbers, while the front five knuckled down in the engine room.

Hadden was full of praise for his heroes, saying: “The biggest moment was the defensive lineout on our own

line, the attempts to go for a driving maul. There is no doubt the game would have been different if England

had managed to get superiority there.

“When they had to opt for a penalty kick at goal, although they went threeall, it was one-nil to us. I felt in control

of the game in the second half.

“When we went 15-3 up, we would have been really desperately disappointed if we’d lost from there.”

Victory came at a high cost with injuries to winger Lamont and hooker Ross Ford, who was having a storming

match before he was forced off. Both are out of this Saturday’s trip to Rome – Lamont with a facial fracture and

Ford with ankle ligament damage.

After the match, Paterson claimed it was team choices, rather than his kicking, which won the day.

He said: “We’ve been guilty in the past of trying to force things. In the first half especially, there were times when there were three or four kicks back to back but it wasn’t on to run so we just knocked it back again.

“It was probably our decision making which won us the game.”