Rejuvenated Scotland sweep England aside in stunning Calcutta Cup win

Rugby Rugby-Union

Rejuvenated Scotland sweep England aside in stunning Calcutta Cup win

By Alipate Narawa

15/02/2026

Rampant Scotland bounced back from Six Nations defeat by Italy to blow England away in a bonus-point win in a pulsating Calcutta Cup at a riotous Murrayfield.

Orchestrated by the brilliant Finn Russell and playing with a ruthlessness that a shell-shocked England could not contain, the Scots were a team reborn.

Pelted with flak in the build-up to facing an England team looking for a 13th-straight win and and a first in Edinburgh since 2020, Gregor Townsend's previously beleaguered boys motored into a stunning 17-0 lead inside the opening quarter.

A penalty from Russell and tries from Huw Jones, Jamie Ritchie and Ben White were answered only by a converted Henry Arundell try and a George Ford penalty.

For Arundell, it was a hair-raising experience. England played 30 minutes with only 14 men because of the two yellow cards given to the wing in the first half.

Scotland scored 14 points on the back of his first yellow - and led 24-10 at the break.

Ford narrowed the gap with the boot early in the new half, but Jones added a second soon after when the England fly-half's drop-goal attempt was charged down by Matt Fagerson and the centre ran 60 metres unopposed.

Scotland have an unfortunate history of going to sleep when ahead in games, but not this time. England had some moments of pressure but they were met with Scottish thunder on both sides of the ball.

Ben Earl scored late on to bring the gap down to 11. Not that it bothered Murrayfield all that much.

England, for all the improvements they have made, were sent rocketing back to the drawing board.

Source: BBC