Get It Right Up Ye!!!!!

[haggis]

Scotland beat the Sassenachs today. DANCER!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/4745130.stm

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=366694&CPID=252&clid=&lid=4161&title=Paterson's+boot+ends+Slam+dream

The beer's are on haggis tonight. What'll it be?

[Panzer Division Marduk]

I knew what this was about before I opened it.

It's always brilliant to see those smug English rugby bastards lose.

[haggis]

Especially nice when the Scots hand them their arses at Murrayfield. I listened to it online and the crowd were tremendous. I'll need to make sure to catch Sky Sports at 7pm tonight.

[Bob]

The beer's are on haggis tonight. What'll it be?

McEwan's Brown Ale, lad!

Even though I have no interest in rugby, it's always great to see the auld enemy lose to a Celtic nation.

Sl

[Ten]

A great win,it's nice to know that no matter what happens in this 6 nations,we have the calcutta cup.

[Green DNA]

Especially nice when the Scots hand them their arses at Murrayfield. I listened to it online and the crowd were tremendous. I'll need to make sure to catch Sky Sports at 7pm tonight.

My cousin used to live about a mile from Murrayfield. About 30 years ago Scotland beat England there and the crowd stormed the field to celebrate and my cousin got trampled, breaking his collarbone in the process. To this day he tells the story proudly. Hoist a McEwans for Me!

[haggis]

Hadden's heroes make England think again

TOM ENGLISH AT MURRAYFIELD

Scotland 18-12 England

AT THE end, the English players stood still on the spot, stunned at the sound of Alan Lewis's final whistle. They knew it was coming, Lewis telling them repeatedly that time was running out, but still Martin Corry's men were in shock. How could they not break down the Scottish resistance? Kitchen sink? They threw the whole bloody house at their hosts and they didn't flinch, didn't bat an eyelid on this, one of the great Six Nations days.

Just after 7pm last night Murrayfield erupted. England, meanwhile, trooped slowly away. They were gracious. Oh, how gracious they were. When Jason White, a driving force in an outrageously good Scottish pack, was presented with the Calcutta Cup, the visitors stood and applauded, Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson leading the acclaim. Fair play to them for that because those two had come in for some treatment from the home fans when they made their appearance in the second half.

This was a mesmeric Scottish defensive effort. That was the bottom line. England played well enough, created some gaps and had some decent try-scoring opportunities but Scotland were there at every turn. In numbers, with hunger and desire all over their faces. Chief among them was Ally Hogg. If you live to be a hundred you will not see a more electric performance from an openside flanker. Switch hemispheres and you'll not locate a display of such defiance and class as Hogg delivered here. He was that good. A gem in a team of jewels.

Let's rewind. Where did this all begin?

Chris Paterson had put Scotland ahead with a penalty in the third minute but that, pretty much, was about it for them as an attacking force for the longest time. For the rest of the half, they were on a diet of defence, defence and more defence. And their resistance was breathtaking.

Charlie Hodgson levelled it with a penalty of his own in the sixth minute which was basically the point at which England took ownership of the ball. Scotland's lineout began to go pear-shaped soon after. Dougie Hall lost two of his first three throws and coughed-up up a third midway through the half. No lineout and not much of a scrum either, as it turned out.

The pitch was a quagmire, badly cut-up turf marking the spot of each and every scrum. England were on top but they had problems. Big problems. They had vast tracts of possession, got themselves into some highly promising field positions but were undone at the tackle zone with hair-raising regularity. Heroes abounded but the destructive work, the sheer bloody-mindedness and thunder of Hogg, Jason White and Simon Taylor, was immense. They lived in the faces of the English, tormenting them with their big hits, robbing their ball, denying them any chance to establish a rhythm.

In that first half, the Scots had just one single respite from the coalface but once again their momentum was checked by a disastrous lineout. It came in fairly unlikely circumstances. They found themselves in the rarefied air of the England 22 with a scrum, buckling fast under the pressure of a big England shove. Mike Blair skirted away from the car crash and ran into traffic. The rescue team reached him quickly and away went the Scottish maul, making yards slowly but surely.

Danny Grew**** then slammed into the side of it, taking out Alastair Kellock and getting himself binned in the process. A golden chance had presented itself but foolishly they went for touch with the penalty and messed up the lineout again. Chance gone.

After that, England had a monopoly of the ball. Hodgson had a penalty on the half hour and missed. They created an opportunity on the right side of the field and were foiled again, a Scot (Marcus Di Rollo possibly but we can't be sure) doing a stunning job of snaffling English ball on the floor. Harry Ellis tried to inject a bit of pace into his attack by tapping a penalty but when he did England lost the breakdown and the breakdown after that and the next.

Come the final minutes of the half England looked like getting their act together. Really for the first time in the Test they managed to go through the phases and get fast ruck ball (this was around the 35th minute mark) and Paterson had to make a critical hit to deny Lewis Moody a try in the left corner.

The onslaught continued with a series of scrums that had the home support looking on in dread. From the first of them, England went mighty close to shoving Scotland back over their line. Slipping and sliding on the deck, Lewis's patience was tested. "Scotland, you're moving into very dangerous territory," he warned as another scrum broke up in a mess. Then another warning: "If I don't get co-operation you're going down to 14 men." Then another. "Scotland. Stay square!"

They did, just about. But England would have scored off the next scrum had Ben Cohen not dropped the ball a few yards from the line. Paterson was alive to the danger but Cohen is a big boy. Had the ball stuck, the try was a certainty.

So Scotland survived and came back out for the second half for what we thought would be more of the same. Taylor dropped the kick-off and Hodgson put over a penalty in the first minute but the game would turn thereafter. Paterson punished an England offside with a penalty from miles out, then Cohen held on for a second too long and Paterson put over that long-ranger as well. When Dan Parks dropped a goal for a 12-6 lead in the 57th minute, an already seething atmosphere became oppressive.

England were struggling now. They had tried the running game and it hadn't worked, they tried bullying and got it rammed back in their faces. Only pride propelled them and it helped win them a penalty, converted by Hodgson.

Then they went to Plan C. Dawson came off the bench to a crescendo of abuse. Dallaglio joined him and was given a special Murrayfield welcome of his own. For all their experience and galvanising qualities they were too little, too late. Scotland had by then kicked for home and there was something irresistible about their play, something unflappable and deeply, deeply impressive.

Scotland played the game in England's half as if they'd been used to winning games like this their whole lives. Hogg rescued a wayward lineout and popped up again later in the move to almost blast over in the corner. Only Mark Cueto with a little help from Andrew Sheridan stopped him. Still, his team didn't leave without something, Paterson adding three points when England screamed in at the side of a ruck.

Six minutes left now. We knew because Hodgson asked Lewis when considering his options when awarded a penalty. He went for the posts; 15-12. What little comfort they took from that was swiped away in an instant when Paterson landed his fifth kick from five attempts two minutes later; 18-12. When Hodgson's restart went out on the full you sensed history would follow soon after. So it proved and Murrayfield greeted it as if this was their last day on earth.