England vs Scotland result: Hosts blow 31-point lead but George Ford try salvages late draw in Six Nations finale

England 38-38 Scotland: George Ford's last-gasp try prevented Eddie Jones' side suffering one of the nation's most embarrassing defeats in their history

England blew a 31-point lead to end up drawing their Six Nations finale against Scotland, but it could have been much, much worse after George Ford's last-gasp try prevented Eddie Jones' side suffering one of the nation's most embarrassing defeats in their history.

For the first 45 minutes it certainly felt like Scotland believed Wales’ Grand Slam triumph in Cardiff signalled the end of the Six Nations. It took England just 30 minutes to score 31 points, securing a fourth try-scoring bonus point out of a possible five this championship.

Jack Nowell, Tom Curry, Joe Launchbury and Jonny May put England in cruise control, but while no one thought it at the time, Scotland captain Stuart McInally’s try just before the break provided the platform for Scotland to begin what looked to be the biggest Six Nations comeback in history.

What followed was five second-half tries, with wing Darcy Graham bagging two of them alongside No 8 Magnus Bradbury and Finn Russell, and when centre Sam Johnson mazed his way over with under five minutes to play, Scotland looked on course to record their first victory at Twickenham since 1983.

But replacement fly-half Ford, brought on for the out-of-sorts Owen Farrell, went over between the posts with the clock red and the simple conversion somehow prevented England from suffering a humiliating defeats. It may have saved the game but it will not save the side from some seriously uncomfortable questions between now and their next competitive game that comes in their opening Rugby World Cup match in September.

It all started so well, and no sooner had Alun Wyn Jones hoisted the Six Nations trophy into the Cardiff air than Twickenham was rocking with the opening try in a ridiculous 11-score affair. Jack Nowell, controversially brought in for Joe Cokanasiga despite last weekend’s man-of-the-match display against Italy, immediately went about justifying his selection. His first-half performance was nothing short of fantastic, but the try was the highlight as it gave England the fast start they desired. Scrum-half Ali Price missed touch with a Scotland clearance kick, allowing Billy Vunipola to charge back with rigour, and after recycling possession the standout Henry Slade combined with Nowell to send him over on the right.

With the swirling wind firmly in the England sails, they hit the Dark Blues again inside the opening 10 minutes. Turning down a kick at goal, the English pack outsmarted their opponents as Jamie George threw a low lineout straight to the arms of Joe Launchbury, allowing an immediate drive to send Tom Curry over for his second try of the tournament.

England were flying and just four minutes later Launchbury was the main beneficiary of Russell kicking the ball out on the full. England again put pace into the game, with Elliot Daly taking a quick lineout, and when they worked their way immediately to the Scottish line, Launchbury threw a dummy-pass that opened up the space to trundle through.

Bonus points didn’t matter given Wales were well underway with their celebrations, but England had it wrapped up nonetheless by the half-hour mark. It came from Scotland’s first realistic attack, and when a close-range lineout went awry England countered. Again it was Daly and May who made up the yards, and although they briefly lost possession when Sean Maitland intercepted, they quickly had the ball back in their hands. Winning a penalty outside the 22, Ben Youngs went quickly and when the ball was shipped left to Slade, the Exeter Chief produced one of the moments of the match with a flick out the back of the hand to allow May to run in.

Thirty-one points to nil, 30 minutes gone and England were home and dry. Or so they thought.

England's flanker Tom Curry celebrates with England's flanker Mark Wilson (AFP/Getty Images)

The fightback was triggered by McInally’s charge-down on Farrell, with the hooker producing a lovely finish by out-pacing Farrell and shrugging off May’s poor attempted tackle to go over. Any hopes that a comeback was on the cards must have been confined to the Scottish dressing room, but they materialised rapidly in one of the most extraordinary halves of rugby seen.

Seven minutes into the second half, Scotland delivered their best attack of the game so far with a break down the left, orchestrated by the recovering Russell. The fly-half put a poor first half behind him by putting the outstanding Sam Johnson through on his inside shoulder, with quick passing putting the ball into the hands of Price and Maitland. With quick ball, Price continued left and flanker Sam Skinner shipped the ball on to Graham, who danced his way over for his first.

England's Jack Nowell scores their first try (Action Images via Reuters)

It was the try that made the Scots believe. Three minutes later, England were back under their posts. Price’s smart chip-and-gather did for Launchbury and Vunipola, before barging off Daly’s poor tackle attempt. With his wits about him, the scrum-half spotted the on-rushing Bradbury and popped the ball to him for the third try. Twickenham was stunned, and when Graham was on the end of a flowing lineout move from left to right to round the defence and score, England were shellshocked. Jones started to prepare his replacements, but before they could get onto the field, the scores were level as Russell picked off a short pass from Farrell to George Kruis to run in unopposed - his conversion levelling the scores at 31-31.

With 20 minutes remaining, England didn’t look to have a hope in hell of regaining the Calcutta Cup, and when Johnson delivered what should have been the match-deciding moment, collecting a beautiful no-look pass from Russell and dancing his way past Nowell, Daly and Ben Spencer, Scotland looked on course for the biggest comeback in Six Nations history.

George Ford's converted try salvaged a draw for England (Getty)

But Jones’ decision five minutes earlier to haul off his captain and send on Ford paid off when the Leicester Tigers stand-off dived over to save the day. Scotland rued letting the opportunity slip, while England breathed a sigh of relief having let a 31-point lead slip.

Given that celebrations were ongoing throughout in Cardiff, it was appropriate that no one left Twickenham a winner.

Teams

England: Elliot Daly; Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi (Ben Te’o), Jonny May; Owen Farrell (George Ford, 70), Ben Youngs (Ben Spencer, 74); Ben Moon (Ellis Genge, 5), Jamie George (Luke Cowan-Dickie, 74), Kyle Sinckler (Dan Cole, 49); Joe Launchbury (Nathan Hughes, 74), George Kruis; Mark Wilson (Brad Shields, 74), Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola.

Scotland: Sean Maitland (Adam Hastings, 68); Darcy Graham, Nick Grigg (Chris Harris, 57), Sam Johnson, Byron McGuigan; Finn Russell, Ali Price (Greig Laidlaw, 57); Allan Dell (Gordon Reid, 49), Stuart McInally (Fraser Brown, 57), WP Nel (Simon Berghan, 61); Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist (Jonny Gray, 57); Sam Skinner (Josh Strauss, 57), Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury.