England salvage some respect in victory over Scotland

LONDON - England overwhelmed Scotland 43-22 in a thrilling match at Twickenham to end a disappointing Six Nations Championship in style.

The world champions ran in seven tries, including a hat-trick by centre Jamie Noon, to complete their second successive victory and finish fourth in the standings, one place above the Scots who contributed fully to the entertainment with three tries.

England wingers Josh Lewsey and Mark Cueto and halfback Harry Ellis also scored tries during Saturday's game as the backs produced a series of flowing moves to give coach Andy Robinson cause for optimism after a campaign that began with defeats by Wales, France and Ireland.

"I was very pleased with our performance," Robinson told a news conference. "We knew it would be a fast game because both sides went into it after disappointing tournaments and I thought it was an excellent game of rugby.

"I am very pleased with the way the team has stuck together and I can see this England side going from strength to strength."

Scotland coach Matt Williams agreed with Robinson's assessment of the Calcutta Cup match as a spectacle.

"It was a fantastic game of rugby with two sides trying to play really attractive running rugby," he said.

"We are just missing too many tackles and you cannot miss simple tackles and win games at this level."

England opened the scoring with a clinical try by Noon in the 14th minute after first five-eighths Charlie Hodgson had surged through the Scottish defence.

Scotland hit back with a Chris Paterson penalty but Noon immediately took advantage of poor Scotland tackling when he broke the line and barged fullback Paterson aside before touching down for his second try.

Hodgson converted and England extended their lead to 19-3 when flanker Joe Worsley took a neat pass from Cueto and acrobatically grounded the ball in the right corner to finish off another fine move.

England's back line was disrupted when fullback Iain Balshaw was forced off with a knee injury but they continued to torment the Scotland defence, and Lewsey steamed on to another inviting pass from Cueto to score the hosts' fourth try.

Scotland hit back just before the interval, winger Sean Lamont plunging over the line from close range after a mazy run by centre Andy Craig to reduce the deficit to 26-10 at halftime.

The visitors started the second half with a spectacular try.

Paterson once again set off from deep in his own half after fielding a long kick and the ball passed through several pairs of hands before Craig powered over the line.

At 26-17 down Scotland must have sniffed the prospect of their first win at Twickenham for 22 years but England responded swiftly when Lewsey burst clear down the left and found replacement Ollie Smith, who deftly sent Ellis scampering over in the corner.

England looked to have weathered the storm but Scotland hit back when number eight Simon Taylor intercepted a wayward pass from Ellis before sprinting 30 metres to touch down and only a desperate tackle by Lewsey halted another Scotland raid down the right as the game opened up.

With both teams struggling to cope with injuries and the relentless pace of the match, England extended their lead to 38-22 when Noon crossed in the corner after a series of surges down the right.

Cueto finally claimed the try his support play had deserved when he wriggled over in the left corner 10 minutes from time and both sides could have added further tries in a breathless conclusion to the match.

Teams:
England - 15-Iain Balshaw (22-Ollie Smith, 32); 14-Mark Cueto, 13-Jamie Noon, 12-Olly Barkley, 11-Josh Lewsey; 10-Charlie Hodgson (21-Andy Goode, 75), 9-Harry Ellis (20-Matt Dawson, 63); 8-Martin Corry, 7-Lewis Moody (19-Andy Hazell, 41), 6-Joe Worsley, 5-Ben Kay (18-Steve Borthwick, 15), 4-Danny Grewcock, 3-Duncan Bell (17-Mike Worsley, 51), 2-Steve Thompson (16-Andy Titterrell, 71), 1-Matt Stevens.

Scotland - 15-Chris Paterson; 14-Rory Lamont, 13-Andy Craig, 12-Hugo Southwell, 11-Sean Lamont; 10-Gordon Ross, 9-Mike Blair; 8-Simon Taylor, 7-Ally Hogg, 6-Jason White, 5-Scott Murray (18-Stuart Grimes, 33), 4-Nathan Hines, 3-Gavin Kerr, 2-Gordon Bulloch, 1-Tom Smith (17-Bruce Douglas, 27).

- REUTERS