Gregor Townsend proud of Scotland players despite narrow Calcutta Cup defeat to England

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend chose to focus on the positives after the national team’s one-point loss to England at Twickenham.

Finn Russell missed a late conversion that would likely have earned a win for the Scots but instead England took a vital Six Nations win and the Calcutta Cup.

Townsend admitted Scotland could play better than they did but he said his players couldn’t be faulted for what they put into the game.

“We scored three tries to one, so to get that possession and amount of yards I’m sure would have made a lot in the game,” the head coach said. “Those were the positives, and the negatives or the work-ons were partly us, but also England, I thought they defended really well in their 22.

“They kept their discipline. Often when you get in the 22 you manage to get a penalty from offside, we didn’t get that. And I thought they were really strong close to the ruck. So credit goes to them. We know we can be better when we’ve got those opportunities and we tend to convert chances that we have.”

Reflecting on missed opportunities, he preferred not to look at them in a negative light, but he did find areas where the team could have done better, especially having anticipated England stepping up after the break.

“I don’t think we’d use adjectives like ‘frustrated’,” Townsend said. “I think we had to look onto the second half, what was working and what England might do to repel that.

“And also what we needed to do to be more effective. So you learn during that first half period.

“There were a couple of occasions when we went wide, we did well and that led to tries, but at times you have to narrow up the defence and aim to get something when you get into the 22, so that was a focus for us.

“We were expecting England to have more possession in the second half and bring their game into play, so we knew there would be momentum swings. I don’t think any of the players were frustrated during that half-time about not being further ahead.”