Eddie Jones, like Stuart Lancaster four years ago, began his stint in charge of England with a single-figure victory over Scotland at Murrayfield which he described as ultimately easy.
England scored two tries to nil as they extended their unbeaten run over Scotland to eight years in retaining the Calcutta Cup and if they defeat Italy in Rome next Sunday, they would go into the home matches against Ireland and Wales with momentum.
“When we were coming into the ground on the coach, I could see a swarm of Scottish supporters standing outside a pub,” said Jones. “There was a little lad in a beanie yelling: ‘Come on England.’ He was drowned out, but he kept going, a bit like the team later.
“In the end, we won easily. We scored two tries to none and if there had been bonus points we would have gone for four. We knew at half-time [when England led 7-6] that we were well set because our data showed that Scotland score 69% of their points in the first 30 minutes of a game. The only way we weren’t going to win the game was if we did something silly.”
England’s tries were scored by George Kruis and Jack Nowell, who were in the World Cup squad but not first choice in their positions, but Jones singled out the No8 Billy Vunipola, who was the man of the match.
“Yeah he’s pretty handy, Billy. He’s not bad is he? He played really well and his workrate was fantastic, good carries, good defence. Billy carried really well and his footwork was good.
“I think he can become the best No8 in the world. He is a young guy who is learning and we are looking to get him to attack outside the fly-half as well as the scrum-half.”
Jones was less complimentary about the referee, John Lacey. “We wanted to play some positive rugby but with him it is 50-50 at the breakdown so you do not get much an advantage. It became a game based on set-piece defence and ours was very good.”
The England captain, Dylan Hartley, said he was pleased with the set pieces, one of England’s weaknesses in the World Cup, for which he was omitted after a ban picked up at club level ruled him out of the start of the tournament. “Amazing. Good start for us. We got better as the game went on,” he continued. “It was a physical game and the good thing for us going forward is that there is plenty to review and improve on.”
Vern Cotter, the Scotland head coach, said England had not surprised him. “They were big and physical and held the ball well. They played a percentage game and put the ball in our end.
“We did not do that enough and it was a frustrating game for us. We had enough opportunities to win but did not take them. There is so much more to come from us.”
