Scotland ended a 38-year wait for victory over England at Twickenham as a hard-working and industrious display earned a deserved 11-6 triumph and Calcutta Cup glory.
Not since 1983 had Scotland beaten their biggest rivals at the home of English rugby but the fired-up visitors outbattled and outplayed Eddie Jones' defending Six Nations champions.
Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg were the attacking catalysts in a match marking the 150th anniversary of the first meeting between these old foes.
Rookie Scotland centre Cameron Redpath showed why there is so much hype with a promising display in an empty stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic that delayed the finish to the 2020 championship.
England were without five forwards but even accounting for that the penalty count was much too high and they were lucky to only be 8-6 down at the break – Duhan van der Merwe crossing for the game's only try.
The end result is a third Calcutta Cup in four years for Scotland, who had previously lost nine in a row between 2008 and 2017.
England's ill-discipline allowed Russell to boot over an early penalty and an accumulation of infringements led to the sin-binning of Billy Vunipola for a high, albeit loose, arm on Scotland's number 10.
Buoyed by the extra man Hamish Watson was held up at the line by Jamie George and only a cruel bounce denied Van der Merwe from meeting Russell's expert kick.
Another bomb from Russell set in motion the move from which Van der Merwe bulldozed through Mark Wilson's tackle shortly after as Scotland had reward for their dominance.
But skipper Owen Farrell quickly kicked the hosts onto the board before Russell was binned for a crude trip on Ben Youngs and another three-pointer from England's captain brought the score within two.
The numerical disadvantage did little to curb Scotland's enthusiasm early in the second half and Russell kicked a routine penalty after Ellis Genge was harshly pinged for not attempting to bind with a low tackle.
Russell missed with another effort that he will feel he should have made but still England struggled to garner any momentum.
Stuart Hogg was also off target from the tee to make it a nervy ending, but the final whistle was met with shouts of joy from the visitors.
England's depleted pack lacks punch
There is a sense of deja vu for England who lost the opening match of their 2020 title-winning campaign to France.
The absence of Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler clearly weakened a usually strong pack, while Joe Marler, Joe Launchbury and Sam Underhill were also absent. Without some key men, England lacked their usual set-piece prowess.
Russell and Hogg torment England
A year ago it looked as though Russell's international career may be over following a breakdown in the relationship with head coach Gregor Townsend.
His return to action for the 2020 finale was ended early due to an injury that ruled him out of the Autumn Nations Cup, but Scotland fans will be delighted their fly-half wizard has patched things up with Townsend after his magic helped seal a famous win.
He was helped by the brilliant Hogg, whose pin-point kicking and lightning-quick feet was a constant thorn in the side of an out-of-sorts England.
What's next?
England are at back at HQ as they aim to bounce back next Saturday when Italy visit Twickenham, the same day Scotland – who will now fancy a real crack at the title – host Wales at Murrayfield.
Kane injury doubt for England Euro 2024 squad
Harry Kane may be a doubt for England’s Euro 2024 squad as he continues to struggle with a back problem.
Gareth Southgate is due to name his preliminary squad for Euro 2024 on Tuesday, ahead of upcoming friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland.
The England captain missed the final two Bundesliga games of the season after going off towards the end of Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.
Thomas Tuchel confirmed prior to their final match against Hoffenheim that Kane was back in England to undergo treatment.
When later asked again about the nature of the striker’s injury, Tuchel admitted that Kane had been struggling for a couple of weeks.
"In Madrid, it was borderline. We tried injections and treatments. The back has completely closed.
"It has gotten worse and kept breaking out in small, everyday movements. There's no chance he's even training."
Kane scored 36 league goals in his debut campaign for Bayern, though due to the injury, he finished five adrift of Robert Lewandowski’s single-season goal record of 41, set in 2019-20.
The final announcement of Southgate's 26-man squad will be revealed on June 7, ahead of the tournament opener against Serbia on June 16.
Edwards to defend UFC Welterweight title in rematch against second-ranked Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester
Jamaican-born British Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards now has a date and an opponent for his next title defense.
The 32-year-old will try to fend off number two-ranked Belal Muhammad in the main event at UFC 304 set for July 27 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Edwards will enter the fight in the midst of a 12-fight unbeaten streak while Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 10 contests.
The pair fought previously at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad on March 13, 2021 in Las Vegas. That bout ended in a no contest after an accidental eye-poke by Edwards in the second of five rounds rendered Muhammad unable to continue.
After than unfortunate fight, Edwards went on to defeat fan favorite Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona on June 12, 2021.
His next fight proved to be his crowning moment as he secured a spectacular head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman to claim the UFC Welterweight title at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City on August 20, 2022.
Heading into that fight, Usman was on a 20-fight win streak and was the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. The Nigerian also had a win over Edwards back in 2015.
Edwards then went on to defeat Usman again, this time via unanimous decision, in their trilogy fight at UFC 286 in London on March 18, 2023 before defending his belt for the second time with another unanimous decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296 on December 16 last year.
Muhammad has also been on a tear since that eye-poke.The 35-year-old recorded unanimous decision victories over legends Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson at UFC 263 and UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Daukas, respectively, to close out 2021.
He then secured a third consecutive unanimous decision win, this time beating Vicente Luque in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 on April 16, 2022.
At UFC 280 on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, Muhammad won performance of the night for his knockout win over Sean Brady and in his last fight, he defeated former title challenger Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision at UFC 288 on May 6, 2023 in New Jersey.
Another one: ‘Bunny’ Shaw cops 2023/24 Barclays WSL Player of the Season honour
The accolades of Jamaica and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw continue to mount, as she was voted the 2023/24 Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Player of the Season, on Friday.
This announcement came on the heels of Thursday’s Football Writers’ Association (FWA) awards gala, where Shaw was officially presented with the FWA Women Footballer of the Year trophy, alongside fellow Manchester City star Phil Foden.
To say these individual acclaims are very much deserving would be an understatement given her exploits this season, as she has been a key figure in City’s push for the WSL title.
The 27-year-old, whose season was cut short due to a broken leg, has registered 21 goals in just 18 appearances, while also providing three assists. She’s on course for another prestigious honour of finishing as the league’s top scorer, having incredibly averaged a goal every 66 minutes this season.
And it is just rewards for another phenomenal campaign in which she once again broke new ground in Gareth Taylor’s side.
Shaw is the first player to score three WSL hat-tricks in a calendar year, last year, and between November 2023 and January 2024, the forward again registered three trebles in just four matches.
Finding the net in both WSL Manchester derbies, the Jamaican’s clinical finish at the Etihad Stadium in March also saw her become City’s record goalscorer, as she swept past Georgia Stanway in the process.
Another crucial strike from Shaw came in City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in February, as they secured the honour of being the first away side to take three points off the reigning champions at Kingsmeadow, in over three years.
In securing the Player of the Season title, the prolific Jamaican fought off the sizeable challenge of City teammate Khiara Keating, who won the Golden Glove, as well as Chelsea duo Lauren James and Niamh Charles. Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy, Tottenham Hotspurs youngster Grace Clinton, Leicester’s Jutta Rantala, and Brighton’s forward Elisabeth Terland, were also in the mix.
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