England’s new era under Eddie Jones has begun with a 15-9 win over bitter rival Scotland in the Six Nations, maintaining their recent dominance in the oldest fixture in world rugby.
England scored the only two tries in Saturday’s error-riddled match at Murrayfield, through lock George Kruis in the first half and winger Jack Nowell in the second.
Greig Laidlaw kicked three penalties to keep the Scots in striking distance, but they rarely looked like piercing England’s defence with ball in hand, and haven’t scored a try at home to their fiercest rival since 2004 – a span of 504 minutes.
England is unbeaten in its last nine games against Scotland, winning eight of them.
Jones was hired in November – as England’s first foreign-born coach – to shake up English rugby after a dismal home Rugby World Cup, but had only 10 days in camp with the squad.
As a result, the Australian made few changes from the previous regime under Stuart Lancaster to keep disruption to a minimum for a tough first-up game.
“Wasn’t the prettiest,” England captain Dylan Hartley said after his first match with the armband, “but winning was all that mattered to us”.
England’s scrum – a platform Jones was looking to build from – was a mixed bag, and Kruis’ try came from one of the early ones that held up well.
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