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An unconvincing England have chalked up the first win of their Four Nations campaign with a 38-12 victory against a gallant Scotland at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
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The Scots, who were brushed aside 54-12 by Australia in Hull last week, more than held their own for the first hour of the game before Wayne Bennett’s side added some gloss to the scoreline in the final 20 minutes.
Despite fielding an almost full-strength team, the hosts found themselves 8-0 down after 26 minutes as the fired-up Scots came racing out of the traps.
North Queensland duo Kane Linnett and Lachlan Coote combined for the sixth-minute opener with the former Sydney Roosters centre crashing over after being put clear by his fullback.
They then doubled their advantage in magnificent fashion through former Gold Coast winger Matty Russell, who twisted his body mid-air to touch down one-handed in the left corner.
Canberra back-rower Elliot Whitehead sparked the hosts into life with two tries in quick succession before the interval with Luke Gale adding the extra points from in front of the posts to give them a 12-8 halftime lead.
Coote went close to putting Scotland back on level terms only to be held up on the line and almost immediately England broke downfield with Mark Pericival finishing well to give his side some breathing space.
Now firmly in the ascendancy, the hosts added their fourth try through the prolific Ryan Hall, who touched down for the 30th time in 30 international appearances.
The Scots’ job became even harder when talismanic skipper Danny Brough was sin binned for a professional foul and in his absence Jermaine McGilvary and Gale crossed the whitewash.
The Scots scored a deserved third try through Dale Ferguson after Brough’s return before Liam Farrell crashed over for his first international try.
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