England hooker apologises for costly blunder

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England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie has issued a public apology after he conceded a vital penalty try and yellow card which helped Scotland claim a 20-17 Six Nations victory to retain the Calcutta Cup.

Having dominated possession and territory, England led by seven points before a moment of madness from Cowan-Dickie handed Scotland a penalty try – to level the scores – and had the hooker yellow-carded.

Cowan-Dickie batted a cross-field kick from Finn Russell into touch, with referee Ben O’Keeffe ruling the England hooker had denied Scottish wing Darcy Graham the chance to catch the ball and score a probable try.

England’s 17-10 lead was wiped out and, a man down, Russell kicked a game-winning penalty for Scotland to retain the Calcutta Cup, although England had a succession of attacking scrums in overtime which they could not convert into points.

“Just want to apologise to all you supporters,” the Exeter front rower wrote on Saturday night. “I let myself and you guys down.

“Every time I play for my country I want nothing more than to make you guys proud. Thanks for all the support. Looking forward to bouncing back next week!”


When questioned by a Twitter user about why he was laughing as he exited the field, Cowan-Dickie responded: “Laughing at the ball boy giving me abuse. Didn’t want to say anything as my head was gone. Wasn’t laughing at what I did.”


Former Ireland fullback Rob Kearney dubbed Cowan-Dickie’s actions “absolutely crazy”, telling Virgin Media Sport: “He’d done all the hard work, he got himself into the right position. He timed his jump into the air really well, got his two hands up in the air, and then just decided to bat it into touch. It was absolutely crazy stuff. We’re always loathe to put the blame on one person, but he has cost his team this game.”

England head coach Eddie Jones did not share that opinion, telling the BBC: “We don’t apportion any blame to Luke. He was contesting a ball in a different area [to where he usually finds himself] and the referee adjudicated it was a yellow card, so we accept that and get on with it. Luke is disappointed, that happens in the moment. He played exceptionally well and he is very disappointed, but all the boys are supporting him.”

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