England conceded a late penalty try as Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup with a 20-17 win at Murrayfield on Saturday.

What a contest and what a result. Scotland came out on top of a thrilling encounter to win the Calcutta Cup back to back for the first time since 1984.

England were well placed to come away with a victory some 15 minutes away from full time, but then a moment of madness from hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie had them concede a penalty try to help Scotland draw level before Finn Russell kicked the match-winning penalty soon after.

Coming into this fixture, Scotland held the upper hand having beaten England twice in the past four years, coupled with a draw and just one defeat in the same period.

Addionally, England were understrength having been ravaged by a spate of injuries in the lead-up to the Six Nations.

And yet, England were the team dominating everything and everywhere throughout the first half, except on the scoreboard. This was largely due to Scotland’s exemplary discipline and patience in defence.

Scotland’s defence was ripped to shreds in the second half, though, as England continued to control the game – only this time they made it count.

Trailing by three after Marcus Smith had knocked over a penalty for the visitors, Scotland would go on to score a try out of nowhere.

Forced to make an early substitution when scrumhalf Ali Price had to undergo a head-injury assessment, Ben White came on for his first Test and it got better for the Scotland debutant, who went on to score within minutes of entering the fray.

As luck would have it, White’s first appearance was just a cameo, but it was a profitable one.

Smith and Russell traded penalties towards the end of the half as Scotland went into the break with their four-point lead intact.

It was much of the same in the second half, with the English attack asking all the questions and the Scottish defence coming up with the answers.

Twice England camped on the tryline and twice Scotland soaked up the pressure, conceding only a penalty.

But with white waves of attack continuing relentlessly, Scotland lived dangerous and it seemed inevitable that England would break through.  

It came to pass, through England boy wonder Smith on his Six Nations debut. He slid over for a crucial try, but it has to be said that his route to the line was made infinitely easier by the work of the forwards, who had mauled Scotland into submission moments earlier. 

Smith missed the conversion but popped over a penalty before he was replaced by George Ford.

But just as it looked as if England were pulling away on the scoreboard, the game was turned on its head.

Finn Russell hit a perfect kick-pass to Duhan van der Merwe on the left, with the wing making valuable running metres before he was hauled in. With England’s defence at sixes and sevens, Scotland recycled the ball quickly and Russell executed another kick-pass, this time to the right where Darcy Graham was well positioned.

Sensing the danger, England hooker Cowan-Dickie slapped the ball out the the grasp of the airborne Graham. And after consultation with his fellow match officials, referee Ben O’Keeffe awarded Scotland a penalty try and hit Cowan-Dickie with a yellow card.

Suddenly level on points with England, Scotland were thrown a lifeline and it was a question of whether they had the wherewithal to grab it and secure back-to-back Calcutta Cups for the first time in almost 40 years. 

There were still a couple of opportunities for England turn the result in their favour. However, there was no denying the Scots as they saw off one last England attack in stoppage time to seal the win.