Gregor Townsend described Scotland’s Calcutta Cup victory as the biggest win of his coaching career after watching his side beat England for the first time in a decade.
Huw Jones scored two first-half tries for the hosts, taking his tally to an incredible ten from 13 Tests, while the defence remained defiant in the face of an England second-half onslaught to win 25-13.
Townsend, who has been head coach for a year, led Scotland to a famous win against Australia while they also pushed world champions New Zealand all the way in November.
But the way they bossed two-time defending champions England made this his sweetest win yet as they moved back into NatWest 6 Nations contention.
“From a coaching perspective that was my biggest win. We almost beat the number one side in the world in November and now we have beaten the number two side in the world,; he said.
“They have been very consistent but we had the game to beat them. I think the first half of that game and the first half of the New Zealand game were very similar in intent.
“We played with accuracy and our defence was superb in both games. The difference tonight was that we finished off opportunities.
“The second half was always going to be a tighter affair. The ball was certainly slower for us. It was not the complete performance but the way we defended at the end when the game was won summed it up.
“It was very satisfying and we are very proud.”
After an opening-day defeat to Wales, Scotland have now won back-to-back NatWest 6 Nations games to move third in the table.
Next they travel to leaders Ireland in another mouth-watering showdown. Win there and Scotland are right in the mix for their first Championship since 1990.
“We have Ireland and they have a great home record. We have our own away issues to deal with,” Townsend said.
“We need to be better away from home and that will be our focus when we get back to camp.
“We need to show what we are about away from home and see what that brings us.”
England head coach Eddie Jones admitted he side were out-thought at the breakdown – where Scotland won ten turnovers and forced 13 penalties.
And Townsend was quick to pay tribute to captain John Barclay, who made 13 tackles and drove his side on.
“He was great. He was determined to play well, he was subbed with 20 minutes go against France but the way he was playing he was not going to be subbed,”; he added.
“We targeted the breakdown before the match as an area where we could do something. And John (Barclay), Hamish (Watson) and the rest got involved very quickly.
“If England were not accurate then we got rewards and John was a big part of that.”;