Scotland beat England at Twickenham for first time since 1983, on opening weekend of 2021 Six Nations; Duhan van der Merwe scored only try, with Finn Russell adding two penalties in memorable Test for Scots; head coach Gregor Townsend says the victory could be the best in their history
Sunday 7 February 2021 12:30, UK
Gregor Townsend believes Scotland's first win at Twickenham since 1983 could be the nation's greatest-ever Test victory.
An inspired Scotland stunned insipid England with a gritty performance, shaking off Finn Russell's yellow card to prevail 11-6 in west London.
Duhan van der Merwe's try and Russell's two penalties ensured Scotland claimed just their fifth win at Twickenham, condemning error-ridden England to a deserved defeat.
A delighted head coach Townsend paid tribute to his focused and accurate side after the historic victory.
"I came down here a number of times as a player and then as a coach and hadn't come away with anything," said Townsend.
"So this result is definitely up there with the best-ever results in our history, and certainly myself in my coaching career.
"Today the players were outstanding in really tricky conditions. It was wet the whole game, really heavy rain in the second half.
"So to win in these conditions against a very good side is a fantastic achievement."
Townsend's Scotland have battled through patchy results and performances in pushing beyond the 2019 World Cup, but now the former Test fly-half insists his squad are ready to step up and be counted.
"We all enjoyed last year, you learn in defeats, grow as a team in adversity," said Townsend.
"We had moments before and after the World Cup, and that's how we've been shaped as a group of players and coaches.
"It was so good to see the players play so well in the period of Finn Russell's yellow card, and we won that 10 minutes 3-0.
"It wasn't just one way of playing, we had a lot of variety and a lot of maturity in our play."
Cameron Redpath enjoyed a dream debut on Saturday and Townsend has tipped the Bath playmaker to shine for years to come.
The 21-year-old centre oozed composure, confidence and class as Scotland secured just their fifth-ever win at Twickenham.
England boss Eddie Jones previously squandered the chance to elevate Redpath into his Test side and has now paid a hefty price, as the son of former Scotland scrum-half Bryan ran amok in the Six Nations opener.
"That was an incredible debut," said Townsend. "To come into a squad you've not trained with before, meet players for the first time and integrate to our way of playing - we saw his skillset, his confidence, his maturity.
"You don't expect someone on their debut to have such an accomplished start, especially against England of all teams and in a place where we've not won for so long.
"He got on the ball a lot in the early stages of the game, and then he did very well when he was on the ball.
"He put in a lot of really good carries, smart passes and was very impressive all around.
"So it's really exciting to see what he can achieve in his career with us over the next few years now."
Redpath eclipsed his former England Under-20s team-mate Ollie Lawrence in Scotland's history-making victory.
Born in France while his father was playing for Narbonne, Redpath could have qualified for Les Bleus as well as England and Scotland.
Jones called him into his senior England squad in May 2018, but never progressed his interest in the creative midfielder any further.
Scotland boss Townsend was able to swoop in and convince the Bath star that his Test future lay north of the border - and just in time to be part of one of the nation's greatest-ever victories.
