Biggest England Win Margin (Murrayfield): Scotland 3-29 England – 2002 Six Nations Championship
2nd February 2002, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
England most emphatic victory up in Edinburgh, was witnessed some 22 years ago in the 2002 Six Nations Championship. Despite not being the most high-scoring match-up the two sides have ever put on, the fixture was certainly the most convincing victory England had achieved in the hallowed grounds of Murrayfield. The win came in the midst of a five year period of English dominance, that stretched from 2001 to 2005. Sir Clive Woodward’s men obtained the crown of 2003 Rugby World Cup winners in the process, which highlighted this ‘golden era’ of England, much to the chagrin of the Scots.
England finished the 2002 Six Nations as runners-up to France, yet were able to obtain the Triple Crown with wins against Wales, Ireland and this notable Scottish drubbing. Coming in the opening round of the tournament, England started off the scoring after just seven minutes, with Jason Robinson going over for a try. Robinson completed his brace after 12 minutes, before Mike Tindall and Ben Cohen also got onto the scoresheet. The astute kicking of Jonny Wilkinson and Charlie Hodgson added to the unobtainable lead, with the record setting deficit of victory still standing to this day.
Biggest Scotland Win Margin vs England (Murrayfield): Scotland 33-6 England – 1986 Five Nations
15th February 1986, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Scotland’s record win margin against England goes one better, as the 27-point deficit set in 1986 just eclipses the aforementioned 26-point win which England achieved in 2002. Scotland and England were close contenders throughout the 1980s, as the decade witnessed Five England wins, three Scotland wins and two draws. However, this fixture was anything from close, as the Scots ran out one way traffic over the deflated visitors, much to the delight of the capacity Murrayfield crowd.
England contributions to the score-line came from Chris Andrews’ two penalties, which merely made a dent on the triumphant tartan. Wing Matt Duncan began Scotland’s try-scoring, before Scott Hastings and John Rutherford followed suit over the whitewash. Despite the fine efforts of Scott Hastings to grab a try, it was the pinpoint kicking of his brother Gavin that stole the show. The legendary fullback slotted 24 points from the boot, in the form of the three conversions and an additional five penalties.
Highest Scoring Fixture (Overall): England 61-21 Scotland – 2017 Six Nations Championships
11th March 2017, Twickenham Stadium, London
Despite the unbelievable 38-38 draw witnessed in 2019, the classic comeback at Twickenham is not the highest scoring fixture that England and Scotland have put on. For that match, we rewind two years before the second half that silenced HQ, in what was a jubilant day of celebration in South West London. England’s emphatic 61-21 win against their British Isle rivals stands as their co-record margin of victory, with their 40-point win equalising their efforts of 2001, that recorded a 43-3 win at Twickenham.
Coming in the penultimate round on England’s road to retaining the Six Nations title, Eddie Jones’ side wasted no time to get the scoreboard up and running. Jonathan Joseph scored his first try after just two minutes, and had his hat-trick wrapped up just 40 minutes later. Additional tries from Anthony Watson, Billy Vunipola and a brace from Danny Care, build a stunning lead for Owen Farrell to add the extras. Scotland retaliated through three tries, yet despite the best efforts of Gordon Reid, and Huw Jones’ double, the damage was more than done in a memorable Six Nations test match.