Scotland player ratings vs England: 2025 Six Nations

Saturday, 22 February 2025 at 20:14

byRugby Rucker

Scotland suffered an agonising defeat at the hands of England, with Finn Russell missing a decisive conversion in a 16-15 loss at Allianz Stadium.

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Despite scores from Ben White, Huw Jones and Duhan van der Merwe, Russell’s three wayward conversions handed England their first win over the Auld Enemy since 2020. Here’s our player ratings for Scotland’s defeat to England in Round Three of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations.nd player ratings vs England.

Scotlands player ratings vs England:

Pierre Schoeman - 5

Schoeman was part of a Scotland side guilty of far too many scrum penalties, with both props looking like the issue on multiple occasions. The Scots will need to work on their breakdown and set-piece discipline if they want to challenge for a championship.

Dave Cherry - 7

The Edinburgh man continued his impressive return to the international fold after an 18-month hiatus, throwing well at the lineout and looking confident in contact. While the scrum left much to be desired as a whole, Cherry was the standout front row for the visitors in his 54 minutes on the pitch.

Zander Fagerson - 6

Like Schoeman, Fagerson was culpable for several of the visitors’ indiscretions from set pieces. His ball carrying and defensive work made up for it slightly, but Scotland fans would surely expect a more mature and professional performance from such an experienced international.

Jonny Gray - 7

Having played no rugby for two months before the tournament started, Gray continued to have his minutes slowly increased up to an hour in this game. He performed well, being the target for many of Scotland’s lineouts, including a clever routine which culminated in Huw Jones’ try.

Grant Gilchrist - 6

The Edinburgh man failed to pull up any trees in his 70 minutes of action, solid enough in that time but unable to put down a marker and justify his selection. With more youthful options in Gregor Brown and Sam Skinner breathing down his neck and much media attention on the second row, Gilchrist will need to show more to keep them out of the team.

Jamie Ritchie - 9

An easy selection for Scotland’s player of the match, Ritchie is known to be a big-game player, and he turned up today. While the result didn’t go Scotland’s way in London, Ritchie showed his quality and put himself firmly in the shop window for a Lions selection with a massive performance.

Rory Darge - 7

Darge was the better co-captain for Scotland today, showing desire and fight in contact while helping to supply Scottish attacks with fine passing. He wasn’t on the level of other flanker Ritchie, but still performed well for Gregor Townsend’s side.

Jack Dempsey - 6

The least impactful of Scotland’s much-discussed back row, Dempsey didn’t have a bad game by any means but was outshone by his flankers. With experienced international Matt Fagerson waiting in the wings for a starting berth, Dempsey may need to show more fight than he did today to maintain his place in the first XV.

Ben White - 8

White took his try well and did very little else wrong, controlling Scotland’s tempo nicely throughout. His passing was not the difference in Scotland’s lack of cutting edge at times, and the Stoke-on-Trent native can be pleased with his performance against the country of his birth.

Finn Russell - 4

Co-captain Russell’s kicking was the difference in a heartbreaking result for the Scots, failing to make any of his three conversions from wide areas. While he was reliable away from the tee and all three kicks were near the touchline, there’s no looking past his abysmal kicking in a gut-wrenching Scottish defeat which ends their championship hopes.

Duhan van der Merwe - 8

England’s tormentor since his first appearance in this fixture back in 2021, van der Merwe perhaps should’ve seen more of the ball as he caused problems with every carry. Imperious under the high ball and crunching in contact, he teed up Jones’ try and scored one himself in a crucial moment, giving Russell his unsuccessful opportunity to win this game.

Tom Jordan - 7

It’s easy to forget that Jordan is still so early in his international career, winning just his sixth cap today in London. He carried well, playing a massive part in Jones’ try, albeit he was guilty of failing to take some of the opportunities Scotland created throughout this match.

Huw Jones - 8

Jones scored his fourth try of the tournament to give Scotland back the lead midway through the first half, once again playing the role of being right on the shoulder to finish off big chances. Say it quietly, but he continues to creep up on the wing pairing of van der Merwe and the unavailable Darcy Graham in the race to become Scotland’s record try scorer.

Kyle Rowe - 6

Rowe was ineffective on the wing, rarely threatening the English line in his 64 minutes on the Twickenham turf. He was taken off midway through the second half for Stafford McDowall in a move which proved advantageous for the Scots as the centre teed up van der Merwe’s try with a powerful run up the middle. Rowe couldn’t impact the game like that in the slightest, so scores lowly here.

Blair Kinghorn - 7

Good under the high ball and solid in contact, Toulouse’s Kinghorn continued to display a steady hand behind the Scotland line, sweeping up when required and getting involved in lung-busting Scottish breakaways. With Russell’s kicking ineptitude in London this afternoon, some thought may be given to trusting Kinghorn from the tee in the future—albeit he too has previous for missing game-winning kicks, doing so against Australia in 2022.

Replacements:

Ewan Ashman - 4

Ashman did nothing positive in his time on the field, misplacing lineouts and giving away penalties in crucial moments. Add in an absurd attempted offload which went awry, he didn’t cover himself in glory at Twickenham this afternoon.

Jamie Bhatti - 6

A late call-up to the matchday 23 for the injured Rory Sutherland, Bhatti played like a man who hadn’t had ideal preparation throughout the week. He didn’t do much in his ten minutes of action as Scotland punched in a try but failed to win the game.

Will Hurd - 6

Hurd was afforded just six minutes of the match, having replaced Zander Fagerson at tighthead late on. The Leicester man had no time to impact the game in a meaningful way and so gets a tidy six.

Sam Skinner - 6

Introduced with 18 minutes remaining, Skinner carried nicely and put in a tidy shift for the Scots, especially in place of Jonny Gray’s good performance. While he hardly had enough time to put his stamp on the game, Skinner was solid enough to warrant praise—and perhaps consideration to replace Grant Gilchrist in the starting lineup to face Wales.

Gregor Brown - 6

Another player with little time to shake up proceedings, Brown had just ten minutes of action for the Scots as they suffered back-to-back Men’s Six Nations defeats. The Glasgow man still has limited international experience, only making his Test bow in July against Canada during the Americas tour, but Brown showed that big games shouldn’t be a problem for him going forward.

Matt Fagerson - 5

Neither Fagerson brother showed their best today, Matt making a 26-minute appearance which showed little positives. The Warriors man was decent in attack but dropped a lineout in a key moment where Scotland could’ve given themselves a lot more time to win this match at Allianz Stadium.

Jamie Dobie - 7

Dobie was introduced for Ben White with 16 minutes to play and had a solid enough performance. Another Glasgow man who came on and showed promise, Dobie will be glad of spending some time at scrum-half in this game, having played on the wing against Ireland in place of the injured Darcy Graham.

Stafford McDowall - 7

McDowall lost his place to Tom Jordan after a lacklustre display against Italy in the opening round but showed his quality again today in his 16 minutes off the bench. His powerful break in the 79th minute teed up van der Merwe’s score at the corner, giving Scotland the opportunity to score when chances looked so hard to come by.

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