With England already back-pedalling, Van der Merwe surged past Ollie Lawrence’s tackle and fed Tom Jordan, who rifled a sensational long inside pass to the supporting Ben White, who scored with ease.
Tactically they also have a keen sense of where England’s vulnerabilities might lie and their pace and incision in the wider channels frequently made life a nightmare for England’s overstretched defence.
Only an excellent tackle from Van der Merwe stopped a speeding Marcus Smith from going all the way to the line but, with the try still crying out to be scored, Lawrence’s attempted ‘cat flap’ offload to Sleightholme flew wastefully into touch.
Once again, though, England managed to hang tough when it really mattered, a long raking last quarter penalty from Fin Smith proving just enough to stem the tide of modern history.
Scotland’s game was built on the three ‘A’s that so often underpin their best performances: ambition, aggression and, most crucially of all, accuracy, but, ultimately, England’s scramble defence and superior kicking off the tee proved the difference.
