Eight points from Marcus Smith and a long-range Fin Smith penalty ultimately settled the contest in the hosts’ favour, while there were question marks over the grounding of Tommy Freeman’s try, which came between the scores from Scotland pair White and Jones.
Gregor Townsend backed “outstanding goal-kicker” Finn Russell to remain in the role following his trio of costly conversion misses during Scotland’s agonising 16-15 Guinness Six Nations defeat to England.
Co-captain Russell squandered a last-gasp kick for victory at Allianz Stadium after Duhan Van der Merwe’s dramatic try put the Scots on the brink of extending their four-year stranglehold on the Calcutta Cup.
Head coach Townsend insisted he will not be taking the kicking tee from Russell after his side’s championship title hopes effectively ended in the wake of the nail-biting finale.
The influential fly-half also failed to add the extras to first-half scores from Ben White and Huw Jones on an evening when the visitors paid a heavy price for not capitalising on their early dominance.
