England go top with Twickers win

England moved to the top of the Six Nations standings with a hard-earned 12-point (25-13) win over Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday.

Scotland held a 13-10 half-time break, but second-half tries by George Ford and Jack Nowell gave England the momentum and breathing space on the scoreboard.

The result means that England, Ireland and Wales all have six points on the table after five rounds – with England's plus-37 just shading Ireland (+33) and Wales a bit behind in third (+12).

It all goes down to the wire next week in the final round – when Italy are at home to Wales, Scotland host Ireland and England play France in London.

Stuart Lancaster's men also captured the Calcutta Cup.

This contest, always emotionally and physically explosive, gained even more importance thanks to the exploits in Cardiff 90 minutes or so earlier – when the title race was blown wide open.

Ireland lost their chance of Grand Slam glory with a 16-23 defeat by a Wales team rejuvenated following their opening fixture loss to Lancaster's men at the Millennium Stadium.

It was a rare moment in time when the English roared on the Red Dragons, and their prayers that the Welsh would fly to the rescue and leave the Six Nations sitting on a knife edge were answered.

But that result meant the men in white simply had to keep their side of the bargain and ensure a fourth successive defeat of the campaign for a struggling Scotland side.

England wasted a glorious chance to grab a very early try when they charged up the field from the kick off. George Ford opened the Scottish defence up with a pass to  Luther Burrell who only had last man Stuart Hogg to beat. But the Englishman decided to try and  go it alone rather than pass out wide right to Anthony Watson and was tackled to the ground by the Scotland fullback, and the chance went begging.

But Bath centre Jonathan Joseph did not waste his golden opportunity moments later when Ford again was the provider with a deft pass which let his club teammate surge over the line for the opening try. Ford converted for England's perfect start.

Lancaster's men almost had a second but left wing Jack Nowell burst down the left flank only for his Scotland rival Dougie Fife to pull off a try saving diving tackle to deny him.

Hogg came to the visitors rescue as, under constant siege on their own line, he raced back to stop Mike Brown in his tracks with the England fullback just a few yards short of the line.

But the English pressure failed to bring about the expected points tally and they were punished by a real sucker punch. Scotland's first real attacking move ended with England's defence opening up and centre Mark Bennett going over from six metres. Scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw converted to level the game.

Ford and Laidlaw exchanged penalty blows before England had a try disallowed. Anthony Watson burst over the line, but it Ford had given a forward pass to Luther Burrell.

Laidlaw kicked Scotland into a 13-10 lead at half-time when England were caught offside.

The hosts came out after the break as they started the first on the front foot. But this time with more venom as a flowing move led to Ford slicing his way through and over the line for a try he converted himself.

Ford followed up with a penalty and England had a second try cancelled out when Brown raced over the line but James Haskell had given a forward pass.

But England finished as strongly as they began the game and wing Nowell dived over in the left-hand corner for a try which put Lancaster's team top of the table to set up a thrilling final day of the Championship next Saturday with three teams capable of winning the title.

Man of the match: Stuart Hogg is always good value for Scotland. Greig Laidlaw is valuable for his goal-kicking and service behind the pack. Jonny Gray is growing into a player of enormous stature, but still far from the finished article. Blair Cowan is another player of great value to Scotland. Jonathan Joseph and Luther Burrell are beginning to cement their positions in the England midfield, wile George Ford is also beginning look more like England's first-choice flyhalf. However, it was in front of them were the hard work was done – Billy Vunipola, Chris Robshaw, James Haskell and Courtney Lawes getting through a mountain of work. Our award goes to No.8 Billy Vunipola – who was England's most productive ball-carrying forward and also made the most tackles.

Moment of the match:  Three minutes into the second half George Ford strolled over for a try under the uprights. It looked so simple in its execution, but it was enormously significant in terms of the outcome of the game and gave England the momentum they needed after the break.

Villain of the match: Nobody worthy of this reward, despite the brutal nature of the game.

The scorers:

For England:

Tries: Joseph, G Ford, Nowell

Cons: G Ford 2

Pens: G Ford 2

For Scotland:

Try: Bennett

Con: Laidlaw

Pens: Laidlaw 2

Teams:

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 James Haskell, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21 Adam Ashe, 22 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 23 Greig Tonks.

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Marius Mitrea (Italy)

TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)