England off to winning ways under Jones

It was not exactly a flying start to a new era for Jones and his team but a sixth successive Calcutta Cup victory against Scotland qualified as a solid first step in their Six Nations rebuilding campaign.

For the Scots, the result and performance came as a disappointment, their Kiwi head coach Vern Cotter is still waiting for his first win in the Six Nations.

Equally depressingly, the Scots drew a sixth successive Murrayfield blank on the try scoring front against England. Not since a Simon Danielli score back in 2004 have they crossed the England whitewash at Murrayfield. All they managed were three penalties by their captain Greig Laidlaw.

England were on the front foot from the off, spending the opening stages deep in home territory. The Scottish defence held firm, though, and they breathed a sigh of relief when England flyhalf George Ford pushed wide a drop goal attempt in the 10th minute.

It proved to be a temporary reprieve. English pressure told in the 14th minute, Harlequins lock Kruis barging through three defenders to score his first international try from an attacking scrum. Owen Farrell added the conversion to furnish England with a 7-0 lead but Laidlaw nailed his first penalty attempt to peg the gap to 7-3 in the 17th minute.

Laidlaw had a chance to cut the deficit to a single point in the 29th minute when Ford was penalised for not releasing in the tackle but this time, the scrumhalf pulled his kick wide of the posts. Still, after a powerful Scottish scrum, England lock Joe Launchbury was penalised for holding onto the ball at the bottom of a ruck and Laidlaw made amends with his second penalty success in the 38th minute.

The Scots might even have led at half-time but, after fine work by flank John Hardie, flyhalf Finn Russell was off the mark with a drop goal attempt. As it was, England turned round with a 7-6 advantage. They had to withstand some early pressure after the interval but steadily asserted their authority.

Farrell missed a penalty attempt, but in the 51st minute the inside centre fed Nowell into the right corner for England's second try – thanks to a deft pass from replacement prop Mako Vunipola. It was the Exeter wing's eighth try in 11 matches for England.

Farrell was off the mark with the conversion but England led 12-6. Farrell stretched the lead to 15-6 with his first penalty success in the 63rd minute.

Laidlaw reduced the gap with a penalty in the 69th minute but that was scant consolation for the Scots, who blooded 20-year-old Glasgow prop Zander Fagerson as a 69th minute replacement – their youngest prop since Bill Black in 1948.

Man of the match: Greig Laidlaw kept his side in the contest with his educated boot and it was more of a team effort by the Scots than stand-out individuals. Anthony Watson looked dangerous with ball-in-hand as did Mike Brown but our vote goes to the man who was absolutely everywhere and did the most on the mark. Billy Vunipola got side on the front foot with strong carries and showed plenty of aggression in the physical exchanges.

Moment of the match: In a low-scoring affair, Jack Nowell's 51st minute try gave the visitors the buffer they needed at a crucial stage in the contest.

Villain of the match: It was a fast-paced and cagey affair but everyone managed to keep their emotions in check, especially Dylan Hartley.

Scorers:

For Scotland:

Pens: Laidlaw 3

For England:

Tries: Kruis, Nowell

Con: Farrell

Pen: Farrell

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Duncan Taylor.

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Alex Goode, 23 Ollie Devoto.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Stuart Berry (South Africa)

TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)