Duhan van der Merwe scored a hat-trick of tries as Scotland defeated England 30-21 at Murrayfield to lift the Calcutta Cup for the fourth year in a row.
Not since 1896 have Scotland beaten their biggest rivals four times in a row in the Guinness Six Nations while the magnificent Van Der Merwe became his nation's first player to score a Calcutta Cup.
The jet-heeled wing – who scored a stunning double at Twickenham just over 12 months ago – had the home crowd in raptures as he produced an Edinburgh masterclass to inspire his team to victory and move to within one of Scotland’s all-time record try-scorer Stuart Hogg.
England started brightly and opened up an early 10-0 lead, with George Furbank scoring his first international try, but Steve Borthwick’s men offered little thereafter as their unbeaten start to the championship shuddered to a halt following narrow wins over Italy and Wales.
Remarkably, the Red Rose have now won only one of the last seven meetings with Scotland, who have now put themselves back in with a real chance of Six Nations glory having suffered a setback against France last week.
However, for that to happen Gregor Townsend's side will somehow need to stop Grand Slam-chasing Ireland next month.
2024: 🏴 30-21 🏴
— Sport on Sporting Life (@SLSport_) February 24, 2024
2023: 🏴 23-29 🏴
2022: 🏴 20-17 🏴
2021: 🏴 6-11 🏴
😲 For the first time since 1896, Scotland have beaten England in FOUR successive Six Nations matches, with Duhan van der Merwe scoring a hat-trick of tries! pic.twitter.com/kiTVPiT5Rv
Andy Farrell’s men backed up crushing wins over France and Italy with a third consecutive bonus-point triumph as they brushed aside spirited Wales 31-7 in Dublin to keep themselves in pole position for back-to-back Grand Slams
First-half tries from Dan Sheehan and James Lowe paved the way for the reigning champions to equal England’s tournament record of 11 wins in a row.
Wales avoided embarrassment at the Aviva Stadium and briefly threatened an improbable fightback thanks to a second-half spell which brought a penalty try and a yellow card for Tadhg Beirne.
But a first Test try for stand-in Ireland full-back Ciaran Frawley broke their resolve before Beirne atoned for his earlier error by securing the bonus point at the death on an afternoon when flawless fly-half Jack Crowley kicked 11 points.
Ireland’s ominous march towards another clean sweep continues next month against England and Scotland, while winless Wales host France in round four ahead of a possible wooden spoon shoot-out with Italy.
