Saints fly-half Smith the match-winner again as England edge out Scotland

Smith, who kicked England to a 26-25 victory against France in their previous Guinness Six Nations encounter, slotted a massive penalty from close to halfway with 10 minutes to go.

And it proved to be decisive as Finn Russell's failure to convert a last-gasp Duhan van der Merwe try meant Scotland fell just short of victory.

Tommy Freeman had scored for England during the first half, latching on to an Alex Mitchell pass before powering over for a third try in as many Six Nations matches in 2025.

Ollie Sleightholme also started the match as all four Saints backs kept their place in the England side.

The Red Rose, who got their hands on the Calcutta Cup for the first time in 1,477 days, have now won two of their opening three Six Nations matches ahead of clashes with Italy (March 9) and Wales (March 15).

“I’d suggest in the previous game (against France) we played very, very well,” said England boss Borthwick. “Pretty good attack, scored four tries against France.

“Today, Scotland brought a very, very smart tactical plan. The way to set-up to play against England, generally, is to play limited phase and put the kick on to England and ultimately in the first half they had the ascendency but in the second half the players gradually figured it out and found different ways to get an advantage and got up on the scoreboard.

“These are good teams we’re playing against.

"There are two teams out there and we are really respectful of the opposition.

"There are times where you’re in the ascendency and there are times where they are and you have to maximise your opportunities and minimise theirs.

“Each of these games has been very different. What pleases me is I think the team’s evolving.

"We don’t necessarily want to play the way we played today. We want the ball in hand, we want to move the ball.

"We’ve got a whole lot of creative talent. But Scotland are trying to stop you from doing that, and they did it really well.

"But we found a way to win and we’ll make sure we’re better for this experience.”