Scotland 18 England 12: Scotland did not set out to do England a favour but, for the losers, Saturday night's unexpected Calcutta Cup outcome may prove a blessing in disguise.
As the Scottish players celebrated, Andy Robinson's glazed eyes belied his insistence this was a mere blip. The Scots fully deserved their success, just as they did in toppling France here three weeks ago. It is 16 years since they beat Europe's two most populous rugby nations in the same season and six years since they last sent England home to think again.
There were strong similarities between this win and their 2000 triumph which yielded the immortal headline "Battlers 19 Bottlers 13". Once again, in bitter, damp conditions, England were beaten at their own game.
It revived the issue of whether Robinson's side are too conservative for their own good; flat-track bullies who lack the balance and spark of genuine World Cup contenders. The former Scotland coach Jim Telfer described the visitors yesterday as "incredibly predictable".
In terms of turnovers conceded and a failure to turn possession into points, England's setback was on the painful side of chastening. It was also, to some extent, an accident waiting to happen: without Charlie Hodgson's promptings at outhalf, England would have been utterly monochrome.
A season of rising promise is in danger of turning sour, particularly if they run into a motivated French team on Sunday week. Ireland, the only side still hunting the inaugural triple crown trophy, may also now fancy their luck at Twickenham next month.
Such is the topsy-turvy nature of a tournament which has coughed up only one away win in nine fixtures this season. England's areas of concern are the absence of a genuine ball-sniffing truffle hound at openside flanker, a lack of authority at scrumhalf, the need for a more versatile midfield playmaker alongside Hodgson and an increasingly thorny leadership dilemma.
Martin Corry is too loyal to grab his head coach by the lapels, pin him up against a wall and ask him what the hell is going on but Robinson's decision, with the score at 12-9, to substitute his captain with 15 minutes to go was a huge call.
If Corry is the best man to captain England he should be on the field for as long as he can stand up.
Instead, upon receiving a crucial late penalty, England were forced to convene a committee meeting to determine whether, at 15-9, to kick for the corner or take the three points.
Corry insisted he, too, would have opted for the posts. Such was the quality of Scotland's defence there was no guarantee of a match-saving try and Hodgson might have missed the conversion. It also took a while for the referee Alan Lewis to confirm six minutes remained to be played. But, as the official stand-in captain Mike Tindall, Hodgson and several others debated what to do, there was an impression of too many chefs stirring the broth. The final word seemed to come from Lawrence Dallaglio.
Credit must go to the Scotland coach Frank Hadden for sending out a team who again punched far above their weight. England's forwards may have been more than a stone a man heavier but their Scottish opposites treated the scales with disdain.
No matter that their lineout and scrum creaked and their prolific wing Sean Lamont barely saw the ball. Instead they tackled heroically for the full 80 minutes, comprehensively outplayed their opponents on the floor, won the territorial kicking contest and slotted their goals.
They were helped by Ben Cohen's glaring close-range fumble just before half-time which deprived England of a probable try. Cohen will have to buy his pack a number of drinks before they forgive him, particularly as Scotland maximised their opportunities to the tune of five penalties from five attempts by Chris Paterson and a neat drop-goal from Dan Parks.
England became one-dimensional after a confident start. Without Matt Stevens there were too few mobile ball-carriers and Danny Grewcock's first-half yellow card for a barge on Alastair Kellock also disturbed English rhythm. They were sucked instead into what Robinson described as "a dogfight".
All of which leaves the Scots, with Scott Murray available again, as possible champions if they can win their games in Ireland and Italy. Hadden seems to have scooped up the wilting flower of Scotland and replanted it in some miracle compost. England are not yet out of contention either, although the French encounter is now, to quote Dallaglio, "a must-win game".
Tindall and Harry Ellis are under pressure; at some stage Robinson has a duty to find out whether likely lads such as James Simpson-Daniel, James Forrester, Magnus Lund, Tom Rees, Shaun Perry and Alex Brown are more than training-ground fodder.
Scotland could not care less. One Sunday paper was offering free Bannockburn CDs to celebrate "Our nation's greatest victory". Underneath, in later editions, was an asterisk and the words: "Until yesterday that is".
Scorers: Scotland: Pens: Paterson 5. Drop Goals: Parks. England: Pens: Hodgson 4.
SCOTLAND: Southwell, Paterson, Di Rollo, Henderson, Lamont, Parks, Blair, Kerr, Hall, Douglas, MacLeod, Kellock, White, Taylor, Hogg. Replacements: Ross for Parks (64), Cusiter for Blair (64), Smith for Douglas (60), Hines for MacLeod (52).
ENGLAND: Lewsey, Cueto, Noon, Tindall, Cohen, Hodgson, Ellis, Sheridan, Thompson, White, Borthwick, Grewcock, Worsley, Moody, Corry. Replacements: Freshwater for Sheridan (39), Shaw for Grewcock (67), Dallaglio for Corry (64). Sin Bin: Grewcock (23).
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland).
