Major League Rugby 2023: Signings to Watch

While most rugby fans are likely focusing on the ongoing Six Nations or the imminent return of Super Rugby Pacific, this weekend also marks the kick-off of the 2023 season of Major League Rugby. And there have been some changes from last season. The LA Giltinis and Austin Gilgronis are both gone following their suspensions last season, while new franchise the Chicago Hounds joins the league, taking heavy advantage of the timing to pick up a number of the Austin and LA stars in the dispersal draft.

Regular readers will probably be used to me previewing a new season of a tournament by looking at some of the players joining new teams who I think you should look out for (a maximum of 1 per team). And after this year’s Super Rugby Pacific edition included a player from the MLR for the first time, I am now bringing this series to the North American club competition, with 6 names to watch out for. Who would be your picks? Let me know in the comments!

Bill Meakes

Of course one of Chicago’s players was going to feature on this list with the quality of players they picked up from the Giltinis and Gilgronis during the dispersal draft. And I will admit that maybe there was a little Gloucester bias coming through, but it shows how highly I rate Meakes for him to beat out the USA captain Bryce Campbell and a young international fly half in Luke Carty. With over 100 Premiership and Super Rugby appearances to his name, the Australian can consider himself unlucky to have never been capped by the Wallabies (he did make the wider squad a couple of times and played a non-capped match against the Barbarians) before making the move to LA. Able to perform at either 12 or 13, he also did a great job filling in at flanker when required by the Glitinis, with his blend of pace, power and handling skills seeing him win back-to-back MLR Back of the Year awards.

Hanco Germishuys

In my opinion one of the more notable star names in the MLR, the South African-born back row has been somewhat of a journeyman in the American professional game, having played for Denver Stampede in the sole season of PRO Rugby and played in the MLR for Austin Elite Rugby, Glendale Raptors, RUNY and most recently the Giltinis. Now at the Houston SaberCats via the dispersal draft, expect to see the 26-year old USA Eagle pitch in with his trademark hard carrying.

Mike Te’o

The prodigal son returns! Having previously played for San Diego Breakers in the ill-fated PRO Rugby, Mike Te’o started his MLR career by captaining San Diego in their inaugural MLR game, but left for Utah Warriors ahead of the 2021 season, which saw him earn MLR Player of the Year honors. Now he finds himself returning to the Legion, with second row Jonah Dietenberger moving the opposite way. Capable of playing wing or fullback, he’s a dynamic attacker who will happily exploit any space given to him.

Conner Mooneyham

A player who will go down in history as the first pick in the MLR’s first ever collegiate, Mooneyham only entered the league in the 2021 season but has already found himself on the books of a number of MLR franchises. Originally drafted by the Dallas Jackals, the Jackals’ decision to defer their entry by a season saw him picked up in the dispersal draft by the Austin Gilgronis. Finding himself in yet another dispersal draft during this offseason, courtesy of the loss of the Gilgronis, he was selected by Rugby ATL, only for the Seattle Seawolves to obtain his signing rights in exchange for 2023 salary cap considerations, as well as for the Seawolves’ 2023 third-round selection for the 2023 Collegiate Draft. Champions in the first 2 MLR seasons, the Seawolves dipped in the abandoned 2020 and the 2021 seasons but made it back to the final in 2022. Could the addition of Mooneyham (8 tries in 23 appearances for the Gilgronis over 2 seasons) help propel them to their third title?

Kurt Baker

A number of stars from the 7s circuit have found success through these early years of the MLR. Well the next man up is Kurt Baker, who makes the move from New Zealand 7s to Old Glory DC, where he will take on the role of player/coach. While most of his recent career has been in the abbreviated form of the game, 10 Super Rugby appearances for the Highlanders and 7 caps for the Māori All Blacks highlight his quality in the back 3 in 15s. But more than that, his experience of a winning team—being part of the NZ7s team that won 5 World Sevens Series (and a further top 3 finishes), 2 Rugby World Cups Sevens (losing another in the final), 2 Commonwealth Games gold medals and 1 Olympic Silver medal—will hopefully help to bring a winning mentality both on and off the pitch to a team who only won 3 of their 16 games last season.

Noel Reid

And last but not least is 1-cap Irish international Noel Reid, who has moved from London Irish to Toronto Arrows. Capable of covering fly half or centre, Reid earned 120 appearances for Leinster (no mean feat given their depth and quality through the last decade) before spells with Leicester Tigers, Agen and London Irish. At this point in the league’s development, that level of quality and experience in midfield will prove crucial for any side, especially one looking for their first playoff appearance since their debit season.

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2023 Six Nations: England v Italy

England’s reshaping under Steve Borthwick continued on Sunday as they hosted Italy. The Azzurri were unfortunate to come away with just a losing bonus point against France last weekend and would surely have been targeting this match as a chance to finally beat the only Six Nations opponent who they have never defeated.

England came in with a new look to their midfield—Owen Farrell moving to 10 with Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade at centre—and the new midfield almost paid dividends early on, as Edoardo Padovani and Tommaso Allan both had to cover grubbers into the Italian in-goal. However, a questionable breakdown penalty after 2 minutes allowed the hosts to kick to the corner, and the England maul spun to send Jack Willis over for the opening try. Italy were trying their hardest to compete, but were being officiated on a different level to the hosts, who benefitted by once again going to the corner, and a series of penalties led to Lorenzo Cannone being sent to the bin, with England soon taking advantage of the extra man as Ollie Chessum crashed over from a lovely disguised pass by Ellis Genge. And as the half reached the final 5 minutes, Padovani had to be aware as Farrell put a grubber in behind with Jamie George chasing. England thought they had the third try moments later, Max Malins’ deception and footwork putting him through the line and feeding the supporting Jack van Poortvliet, only for the play to be called back for an obstruction. However England had the penalty advantage and with the Italian pck still down to 7, they were unable to stop the maul sending Jamie George over, Farrell converting for a 9-0 halftime lead.

The second half started much more positively for the Azzurri, and after some clever offloading released Ange Capuozzo deep into the 22, Italy went through the phases before sending Marco Riccioni over for the try. However the English pack hit back and another kick to the corner saw Simone Ferrari—only just on for Riccioni—collapse the maul for a penalty try (giving England the bonus point) and a yellow card. Both sides continued to fight hard, but as the Italian replacements came on and they returned to 15 men, they began to look more dangerous than at any point in the game, and it soon resulted in a break for Juan Ignacio Brex, which Alessandro Fusco finished just a minute after entering the game. However the English hit back after being gifted a scrum penalty (a recurring theme of the match), they managed to work the space to send Henry Arundell over in the corner to secure a 31-14 victory, a first win of the Steve Borthwick era.

England

Steve Borthwick made a big call this week with the decision to change from a 10/12 playmaker axis to a more traditional midfield setup, but while it is early days, it looks to have had a marked effect already.

Though maybe not the out and out crash ball 12 that Dan Kelly (rumoured to have been the favourite for the 12 shirt ahead of the tournament before his injury), the selection of Ollie Lawrence at 12 gave England the physical impact that they had been missing in midfield, and this was then helping England to vary up the play more as it allowed the pack to take the ball forward already on the front foot, which in turn allowed the halfbacks to control the game. Meanwhile in defence, they looked much more secure while not having to cover for Smith.

While a second playmaker can be a big boon, it cannot come at the expense of front-foot ball, which this midfield provides in a way that last week’s did not, while Henry Slade’s experience as a 10 earlier in his career means that England are not fully without a second playmaker.

With only a handful of matches until the World Cup, don’t be shocked to see England stick with this formation and look to build off it over the coming weeks.

Italy

This was a disappointing game for Italy. Their stronger scrum was largely neutralised by some questionable refereeing interpretations from James Doleman, their maul defence had a nightmare against the England pack, while the midfield also struggled to get parity with the power.

Moreover, their ability to defend was severely impacted by England’s frequent kicking into the corners. While the kicks were generally well dealt with, especially by Edoardo Padovani, the need to cover the ball in behind meant that Italy were unable to fully commit their wings to the defensive line, which meant that the rest of the defence had to spread themselves out wider to cover the pitch, which weakened their ability to deal with Ollie Lawrence’s charges through midfield.

However, they kept at it and when they managed to get a foothold in the game, they caused England some real problems. While they will be disappointed, this is still a much better scoreline than they often leave Twickenham with, while they also saw a promising cameo off the bench from Jake Polledri as he returns from injury.

After last week’s heartbreak, this will feel disappointing. But that in itself should be a sign of just how well Italy are growing as a team. This World Cup may have come a little too early for them, but watch out for this team in the next cycle.

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2023 Six Nations: Scotland v Wales

This was it: the chance for Scotland to prove a point. Last weekend’s win over England has started becoming a regular occurrence. But in the past, they had put so much into that, only to lose their next match. Now, at home against a Wales team just beginning to try and re-find itself under Warren Gatland, the Scots found themselves in a situation where they had to back up the win…

And it was the Scots who got the first chance, as a Huw Jones break took Scotland up to the Welsh 22, where their pressure earned an early penalty for Finn Russell to open the scoring. Russell added a second as Scotland appeared the more dangerous through the first quarter, while Dan Biggar missed a relatively routine first kick at goal after the Welsh scrum earned a penalty. Scotland nearly had the opening try on the half hour as they spread the ball wide from a strong lineout maul to Kyle Steyn, only for Rio Dyer and Josh Adams to force him into touch. But the hosts had a penalty advantage from the maul and went back to the corner, and this time there was no stopping them as George Turner forced his way over for the opening try. Turner’s next action though was not so positive, as he was sent to the bin for a high tackle on George North, and while the Welshman went for a HIA, his teammates went to the corner and took advantage of the extra man in the pack to drive Ken Owens over for the try. And as the half came to an end, Wales should have had a second, only for the final pass to be fumbles into touch by Rio Dyer to keep the score at 13-7.

With Scotland back to a full complement just minutes into the second period they began to regain their dominance, and Turner was just inches from a second try, only to fumble as he tried to reach for the line. However the pressure from the Scots continued and when Finn Russell eventually found a gap just in front of the try line, he managed to throw a beautiful offload out the back of his hand to allow Kyle Steyn to simply catch the ball and fall over the line. And the next Scotland attack saw Liam Williams sent to the bin after referee Paul Williams tired of the team’s persistent offending, and the extra man proved crucial immediately, as a strong maul and a tight dummy line from Sione Tuipulotu helf the Welsh defence in narrow and allowed Russell to hit Steyn with the crosskick for his second try of the match. And as the game entered the final 10 minutes, Scotland secured the bonus point as Duhan van der Merwe took Russell’s cross kick and drew the defence before playing the ball back inside to Blair Kinghorn to go over from close range. And with just minutes remaining there was time for one more try as Russell’s looped pass put Matt Fagerson over in the corner to make it a 35-7 win and record margin of victory for Scotland over Wales.

Scotland

As a Gloucester fan, when I saw that Chris Harris had been dropped to the bench against England with Huw Jones starting, I thought that Gregor Townsend was crazy. One of the best 13s in the game, Harris is a defensive linchpin and always seems to be in place to make a crucial covering tackle or shoot out the line to make a timely man and ball hit.

However, after 2 matches, it’s hard to argue that it was the wrong call. Clubmates at Glasgow, Jones and Sione Tuipulotu have formed an impressive dynamic pairing in the centre, while Jones has generally been able to form a good line with Finn Russell too, which has resulted in a Scottish midfield trio that are generally making the right decisions and then executing the plays, allowing the Scots to really take advantage of the quality they have on the wings.

The big questions are still to be answered, though. In England and Wales, they have faced the 2 teams who are just starting their journeys under new coaches, so as a result, the attacks have been relatively disjointed and easier to defend. While momentum is on their side, they now have to face 3 more established attacks, who will be far more clinical. Against such teams, can “Huwipulotu” work as well? Or will the need for security see more minutes for Chris Harris?

Wales

Welsh fans got a real look at the future today with Warren Gatland’s selection. While Joe Hawkins is already establishing himself as Warren Gatland’s first choice at 12 and Rio Dyer is taking advantage of Louis Rees-Zammit’s injury to gain some Test experience, they were joined this week by a number of fellow youngsters in the pack.

Following disappointing performances from a number of the experienced Lions last week, Warren Gatland dramatically lowered the average age of the back 5 in the pack, replacing Alun Wyn Jones with Dafydd Jenkins and seeing fellow Premiership youngsters Christ Tshiunza and Tommy Reffell joining Jac Morgan in the back row. And while things weren’t perfect for the Welsh pack, they were certainly not the issue, and if anything they were certainly adding drive and positivity to the Welsh performance while looking far more assured han their combined handful of caps would suggest.

Warren Gatland was probably hoping that he could start bringing through the youth into the squad and see them take over the starting spots immediately after the World Cup, similar to what France did in 2020. However with the major upturn in performance from last week to this, he may find that many of them are forcing their way into the XV a year early.

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2023 Six Nations: Ireland v France

Could this be the tournament decider in round 2? The top 2 teams in the world rankings met at the Aviva Stadium having both come through the first round with victories despite performances that were not completely convincing. And a physical start hat saw both teams fronting up on the gain line ended with an early penalty for the visitors, which Thomas Ramos duly dispatched. However, a mistake from the fullback when trying to deal with James Lowe’s kick down the 5 metre channel gifted the hosts with a 5m lineout just a minute later, and though the maul was well defended, a series of strong Irish carries culminated in Andrew Porter driving over the line, only to be held up by his opposite number Cyril Baille. The net Irish attack was much more clinical; a dummy from Finlay Bealham to the looping Conor Murray created a gap for the tighthead to send Hugo Keenan through a gap on the fringe of a ruck and back himself to reach the line for the opening try after just 8 minutes. Ramos narrowed the gap with a try, and as the game began to open up and the play got extremely loose, the French found a chink in the Irish defence to put Anthony Jelonch through a gap, with a smart offload from the flanker sending Damian Penaud over. France were their own worst enemies though, Ramos’ clearance was charged down from the restart to gift the Irish with possession on the 22, and when the ball game wide to the left, James Lowe was adjudged to have successfully denied gravity to dot down as Penaud tried to tackle him into touch, Jonathan Sexton’s missed kick from the touchline just allowing Les Bleus to hold onto their lead. Things soon got worse for the French though after a monstrous collision between Uini Atonio and Rob Herring was reviewed for a head contact and resulted in a yellow for the French tighthead, and the Irish soon took advantage of the extra man to force his way over from close range. Ramos cut the lead by 3 as the visitors returned to a full complement, but as Romain Ntamack was intercepted trying a play that wasn’t on, Mack Hansen looked certain to score only to be manhandled away from the line by Antoine Dupont. Yet once again a French error in their own 22—this time a knock on from Jelonch on his own try line—gifted the Irish a chance, only for Cyril Baille to once again save the day by holding Conor Murray up over the line, while the Irish scrum half also found himself knocking on as he stretched for the line in the final seconds of the half, leading to the hosts settling for a Sexton penalty to end the half at 22-16.

The hosts were struck a blow early in the second half as Tadhg Beirne was helped off the pitch just 5 minutes after the restart, while Sexton’s match was brought to a premature end just minutes later. After throwing caution to the wind with their play int he first half, Les Bleus were playing a much more structured and territory-focused game in the second half, but when a 5-22 from Hugo Keenan gave Ireland a lineout deep in French territory, the hosts went through the phases to force a penalty, which Ross Byrne kicked to extend the lead to 9. Ramos responded with a drop goal just after the hour—his last act before being replaced by Matthieu Jalibert—but another French error within 10m of their line gifted Ireland another opportunity, only for replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher to be held up over the line. With Craig Casey upping the tempo from the bench at scrum half and combining with Byrne to keep the French pinned back, Garry Ringrose broke through Jalibert’s tackle out wide to go over with just 8 minutes left to earn the bonus point and secure a 32-19 victory.

Ireland

Hugo Keenan is just quietly going about his business becoming the best fullback in the world. There really appears to be no weakness to his game!

In attack, he has a great range of passing to ensure that him hitting the line will not negatively impact a move, an eye for a gap, and a fantastic blend of pace and agility to take advantage of any gap he finds, as highlighted by his try today. In defence, he is a reliable ackler, but really stands out is his positioning. And in the kicking game, he is dominant in the air—somewhat reminiscent of Rob Kearney with his reliability under the high ball—while covering the backfield in a way that makes it look easy, while his own kicking game is dangerous enough to allow him to turn a kicking duel in his favour.

It really is incredible to watch him play, and he must feel like such a comfort blanket to his teammates. He truly is a great example of how just doing the basics really well and being consistent can make you one of the best in the world.

France

Last week, I wrote about how Italy overplayed against France and it cost them the match. Well it seems that France looked at that performance and said “hold my glass of wine.” After 3 years of creating a structured but fluid attack, the team suddenly reverted to the French team of old, throwing the ball around with abandon.

Now of course, we know that the Irish defence is one of the best in the world, but by throwing the ball around how they were, the French were generally giving the Irish a chance to reset their defence, or in many cases actually set up a counterattack of their own. But even worse was how unnecessary it felt, as when they played their usual structured game, they were generally making good ground and winning penalties.

Yes attacking like that can lead to beautiful tries like Damian Penaud’s. However at this level of the game, you need something much more structured and reliable to consistently cause the best defences problems.

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2023 Six Nations: Italy v France

The final game of round 1 took place on Sunday as France made the trip to Rome. The Azzurri came into the tournament of the back of one of their most successful seasons in years, which included ending a run of 32 losses in this tournament with victory in Cardiff, bu soon found themselves behind as Thibaud Flament’s charge down of Stephen Varney’s kick bounced back into his hands for him to canter in untouched. The Azzurri continued to play positively though and began to claw back the score with a penalty from Tommaso Allan, starting in place of the injured Paolo Garbisi. However they shot themselves in the foot trying to overplay their exit, and were only reprieved by Charles Ollivon fumbling the ball as he reached ou across the try line. However the French were soon attacking the line again, and when Damian Penaud and Ange Capuozzo both contacted each other in the air competing for Romain Ntamack’s crosskick, Thomas Ramos was backing up to dot down the loose ball, though he was unable to add the extras from the tee. Allan continued to keep the score close with another penalty after some impressive handling, but again Italy were let off at the kickoff as Antoine Dupont charged down Allan’s clearance kick, only for the ball to bounce right through the dead ball area. However it was just a temporary delay, as a turnover from Grégory Alldritt once again gave Les Bleus possession around the 22, and the drew in the defence for Ntamack to find debutant Ethan Dumortier for a try with a perfect crosskick. Italy continued to respond with positive attacking play, and with their next penalty on the half hour went to the corner, and when the maul crabbed infield, Stephen Varney played the ball blind to the late-looping Capuozzo, whose step just held Alldritt and allowed him to sneak in at the corner. And then just before the half, a pair of penalties against France allowed Italy to go from their own 22 to the French 22 with 2 kicks to touch, and 15 phases of pressure eventually drew a penalty from Paul Willemse, which Allan kicked for a 14-19 halftime score.

After a solid defensive start to the second period, it was Thomas Ramos who opened the scoring for the half with a penalty, while Allan responded with an inch-perfect kick tot he corner from halfway with his next penalty to set up a 5m lineout for the Azurri pack, and after their drive splintered the French pack, Charles Ollivon was adjudged to have illegally collapsed the maul just short of the line, giving them the penalty try and a 10-minute spell in the sin bin for the former French captain. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the French were not content to slow their play down, and Damian Penaud came close to a try as he outpaced Luca Morisi in the chase to a kick into the in-goal, only to knock-on under pressure from the centre as both reached for the ball at the same time. And after Ramos missed a penalty of his own, Allan kicked the hosts into a 24-22 lead as Ollivon returned to the pitch just after the hour. However the lead did not last long, as a series of errors and penalties from Italy gave France the ball in the Italian 22, and a lovely carry through contact and offload from Romain Taofifenua to his fellow replacement Matthieu Jalibert allowed the stand-off to step back inside the overcommitting Italian defence and drop over the line. Taofifenua’s next involvement wasn’t so positive, though, as a tackle off the ball on Edoardo Padovani gave Allan a kick at goal, but the ball ended up drifting just wide of the posts. But as the clock entered the red, Tommy Allan was able to kick a penalty to the corner, but the resulting maul became a mess and Matthew Carley blew the final whistle and a 24-29 victory for Les Bleus.

Italy

The Azzurri are playing some lovely rugby, and are arguably looking the best they have in the Six Nations for some time, which given the quality of players missing (Garbisi, Polledri, Ioane to name just 3) is a great sign. Unfortunately, at times they have overplayed, especially in their own half.

France’s opener came from a charge down of Stephen Varney’s kick, and as it was intended to be a surprise chip over the breakdown rather than a clearance, it meant that he had no men in place extending the breakdown or obstructing the blockers, making it easy for Flament to charge down. It’s a risky play against a defence that was pretty well set, and this time it backfired.

And on the subject of backfiring, Italy were just constantly shooting themselves in the foot at restarts. Against Samoa, I identified how Italy are now dealing with restarts by setting up a ruck in the middle of the pitch and looking to see if there is an attacking play on if the defence does not work around the breakdown, but the first time trying this saw them try to play from deep and a handling error in their 22 gifted France possession just short of the line which should have resulted in a try for Charles Ollivon, while France clearly knew what was coming when Dupont charged down Allan’s clearance, Italy again getting lucky that the ball bounced dead.

There is a time and a place to attack. Italy have shown they can, now they just need to learn to be pragmatic and not overplay, or they will be putting themselves under undue pressure.

France

When teams watch back the footage of this match, one thing that I’m sure they’ll be highlighting will be France’s struggles against the Italian maul.

While they did successfully get up to spoil or steal a handful of throws, when the Italian pack secured the ball and set up the maul, they struggled to stop it at source and found themselves going backwards So it was no surprise to see Italy start kicking to the corner, and it paid dividends for the Azzurri, who scored twice off the maul, once attacking the blind side that opened up as they came infield, the other splitting the French pack in two before Ollivon illegally brought them down as they drove for the line. Honestly, I’m surprised that after the penalty try, they abandoned the driving maul until the final play, which was the only time France really succeeded in defending the maul all game!

What makes this a real issue is just how poor their discipline was today. If they are going to give away penalties, then teams will look to challenge them with the catch and drive, knowing that at longer range they may force another penalty, or if nothing else, draw in the defence to create space for the backs to attack. And in the 22, that’s when they will find themselves under real pressure…

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2023 Six Nations: England v Scotland

We all love the Six Nations for its local rivalries, and we weren’t left to wait long for the clash of the Auld enemies as England hosted Scotland at Twickenham. New head coach Steve Borthwick would have been hoping that his first match in charge saw his team get back to winning ways after losing 3 and drawing 1 of their last 5 matches against Gregor Townsend’s Scotland.

And after almost 15 minutes of physical rugby, it was Scotland who took the lead as Sione Tuipulotu’s grubber sat up in the in-goal for Huw Jones to score the opening try after his break moved Scotland up to the English line, however England soon hit back and scored a try of their own when, following a poor kick under pressure from Finn Russell brought them into the Scottish 22, a period of 14 phases ended with Max Malins grounding Marcus Smith’s crosskick, though Farrell’s missed conversion from out wide left the visitors ahead. And that lead was soon extended as Duhan van der Merwe broke through a gap in the English kick chase and backed himself to step 2 tacklers and hold off Alex Dombrandt on his way to the line. But the hosts again found the answer, with some great attacking lines eventually creating the space to spread the ball wide and send Max Malins over, and though Farrell missed the conversion, he finally got off the mark with a penalty on the stroke of half time for a 13-12 lead.

England started taking control after the break, and when a brilliant crash ball from Dombrandt brought England up to the Scottish try line, they remained patient before sending Ellis Genge over for try number 3. Scotland found a answer though in an odd fashion, a mishandle on the floor from Ben White caused him to spin unexpectedly to pick up the ball, which allowed him to unknowingly evade the onrushing Ben Curry, before taking advantage of the gap this left to snipe over. England were soon back on the attack, but Marcus Smith found himself well handled by Tuipulotu as he tried to create something from a 2v2 close to the ry line, resulting in him being bundled into touch. As the replacements started to come on around the hour mark, Matt Fagerson was pinged for hands in the ruck, allowing Farrell t extend the lead to 4 points with just over 5 minutes left, but after a Russell crosskick just eluded Kyle Steyn, the fly half kicked a penalty of his own to make it 23-22. And with 7 minutes left, a break from Steyn pulled too many of the England defence over to his side, and a couple of quick Scottish passes allowed Duhan van der Merwe to step inside Marcus Smith and carry Malins over the line as he reached out to score the bonus point try, with Russell kicking the conversion to secure a 23-29 victory and retain the Calcutta Cup for another year.