'Opportunities missed haunt Scotland on rough day'

Finn Russell sat for a time on the Twickenham turf, alone in his thoughts, a microcosm of Scotland's misery.

Three kicks at goal and three misses in a one-point game. That's a heavy load to carry, especially when the young pretender down the other end - Fin Smith - banged one over from nearly 50m to put England six points clear.

Russell has inspired many Scotland wins and has known many Scotland heartaches. This had to be one of the most gruesome given that it was accompanied by the grim reality of another Six Nations championship that is effectively over in round three.

The fly-half will be 33 when he gets his next crack at winning - or contending - for a title. He's far from done, but time is not his friend. Maybe all of those thoughts - his rugby mortality - were going through his head at the end.

For Gregor Townsend and his players there was a grisly feeling about this, a story that is wearily familiar. They're good, but not good enough. There's a nuance this time, though.

As England started winning the physical battle you thought of Sione Tuipulotu and the difference he might have made out there. At other times, when England's aggression was shoving Scotland attacks away from the 5m line and out of the 22, you thought of the hulking presence of Scott Cummings and Max Williamson and what impact their presence might have made in this game of attrition.

Scotland have come a long way under Townsend, but these extra yards are proving impossible for them, the rough terrain that lies between where they are now (entertainers) and what they desperately want to become (winners).

That late conversion that just sneaked wide will be a source of regret for Russell, no doubt, but it was a difficult kick and the fly-half had no legitimate cause to beat himself up over that one. The odds were always against him making it.

The other two, however? The missed conversion of the mesmeric Ben White try and the failed effort to add the extras after the brilliant Huw Jones score that followed? Maybe those preyed on his mind more. Particularly the first one.

A player of Russell's class, with a goal-kicking record to match the very best, would have backed himself to make one or both. One would have done, as it transpired. Elite sport and the narrow margins between joy and despair were writ large over the endgame in this strange, tense and thrilling encounter.

So Russell sat on the grass, acknowledging those fellow players who came to greet him but also giving off a vibe of a man who didn't really want to be disturbed. Not yet. Too soon.

All of his team-mates were finding their own way of handling the disappointment. Jamie Ritchie, who had been immense, just stood still, as if frozen. Duhan van der Merwe, who caused utter chaos with practically every touch, took a moment to look to the heavens. There was no solace in that night sky, alas.

In the aftermath, Townsend, White and Grant Gilchrist all spoke about Russell and how this defeat was not his fault. Of course it wasn't. The regrets will lie throughout the dressing room, not with just one person, however dramatic that moment was.

When they sit down to review this defeat the Scotland players are going to suffer because they had so many chances to put England away in a blistering first half.

They might also be furious at the awarding of England's try. So many camera angles captured Tommy Freeman's blast for the line and not one of them emphatically confirmed that he'd actually grounded the ball.

Townsend wouldn't be drawn on that, but privately he can't be happy. What he'll think of most though are the chances they left out there, the lead they could have built but never did.

When the going was good for Scotland, they were clever and relentless in getting to the edges and ripping England to shreds, the only team with any interest in playing rugby.

England kicked and tackled. Their fans sighed and groaned. Scotland could and should have been a dozen points clear, a buffer that might have seen them through. The rapier was doing a job on the bludgeon in that opening 40 and yet the rapier only led by three at the break.

England's defence was a car crash in the first half and a thing of ferocity in the second. It was the one part of their game that was world class as the contest wore on. Scrambling, scragging and shunting Scotland back with their power - this was a victory for defence.

When you've lost four in a row to Scotland you'll take the win in whatever form it comes. Ugly, sure. Flawed, no doubt about it. There's plenty wrong with England's attack and Steve Borthwick's ongoing battle to get the best out of his players, but nothing at all wrong with their belligerence and pride.

Everything almost came good in the end for Scotland with that searing break from Stafford McDowall and that finish out wide from Van der Merwe, but where was the damage done?

In their inability to be completely ruthless, in their difficulty dealing with England's power, in their travails in trying to get Van der Merwe as destructively involved in the second half as he was in the first.

England had no answer to him. They looked terrified when he ran at them, the first defender or two bouncing off him, the third hanging on for dear life in the hope that the cavalry was coming.

Van der Merwe was largely starved of ball in the second half. Scotland tried to go wide, but made poor decisions at times when a pass was on and at other times they were just smashed in the tackle.

Townsend said later that Scotland played better on Saturday than they did in some of the games his team has won against England. That's a stretch, but you could see his point. The memory of all those opportunities they opened up will haunt him.

Scotland had 59% territory and 58% possession. They scored three tries to England's one. They carried for 933m compared to England's 474m. They made nine line breaks to England's two. They beat 35 defenders to England's 10.

Stats, eh? None of them mattered. None of them offered comfort. Had England outclassed them they might find it easier to accept, but that wasn't the case.

The unavoidable sense is that, in part at least, the damage done to Scotland was largely done by their own hand - not punishing England when they had them on the ropes. A very bitter truth on a very rough day.