Scotland suffered a narrow 16-15 defeat to England in the Calcutta Cup, ending their four-year winning streak in the fixture.
The loss marked Scotland’s second consecutive defeat in this year’s Six Nations campaign.
Gregor Townsend’s men now find themselves fourth in the table after three matches.
The match was marred by controversy, particularly surrounding a “ghost try” awarded to England’s Tommy Freeman.
Finn Russell insisted he is not to blame for Scotland’s defeat to England
Reuters
Former Scotland scrum-half Rory Lawson claimed the referee “bottled it” when making the decision.
Scotland’s Finn Russell had an opportunity to win the game but missed a crucial kick.
The defeat follows their opening victory against Italy and subsequent loss to Ireland.
Fly-half Finn Russell has refused to shoulder the blame for Scotland’s Calcutta Cup defeat.
Despite missing a crucial kick that could have won the match, Russell believes the loss was a collective failure.
“Tough one to take that, wasn’t it?” Russell told the Kick Offs and Kick Ons Podcast.
“We played well but we didn’t take our chances and then I didn’t kick it at the end.”
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Russell added: “You don’t want to blame the kicker. I think there were chances in the game where we could have scored and probably shouldn’t have been in that situation anyway.”
The playmaker hadn’t lost to England since 2017 prior to this defeat.
Former Scotland scrum-half Rory Lawson was particularly critical of the referee’s decision to award Tommy Freeman a try.
“I think he bottled it,” Lawson told the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast.
He pointed to Freeman’s post-match interview as evidence of uncertainty.
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Tommy Freeman scored a controversial try against Scotland
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“At no stage did he say: ‘There is zero doubt in my mind the ball was down’,” Lawson noted.
The controversial decision reminded Lawson of last year’s Six Nations clash against France.
“When you compare it to last year against France at Murrayfield, the ball was clearly down and because the ref asked the wrong question, we got the wrong outcome,” he said.
“It’s so Scottish to be on the end of these.”
Scotland now face a crucial match against Wales as they look to salvage their Six Nations campaign.
Lawson described it as a “must-win game” for Townsend’s men.
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“Scotland must win that game and are expected to win that game against Wales,” the former captain said.
“I think they’ve got to get into Wales and it is incomprehensible to think of Scotland being one from four after the Wales game.”
Scotland currently sit fourth in the table but could potentially finish as high as second.
Lawson urged the team to channel their frustration from the England defeat.
“Scotland have to take all the frustration and say ‘We’re going to be ruthless’,” he added.