40 min: Scotland get one more chance before halftime as they are awarded a penalty that Nelson nudges out for a line-out inside England’s 22.

31 min: In the blink of an eye, England are back in Scotland’s 22. They won the ball back in contact down in their own half and launched a move that has eaten up about 45 metres. Muir steamrolls Skeldon, running over the Scotland hooker. They’re swarming left and right. Stewaet is caught at the bottom of a ruck and can’t escape, but she’s in an illegal position so there’s a penalty call. England, about eight in front of the poles, choose to tap and go…

29 min: Now England win the scrum penalty. From a Scottish line-out and maul, in a flash Harrison hoofs the penalty out on the 10 metre line. England will run off the top of the line-out and go from left to right, all the way to Breach. But there’s a forward pass along the way. Yup, Sing’s final ball drifted out of her hand.

28 min: Scotland get a rumble on from a line-out inside England’s patch. It makes some ground and then splinters. It collapses and the ball can’t be released out the back. England win the scrum call in their own 22.

26 min: Another wasted opportunity from Scotland as they make a mess of a line-out inside England’s 22 following a penalty that was kicked out. Against the best you have to be at your best and Scotland have been well short of that.

22 min: Smith takes over the kicking duties from Nelson and she launches a huge bomb that lands just infield way down town. England now have to get free from this line-out inside their own half. Harrison does just that and after the return kick, Sing is on the counter. England hunting again.

20 min: Sloppy from England as Rowland throws a forward pass. England didn’t quite get their formation set from that scrum. After a slick start, they’ve dropped their standards the last five minutes.

19 min: Well then. Scotland get away with that as they win a scrum penalty. Big let off. Campbell can thank her front row mates.

OH! But Nelson doesn’t find touch with the penalty kick so England counter from deep. Then there’s a Scottish knock-on following Breach’s off-load back infield from the right wing.

That all ends with England awarded another scrum, this time about 30 metres out all the way on the right.

17 min: England will have a scrum inside Scotland’s 22 after some dilly-dallying from Campbell put her team under pressure. The Scotland winger mopped up a long kick from Harrison but chose to run it back rather than kick. That meant the England wall could rush up and a phase later they forced a Scottish knock-on. They look more ruthless than they did last week against Ireland. This could get messy for the home team as England look in the mood.

15 min: Coubrough knocks on in midfield as she gets hit hard. The difference between these two teams seems to be the punch they possess in contact. England routinely get over the gainline. Scotland have kept the ball well but they just can’t breach the brick wall.

12 min: This time Feaunati and Killdunne make a pig’s ear of things down the left. After some meaty carries, with Clifford bulldozing three defenders, the England No. 8 had the ball and was caught in two minds. Does she pass or run. She chose the latter and by the time she shovelled it on to Kildunne to her left they were too close to each other and the try-scorer spilled it. They’ll get another chance or two, no doubt.

10 min: England are so good off first phase play. Off the top of the line-out they launch a choreographed attack that was just delicious with dummy runners and skipped passes. Jones had it last before she kicked ahead. A kinder bounce of the ball would have seen Kildunne gather and score in the left corner. Instead Scotland will get the line-out and clear.

9 min: Nelson overcooks another kick from hand so England will have another line-out on halfway.

7 min: Almost for England! Off the line-out they maul but then shoot it out the back where Harrison nudges a lovely grubber through the onrushing defence. Jones gives chase but she just can’t get there as it bounces out of touch at the far end. Nifty from the Red Roses.

6 min: A bit of kick tennis is emphatically ended by Harrison who lands a wonder of a 50-22 that just drops over the Scottish fullback and bobbles out of touch. Now England have a chance to maul from the line-out.

5 min: It’s all Scotland. England haven’t touched the back except to kick it from deep. Clarke on the ball again. They keep possession but don’t make much ground. Just no punch so Nelson kicks from hand but overcooks it. She hoofs it straight out which will hand England a line-out 10 metres inside their own half.

3 min: And it’s held up! Clarke was on the ball and she had support from behind as she pushed forward. She manages to wriggle away from the contact and gets over the line, but three English players hold her up and they get a relieving clearing kick from their goal line.

3 min: The scrum doesn’t get going and it collapses, giving Scotland a free-kick. They’ll tap and go from right in front….

1 min: From the kick-off, Sing’s clearing kick doesn’t go long so Scotland can launch off the line-out. They make great ground off first-phase strike play and Coubrough is away. But they soon knock on five metres short of England’s line as they looked to gather through the phases. Promising, but that’s a sloppy miss from the Scots and a wasted opportunity to land an early blow.

Maud Muir leads the teams out on the occasion of her 50th cap.

She is beaming the BIGGEST smile you will ever see. What a vibe!

England’s defence coach, Sarah Hunter, speaks on the long, long, list of absentees from the side:

It’s quite unheard of within an England squad over the years. As a coaching squad, we’re taking it in our stride.

It gives an opportunity to someone else and the great thing about our squad is that whoever comes in is welcomed and fits in.

If we think about it in a four-year cycle [between World Cups], it’s almost good that we’re having this situation now, that we can grow and develop some of the younger players coming through who might be there in four years’ time.

It might be accelerating them a little bit, but all of the players who have come in have been playing brilliantly for their clubs in PWR. They’ve been a credit to this group and it’s exciting that they get the opportunity.

There are 24 Scottish players in the wider 38-woman group who ply their trade in England’s PWR.

I don’t think that will count for much, but it does show that coaches in the best league in the world rate them.

Another Women’s Six Nations game, another record crowd.

This is the first time more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for a Scotland home game.

How about some stats I’ve dug up (pulled straight from Scottish Rugby’s own website):

• England (57%) and Scotland (55%) had the highest territory rates of any sides in Round One of this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

• Scotland had the highest ruck success rate of any side in last weekend’s fixtures (97.8%), while England’s average attacking ruck speed of 2.56 seconds was the quickest of any team last time out.

• Scotland (5/5) and England (8/8) were two of three sides not to lose a single scrum on their own put-in during the opening round of this year’s Championship (also France, 3/3).

Sarah Rendell – our eyes and ears on the ground today – has written a couple of banging pieces focussing on Scotland.

The first is a report from inside the Scottish camp as a contract dispute continues to bubble in the background:

The next is a preview looking ahead to this ‘landmark’ game: