Stuart Lancaster praised the hard work that took his England players over the line in their RBS 6 Nations opener on Saturday.
Charlie Hodgson’s try helped interim head coach Lancaster’s men to grind out a 13-6 win over Andy Robinson’s Scotland in Edinburgh, with the man in charge paying particular tribute to the Saracens fly-half.
Hodgson bagged his try after charging down a Dan Parks kick, and Lancaster feels that the moment epitomised all that was good about his new-look side’s first outing under his charge.
“We want to work hard for each other and we showed that in abundance,” Lancaster was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph. “I said on Thursday I’d take a 'dirty 6-3’ win so I’m delighted. It’s a tough place to come and win so that was a great result.
“We didn’t get everything right but we got a lot of things right, especially in defence where we showed great spirit and willingness to work. We always had an inner confidence in those (new) players and we’re delighted to get off the mark but it’s only step one.
“There are lots of things we can improve on and we need to back it up next week (against Italy).”
Chris Robshaw, who captained England for the first time in the game, was also a happy man. He said after victory was secured: “I can’t speak highly enough about all the guys. It was a great effort.
“I was very honoured to lift the Calcutta Cup on my debut as captain. Scotland threw everything at us but we dug in there and kept our composure.”