Cowan-Dickie sorry as England boss Jones takes blame for Scotland loss

Luke Cowan-Dickie has apologised to England supporters for conceding a penalty try in a 20-17 defeat by Scotland as Red Rose coach Eddie Jones accepted the blame for the Calcutta Cup loss at Murrayfield.

England were on course to open their 2022 Six Nations campaign with a win in Edinburgh on Saturday.

But at 17-10 ahead with 15 minutes left to play, Cowan-Dickie batted a crossfield kick from Finn Russell into touch, with referee Ben O'Keeffe ruling the England hooker had denied Darcy Graham the chance to catch the ball and score a probable try.

To make matters worse for England, Cowan-Dickie was sent to the sin-bin.

Scotland took full advantage with the extra man as fly-half Russell kicked a winning penalty to secure successive Calcutta Cup victories for the first time since 1984.

"Just want to apologise to all you supporters," said Cowan-Dickie on social media. I let myself and you guys down.

"Every time I play for my country I want nothing more than to make you guys proud. Thanks for all the support. Looking forward to bouncing back next week!"

Jones, however, insisted the team as a whole, rather than Cowan-Dickie, were responsible for England losing their opening Six Nations match for the third year in a row despite dominating territory and possession.

"Luke is disappointed, that happens in the moment. He played exceptionally well and he is very disappointed, but all the boys are supporting him," Jones said.

"We have only got ourselves to blame. We are massively disappointed that we lost and Scotland deserved to win.

"We dominated a lot of the game but didn't get the points out of the domination."

The veteran Australian coach added he was responsible for the error that led to Russell's match-clinching penalty.

With Cowan-Dickie