Scotland delivered for Townsend - Tuipulotu

Scotland delivered a magnificent Calcutta Cup triumph for under-pressure head coach Gregor Townsend after a week of "guilt", says captain Sione Tuipulotu.

Off the back of an opening Six Nations defeat by Italy in torrential Rome rain which triggered a sharpened focus on Townsend's tenure, Scotland's title chances were on the line as they welcomed in-form England to Murrayfield.

And they delivered a spectacular opening burst, racing into a 17-0 lead inside 15 minutes, one which they never looked like surrendering.

Townsend's side played with pace and verve as Finn Russell stamped his mark on this famous old fixture.

The Scotland fly-half set up Huw Jones' first try with a gorgeous tap-on pass before spreading the play right and then left for Jamie Ritchie to go over.

Even when England hit back through Henry Arundell - who was subsequently sent off for a second yellow card offence - Scotland continued to play with freedom and confidence and they added a third after Ellis Genge failed to gather Russell's chip over the top and Ben White capitalised.

The visitors, having won their past 12 Tests, came back into the contest after half-time but Scotland stood strong in defence and scored a bonus-point try through Jones after George Ford's drop-goal attempt was charged down.

"I'm extremely proud," Tuipulotu said.

"To go through what we went through last week really hurt and we understood because we deserved it. Ultimately Italy were better than us.

"We really felt like our backs were against the wall and we showed up today.

"I felt guilty. Head coaching is a hard job because when it is going well you get all the positives but when it is not going well you get all of the criticism.

"We got behind our coach this week. I'm proud of the boys for getting behind our coach and delivering a performance."

Scotland now head to Spain to recover before their third match of the championship against Wales next weekend.

Tuipulotu says they will do everything in their power to kick on from this impressive victory.

"I want to enjoy tonight with my team-mates but make no mistake we'll be all hands on deck," the Glasgow Warriors centre said.

"We'll prepare to the best of our abilities to back up this performance."

And former Scotland skipper John Barclay says they have to do that if they want to move forwards as a team.

"They need to back it up," he said on ITV.

"Sione and Gregor have spoken about that, so we know that's what their focus will be. The very best sides, the drop-off isn't as big."

It has been a tough spell for Townsend, perhaps the toughest of his nine-year tenure at the helm.

Three defeats in the four Tests before this match, as well as ongoing links to a full-time role with Newcastle Red Bulls post-World Cup were hanging over the former fly-half, with some fans and pundits suggesting he had taken the national team as far as he could.

But he says that first-half display was some of the finest rugby he has seen from a Scotland team.

"After 20 minutes I thought that was some of the best rugby we've ever played," he told ITV.

"It's all you want as a coach and then to see the effort in the second half, we became a team that would fight for each other and the supporters.

"We know that rugby brings out the best in us, being very aggressive and playing at speed. I thought that was one of Finn Russell's best games for Scotland and the work-rate of our forwards was superb."

Scotland have now won five of the past six Calcutta Cup matches, and it was inches from being six - Russell's missed conversion denying the Scots at Twickenham last year.

"I thought they made England look pretty mediocre," former Scotland prop Peter Wright said.

"What frustrates me about Scotland is they can give you a performance like this, but they can also give you a performance like they did in Italy.

"The players deserve all the plaudits."

Townsend dismissed the notion that Scotland only deliver their best performances against England.

"We have played some of our best rugby against England and that's great," he said.

"I don't know why people see a negative in that, it's our biggest game. It seems to be a narrative that it's a negative that we do well in this fixture. We only see positives, and I reminded our players how well we've done in this fixture.

"I'm very proud of the team. I was proud of them last week, we went 29 phases in monsoon conditions, starting from our own try line to try and win that game.

"You ask so much of the players during the week and they put it in at the weekend. If they don't turn up with a victory it's not down to their energy and effort. I was proud of them last week and I'm proud of them this week."