England 25 v Scotland 13

Another trip to Twickenham and another Scottish defeat. It was no surprise and the game was actually closer than I expected but that was largely due to poor England finishing.

Jonthan Joseph took about 90 seconds to prove my pre-match prediction right and he may have had more points had England not fumbled en route to a couple more disallowed tries. Scotland for their part at least continued to fight for most of the match and managed a try of their own but there was only going to one winner here. Vern Cotter is staring at the Wooden Spoon and it will take a huge Scottish effort to avoid defeat against Ireland at Murrayfield in the last match. I live in hope.

The match started with our party in relative dismay following Charlton's surprising 3-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers. We were sat in The Falcon in Clapham by then watching the Wales v Ireland match as news trickled through of early Rovers goals, the name Jordan Rhodes and that we had hit the bar. Finally a goal and some hope for a few minutes before we conceded the third. I then  received a text from a mate at the match that read "Players have packed for their holidays." I certainly hope not because I need a top 12 finish to win my big bet. Guy Luzon needs to sort this out for the next two winnable matches at Blackpool and at home to Reading, where we will go looking for a rare season double.

The mood wasn't helped by the arrival of half-a-dozen Palace fans with smiles on their faces. I really knew it wasn't going to be my day. 

We were seated in the Lower North at a corner. A good enough view but I had hoped we would be afforded a better view for £85, I will have to see how much the good seats were going for. Twickenham is a much under-rated stadium and I always enjoy my visits. It's relatively easy to get food and drink, even after the match when we huddled for warmth in the Scrum Bar singing along with a cover band belting out Oasis numbers.

Getting home from Twickenham remains you why the venue isn't more popular. Pretty much one train line and the queues go on for three or four hours after the final whistle. We managed to head for Whitton station, one further down the line which meant we got on straight away and were seated when we arrived at the scrummage at Twickenham station.

We had hoped for spicy and pungent meat in Clapham on the way back but seems like everyone else had that idea so we had to make do with a pizza. It was a late night and after a longish day yesterday, I feel like I need to go back to bed this morning but need to get a days work out of the way.