Scotland dash England hopes with 15-all draw

England retained the Calcutta Cup after a 15-15 draw with Scotland but their hopes of winning the Six Nations appear to be over after this scrap at Murrayfield.

Toby Flood fell just short with a late, 49-metre penalty attempt that would have won the match for England and ensured they could travel to Paris next weekend with their hopes of a championship triumph still intact.

Instead, the title will be beyond reach of Martin Johnson's squad if France beat Italy today.

The Scots could also count themselves unlucky that Dan Parks, who provided all of Scotland's points, hit the post with two of his six penalty attempts. And, despite claiming their first point in this year's tournament, they will rue their failure to turn long phases of pressure into at least one try.

It was the 18th time in 127 meetings that the oldest international fixture in rugby had ended in a draw, underlining the ferocious competitive edge that always surrounds these meetings.

In another match, Ireland kept their slim hopes of retaining the Six Nations title alive when indiscipline once more cost Wales in a 27-12 defeat at Croke Park.

Ireland, for whom captain Brian O'Driscoll won his 100th cap, made Wales full-back Lee Byrne pay for a silly first-half sin binning when tries from wing Keith Earls and scrum half Tomas O'Leary gave the hosts a lead they never looked like losing.

Ireland need top-of-the-table France to suffer an unlikely loss against either Italy or England and make up ground on points difference to stand a chance of winning consecutive championships.