OLIVER HOLT: While superb Scotland summoned moments of wizardry, England were negligent, incompetent and ordinary during a humbling defeat at Murrayfield

They waited by the statue of Doddie Weir, the men and women with the worst job in rugby this weekend. The slogan of the Whitburn Band is Onward and they stuck doggedly to it as they waited for the bus to come into view, raised the St George’s Cross and then marched the England team through the massed ranks of Scotland fans and into Murrayfield.

Much has been made of these moments in recent weeks, of how the pipers who have led England teams on this slow parade in previous years have proceeded at a deliberately funereal pace to prolong the discomfort for visiting players as they are exposed to the full force of Scottish enmity.

Some England players have spoken of how they felt the Calcutta Cup had been lost before they set foot on the pitch after they were unnerved by the sight of three levels of balconies rising above them, packed with Scotland fans booing and jeering them as the pipers dawdled towards the point where the bus disgorges the players.

The atmosphere was hostile as the musicians in the band played England towards their fate but it was hardly a cauldron. Anyone who has seen the Manchester City bus crawling down the Anfield Road, surrounded on all sides by Liverpool fans, flares turning the air red, jeers and worse raining down, would think it relatively benign.

The England players seemed determined to drink it in, too. They descended from the coach and waited by it for a while, gazing up at the galleries of Scotland fans above them, in no hurry to head for the sanctuary of the changing rooms. There was a degree of good humour about the reception they were receiving and they looked as if they were enjoying it.

The intensity increased before the game when the crowd rose to belt out Flower of Scotland and Murrayfield felt bewitched. Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist had tears in his eyes as the Scottish anthem was roared around the stadium and it was clear the opening minutes would be a test of the mettle of this new England, under skipper Jamie George.

‘We're expecting more hostility,’ Joe Marler had said last week, ‘and we can either run from it or run towards it. If we run away from it, like we have at times, especially up in Murrayfield, then we'll get our pants pulled down and they'll do a job on us.’

When the match began and more hostility cascaded down from the stands, England looked as if they were very much running towards it. Onward. They started brightly. They looked as if they were playing without fear, free from intimidation. They took the lead inside five minutes with a beautifully slick try, orchestrated by George Ford and finished by George Furbank.

JK Rowling was in the crowd and even if she does not quite possess the star power of Taylor Swift at a Super Bowl, her presence did hint at the possibility of wizardry. On cue, up stepped Duhan van der Merwe, who had broken English hearts with a quite magnificent try at Twickenham last year to seal Scotland’s third successive Calcutta Cup victory.

England simply could not deal with Van der Merwe. They could not deal with his pace. They could not deal with his class. They could not deal with his invention. England do not have a player like him and once again, just like last year, he cut them to shreds.

It was midway through the half when Huw Jones burst through the heart of the England defence. Dragged down by two pursuers, he had the presence of mind to pop the ball up into the path of Van der Merwe, who scythed his way through what remained of the England defence, dummied his way past Ford and powered over the line.

His second try was even better, a score that started off with a clever dart around a despairing attempt at a tackle and ended with a breath-taking sprint from Scotland’s own 22 all the way to the England try line. It was a world-class try, a privilege to watch.

Five minutes into the second half, he scored his third try after a glorious break by Cameron Redpath and a crossfield kick that bounced high into Van der Merwe’s arms to give Scotland a 24-13 lead. England never got near to closing that gap. Any suggestion they did is little more than whistling to keep spirits up.

It was around that time that a hard truth became obvious. England are not consistently losing to Scotland in the Six Nations because men and women playing bagpipes or cornets march slowly in front of their coach on their way to the game.

They are not losing to Scotland because Scotland fans jeer at them from balconies outside the West Stand when they get off the coach. They are not losing to Scotland because they are disconcerted by their reception from the home fans. They didn’t run away from the hostility. They just couldn’t deal with the rugby.

The reality is that this idea of the hostility of the reception and the disabling effect it is supposed to have is a smoke-screen. It is an excuse and it is a poor excuse. England are not losing to Scotland because Scottish fans are loud and proud. They are losing to Scotland because Scotland are a better team than England.

They’re more imaginative than England. They’re more athletic than England. In terms of their ambition, they are braver than England. England does not have a player like Finn Russell, who dictated Scotland’s play and kicked six penalties and conversions from six attempts, and they do not have a player like Van der Merwe. England are a weaker team, both individually and collectively.