Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has praised winger Duhan van der Merwe for his performance against England, insisting the 28-year-old took advantage of the opportunities presented to him.

The hosts ran out 30-21 winners over Steve Borthwick's men as they retained the Calcutta Cup for the fourth year running.

Van der Merwe starred for the Murrayfield side as he scored a hat-trick, the first by a Scot in the fixture, and Townsend had nothing but good things to say about the player at full time.

Speaking to BBC, he said: "You have to celebrate these moments, especially when you have a trophy in the dressing room. 

"Duhan van der Merwe was great today. He saw the opportunities and went for it. 

"I think the first try was really special in that we didn't have much ball, we weren't in England's half very often. 

"The win is massive. It is a one-off, we were playing for the trophy today and to us that is very important. 

READ MORE: Five things we learned from Scotland's win over England

"Now we can look to the next two games and see how we can improve. 

"To show that resilience to come back and then score 30 points shows what this team is capable of.

"There is improvement to do, and we want to get to the final week with an opportunity to still be in the championship."

Scotland have everything to play for in their final two matches away to Italy and Ireland as they look to win the Six Nations for the first time.

And despite his team's good form Townsend was keen to stress there is still plenty of rugby to be played.

"I think there is more we have to bring out in the next two fixtures," he continued. "They will both be very tough but we go to Italy with confidence."