England skipping history lessons

sit around talking about it. This environment is very much about looking forward.

“I’m not a person who needs to get emotional, to look back on games or rev myself up. I’m just a week-to-week guy.”

Murrayfield will be febrile come Saturday afternoon – but it will have no impact.

“You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,” said Te’o, who played in seven State of Origin games Down Under before his switch. “I’m 31 now. By the particular plans for Scotland’s free-running back three, but the overall message remains the same week-in, week-out.

“We are unconditional,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who we play against – we don’t want to concede, we don’t want to give easy yards, we don’t want to go backwards in the scrum, we don’t want to lose a lineout, we don’t want to be soft in the contact area and at the breakdown.

“Scotland are the next team that we play therefore it’s the biggest game that we play.”

Always looking forward, always seeking improvement, reaching for perfection – although there is a horizon line. The World Cup final.

“There is something about knowing when you stand alongside the team and you just go, ‘Boys, we’re on this today. I don’t care what comes our way, we have got their number’,” said Gustard.

“That feeling doesn’t happen every week but when it does, you know it. That’s the feeling we had against Wales and we want it more and more.

“Nothing is ever perfect, but the best game we play will be November 2, 2019.”