Calcutta Cup history means nothing to Te’o
STAR CENTRE SAYS FIERCE SCOTLAND v ENGLAND RIVALRY IS ‘COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO ME AS I LOOK FORWARD, NOT BACK’
BEN TE’O has lifted the lid on the psyche of Eddie Jones’ England team by claiming that Calcutta Cup history is “completely irrelevant”.
Te’o says the rich heritage of the sport’s oldest rivalry means nothing to him.
“I wouldn’t be able to tell you the history,” he said of a fixture which dates back to 1879. “I suppose it doesn’t really affect me. It is completely irrelevant. You are always looking forward.
“I’m a week-to-week guy. The confidence is in the preparation. Do all the little things during the week, know your stuff, go out and play rugby.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a person who needs to look back on games to rev myself up.”
Not so Scotland and pretty much every opponent of England, who tap into historic animosities to fire themselves up when facing the Auld Enemy.
Publicly at least, Jones’ England see no value in external motivation and 24 wins from 25 suggests that focusing only on the next game works for them.
“Fans love to talk about past games, past championships,” said Te’o after a training session from which Owen Farrell was notably absent. “Every now and again the boys will mention a game they played in, maybe they were going for a Grand Slam and they bombed it or they didn’t play well. But that is about as far as the conversation goes.
“I don’t think anyone dwells on it. I can’t say we sit around talking about stuff like that. This environment is very much about looking forward. You’re always going to have an away fixture with a hostile crowd, that’s part of the game. But for me, you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all.”
England continue to insist Farrell will take his place against Scotland, but he did not train with the team last week due to a ‘leg’ issue.
And scrum coach Neal Hatley confirmed the playmaker’s first full-on session would be tomorrow – the final Red Rose hit-out before heading north.
Farrell was not the only noshow yesterday as David Moyes, West Ham’s Scottish boss, did not take up his invitation to attend.
His assistant Stuart Pearce was in Bagshot, alongside former England women’s boss Hope Powell and ex-Nottingham Forest coach Mark Warburton.