NATIONS2018 Scots won’t take a backward step
REPORTS IF THE Calcutta Cup really does mean nothing more to England than any other fixture in their tunnelvisioned trudge towards the World Cup, the same is not true for Scotland.
The whiff of expectation surrounding rugby union’s longest-running rivalry was intoxicating at Murrayfield yesterday.
Part of that heightened sense can be put down to a fear of what could happen on Saturday if Eddie Jones’s side get on a roll in the way they did at Twickenham last year when England routed their oldest enemies 61-21.
But it also remains true north of the border that even without a win over England for a decade, this is the fixture above all others.
“It does have extra,” said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend. “I grew up watching these games and I saw all the passion that was involved in these fixtures.
“I was lucky enough to play in a few and it’s certainly the fixture that brings more focus and edge. You understand how much it means to the public.
“In 2000, we lost every game in that campaign but won the final game against England and it was such a huge boost to the country. The four defeats seemed to be forgotten. We know what it means to our supporters and our players.”
This will be Townsend’s first Calcutta Cup match as head coach having turned down a place on the Lions management team to take charge last summer.
His calculated pre-match jab at England’s offside transgressions, delivered with a knowing smile, suggests he is learning quickly.
Scotland’s progress graph since the Borders magician took over has been erratic. If England are the byword for consistency, Scotland are the polar opposite. A brilliant win in Australia was followed by defeat in Fiji then the promise from an excellent autumn was wiped out by a 34-7 pummelling in Wales.
The nature of the reverse vindicated Jones’s observation at the tournament launch that Scotland under Townsend were a “side to side” team. It was not meant as a compliment, even if the former Northampton playmaker pretended it was. “You have to go forward in ENGLAND have ruled out following France’s lead by taking a Six Nations game on the road but are open to taking a fixture north again.
The French face Italy in Marseille tomorrow in what will be the first Six Nations game staged outside a national capital. However, the rugby,” he acknowledged. “But there are different ways of doing that. If you go side to side you won’t go forward and I wouldn’t say that is something we like doing but we certainly want to attack space.”
The 32-26 win over France a fortnight ago gave a more measured depiction of where Scotland are now, nine months into the Townsend era. It was a good win but he knows he will have to coax something extra RFU pocketed about £10million from this month’s home game with Wales and are reluctant to trade any of that in by taking a championship match away from Twickenham.
An RFU spokeswoman said: “It would be very special out of his side if they are to beat England.
“Whenever they’ve come up here, they’ve been a good team. We have to be at our very best to challenge them,” he said.
It is a Herculean task but Townsend at least could name an unchanged team.
Townsend also resisted the pressure to drop fly-half Finn Russell after two error-ridden displays. He said: “Physically he’s in good shape and he’s controlling our attack.
“He has been involved in the decision-making – so he seems to be in a very good place.”
So too Townsend. Routine as the match may be to England, it is anything but to him and his players.
Emotion may not amount to a hill of beans when all is reckoned up on Saturday evening but it has done before in this fixture. England, manifestly the superior unit, should take note of that fact.
FORMER Scotland centre Matt Scott will return to Edinburgh in the summer after two seasons with Gloucester.
SCOTLAND:
difficult to take a Six Nations or autumn international away from Twickenham as the financial commitments we have made to invest in and grow rugby are dependent on Twickenham revenue.
“If an opportunity came up outside of the Six Nations and autumn
Replacements:
internationals, we would not rule it out, and we continue to take other representative teams on the road, including the women’s Six Nations match against Ireland in Coventry next month.”
England have played just five home Tests away from Twickenham in the professional era.