Scots shocked by slow England
SCOTLAND have no intention of being ‘ruckless’ at Twickenham on Saturday, but after watching Italy adopt the shock tactics there 10 days ago, they have expressed surprise at how long it took England to adapt. When the Azzurri came to London, they were expected to be the victims of an RBS 6 Nations mis-match, but instead Conor O’Shea’s side stood off the breakdown, negated the offside line and harried the hosts effectively. It wasn’t until the last 10 minutes that England put the result beyond doubt and their troubles have been noted by Scotland. In the aftermath of the win, Eddie Jones condemned the Italian ploy, but there has been an admission from his camp that they did not react well enough under pressure. The Scots echoed that view yesterday, as they stepped up preparations for the Calcutta Cup showdown. ‘Maybe they were caught up in the flow of the game, not getting their own way, they maybe got a bit flustered but that’s something you have to deal with,’ said veteran hooker Ross Ford. ‘There are always words coming on from coaches up top, feeding in information. Maybe the messages didn’t get down quickly enough or there was no opportunity. England managed to sort it out in the end and they did look dangerous once they did. ‘When you’re analysing teams you’re looking at ways to disrupt them. When they’re under pressure they’re maybe not thinking too clearly.’ Ford was bemused by the criticism of Italy’s tactics and the delayed English response, adding: ‘I don’t know what all the hoo-ha was about because there have been teams who have done it before. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just a way of disrupting a team’s flow, but if you do it you leave yourself exposed.’