PANICKY SCOTS WILL FEEL THE PRESSURE
WHEN HOOKERS SERVED UP CALCUTTA CARNAGE
I MAKE England clear favourites at Murrayfield this evening and expect them to win, but curiously it still feels like the pressure is on Scotland. Eddie Jones is here for the long haul but he has a little breathing space. England have been in decline for 10 years now, so he is not going to change it in one game or even one Six Nations campaign. For Scotland, however, this is a very tricky season. Expectation is high, which means the disappointment will be savage if they get stage fright and it all goes wrong. I am really not sure where Scotland would go if they suffered another whitewash or collected another wooden spoon. For any team who want to step things up a notch, you have to start winning at home — especially against those teams above you. Yes, there was much to admire about the World Cup campaign and there is no doubt the Scots could have reached the semi-finals. That is what has excited Scotland fans and why Murrayfield sold out in hours for this match — which is great to see. A full-on Murrayfield crowd is one of the great Six Nations sights and sounds. But let us examine that World Cup campaign a little closer. I expected them to beat the USA, Japan and Samoa and I rather thought they might beat South Africa, too. In fact, Scotland against the Boks was my big tip for the major upset of the pool stages but they did not really come close. Then against Australia they can point to referee Craig Joubert’s poor penalty decision in the final minute but, frankly, Scotland’s line-out preceding it was a shambles. It was indicative of a side still unused to beating the very best teams and prone to panicking under pressure. I was glad to hear that Scotland coach Vern Cotter and captain Greig Laidlaw, having reviewed that game, now see their defeat in that light and are not just blaming
the official. That honesty is a good start and much needed because it is a tipping-point season for Scotland. Kick on from the World Cup and good things can happen. But another poor Six Nations and the gloom will set in again. I don’t see them beating England today but it is important Scotland perform in a way that allows them to carry some momentum down to Cardiff next week. As for England, Jones has a well-deserved reputation as a coach who can make a difference at international level and tonight I expect to see proof of that. His starting XV has just one player — skipper Dylan Hartley — who was not in the World Cup squad last autumn but I expect to see an entirely different body language and mindset from those in the white shirt. We should witness a really snarly, confrontational England pack who will be looking to flex their muscles again after going strangely AWOL at times during the World Cup. Driven by a determined Danny Care, and twin playmakers George Ford and Owen Farrell, England will look to play with tempo and ambition behind that dominant pack. At the World Cup, England went down without firing a shot. Players, as well as the coach, are accountable for this. You could say it is a conservative selection — I gave five players their England debuts against Australia in my first game in charge — but I liked Eddie’s reply to that criticism: ‘You can call it what you want, it’s the team I think will beat Scotland.’ That is his priority. I have no doubt he has all sorts of plans for England and, rest assured, he will have clocked those young players that many are excited about — notably Maro Itoje and Elliot Daly — but these are very early days and he does not think they are quite ready. Eddie is a very good selector and that is his call. Their time will come. Although he culled a few with his initial squad, Eddie has been quite clever in those he has retained. They are players he obviously likes but they are playing for their places and their England careers. I take England to win by 10 points.