REACH FOR THE STARS
Scots aim to cause ‘chaos’ as they look for opening victory
Scotland need to learn from history and ‘create chaos’ if they are to triumph over England in today’s calcutta cup showdown.
the Six nations begins with Vern cotter’s men looking to end a miserable run of results in opening matches, with just one win in 16 since the championship was expanded in 2000.
and hooker Ross Ford — who has at least tasted victory over today’s visitors in 2006 and 2008 — insists that playing at a high tempo is key if the Scots are to build on the progress shown during last year’s World cup.
‘We managed to create a lot of chaos and that was the big thing in 2006 and 2008,’ said the 31-year-old, who will be winning his 95th cap at Murrayfield. ‘We
created chaos both in defence and in attack back then and that’s something we need to do once again against England. ‘We need to operate at a tempo and pace which allows us to bring that chaos. ‘If the weather goes bad, which it might, it means we will have to change things slightly but we can still play at a tempo and cause chaos in different ways. ‘Causing chaos against the opposition is something we tried to do at the World Cup and it worked well. ‘Hopefully we have improved at it since then through our work in training so we can show that ability to cause chaos when we kick off.’ Ford has backed his Edinburgh team-mates, flanker John Hardie and tighthead prop Willem Nel, to play a critical role in what is both players’ first taste of the Six Nations. ‘They’re both good players and I’m lucky enough to play with them week in, week out at Edinburgh,’ he added. ‘They work hard on their individual skills and it is showing up on the international arena. ‘They have helped us out a lot since they came into the Scotland set-up and will be very important to us today. ‘They allow us to play in the fashion we want as it’s important to have a good set-piece against England. Willem helps us there and John is obviously a good link-up man.’ Scotland assistant head coach Nathan Hines, meanwhile, claims that playing England won’t enter the minds of his players as they have been told to treat it as any other match. ‘I don’t think it will have any more needle because it is England,’ he insisted. ‘The Scotland players are all competitive by nature and I think that sometimes being too competitive can be your undoing. ‘Focusing on the fact that we are playing a certain team? I don’t think that is a help.’ Meanwhile Owen Farrell, who made his England debut four years ago in Edinburgh, insists that the visitors won’t allow themselves to be distracted as they seek to give new head coach Eddie Jones a debut win. ‘You are concentrated on your job,’ he said. ‘I remember when the bagpipes led us into Murrayfield (in 2012). That was my first cap and I just thought that is what happened. ‘It doesn’t make a difference to us. We have a job to do. ‘We have prepared all week to be confident going in and that is all we will focus on.’