Eddie Must Get England Playing At A Higher Tempo

SCOTLAND have good cause to feel confident going to Twickenham based on their home victories over Ireland and Wales.

- Jeremy Guscott

However, the challenge they face comes more from their loss to France away, because England and France present very similar obstacles.

Scotland’s visits to Paris and London do not make for happy bedtime reading over the last 20 years – in fact, it’s the stuff of nightmares. That is why they have to get away from history were England and Scotland are concerned, and leave it for the classrooms, colleges and universities, or, where rugby is concerned, for the statisticians.

The only thing they will need to focus on this Saturday is that rugby results are settled by 80 minutes of action on the field. Eddie Jones is already focused on that, and that is why he is trying to put the emphasis on Scotland, saying that there are big expectations on Vern Cotter’s side going into this Calcutta Cup clash.

Jones is trying to shift the focus onto the Scots because he knows that against Italy his side had a poor first half performance, and also that they have not yet produced a powerful display for the full 80 minutes in their previous three games in the 2017 Six Nations.

The gains Scotland have made mean they can now expect to beat any opposing team when they are at Murrayfield, and so far they have done that. Replicating it when they travel is another matter.

Overall, the Scottish pack doesn’t smash above its body weight in the collisions, and that means they have to excel in other areas – and they do. The work rate of the Gray brothers, Richie and Jonny, John Barclay, Ryan Wilson and Hamish Watson has been tremendous. They are not explosive in contact, but they keep digging away and their persistence often delivers quick ball.

The good tries the Scots have scored, such as those against Wales, was when they hit up the middle with urgency before moving the ball so that chances were created out wide for a dangerous back three featuring Stuart Hogg, Tim Visser, Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland.