England to hit back with narrow win over Scotland

Colin Newboult

Scotland's Hamish Watson (left) in action with England's Ellis Genge during the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London.

Two sides nursing plenty of wounds from the opening weekend of the Six Nations will go head-to-head in the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield on Saturday.

‘Profligacy’ will be the watchword for both having seen their chances ended by a number of errors in the opposition 22. For Scotland, they will rue Stuart Hogg’s inability to touch down when seemingly set to score in Dublin, while England had several opportunities close to the try-line without converting against France.

Interestingly, there is more positivity emanating from the Scots, however, after running the 2018 Grand Slam winners close. They controlled aspects of that encounter and go into this weekend’s game with plenty of hope.

Gregor Townsend’s forwards fronted up impressively throughout the contest and they will look to put further pressure on an England pack that faltered in Paris last weekend. Without enough ball carriers up front, Eddie Jones’ charges regularly struggled to get over the gain line and they suffered as a result.

Only two pieces of Jonny May magic kept the Red Rose in the contest, while the ascendancy they had in the scrum in the second half gave them a glimmer of hope going into the final 10 minutes.

Other than those two facets, it was a pretty woeful afternoon for the World Cup finalists. Their lineout malfunctioned, there was a plethora of mistakes and altogether there was just a sense of 2018 about their display.

During that campaign Jones’ side finished in fifth, having won just two matches in the tournament, and succumbed to the Scots at Murrayfield. There was a lethargy and an uncertainty about their performances two years ago and that accusation could have been thrown at the current outfit on Sunday.

Will Jones get the requisite reaction or will the Calcutta Cup holders retain the trophy for another year? England’s head coach has made the changes to suggest that they will improve, with the additions of George Kruis and Lewis Ludlam giving the pack a more balanced look.

However, Scotland love nothing more than beating the Auld Enemy and, judging by their efforts against Ireland, they will be a dangerous proposition for the visitors.

Townsend has resisted the temptation to bring back Finn Russell – the tormentor-in-chief in 2018 – and has once again placed his trust in Adam Hastings. The 23-year-old may not have some of the qualities of Russell but the Glasgow fly-half impressed in their Six Nations opener and will cause England problems should they get front foot ball.

With Huw Jones back in form after a season of struggle and a back three which contains plenty of pace and skill, the Scots have enough in the armoury to win this game, but it is all about that gain line battle.

The respective back-rows have plenty of pilfering threat but, although Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson and Magnus Bradbury are fine operators, Sam Underhill and Tom Curry were two of the stars of the World Cup. Providing Curry has acclimatised to the unfamiliar number eight position then those players, combined with Ludlam, may just have too much for their opponents.

Players to watch:

For Scotland: Despite playing well on debut, Nick Haining has been demoted to the bench for this encounter, which means the talented Magnus Bradbury takes his place in the XV. The 24-year-old missed their Six Nations opener against Ireland through injury but returns to the fold for his 12th cap. Bradbury has enjoyed an excellent season for Edinburgh and will add plenty of ball-carrying prowess on Saturday. Scotland don’t quite have the out-and-out power of other nations but the back-rower is the closest they have to the likes of CJ Stander, Taulupe Faletau and Gregory Alldritt. He is an excellent athlete and will create dents in the England defence providing they can get quick ball.

For England: Having dropped Ben Youngs, the pressure is on Gloucester’s Willi Heinz to control matters from half-back. Eddie Jones has received plenty of criticism for persisting with those two players, with the duo producing less than convincing performances over the past year, and Heinz will have to prove that he is good enough to play Test rugby on Saturday. The 33-year-old has a good pass and is usually an excellent decision-maker from the base, skills which will be needed at a hostile Murrayfield. It is bizarre that Jones has not opted for younger options at the start of this World Cup cycle and will surely be thinking about bringing in the likes of Ben Spencer and Dan Robson should Heinz and Youngs falter in Edinburgh.

Head-to-head: There are several intriguing battles, including between the two back-rows, but there will be plenty of pressure on the respective full-backs, Stuart Hogg and George Furbank. While Hogg played reasonably well against Ireland, the Exeter Chief will only be remembered for his drop when in the process of touching down. It cost them a try and potentially a score which would have tied the game going into the latter stages, so his reaction to that will be crucial. As for Furbank, he had a veritable shocker on debut with him partially responsible for two missed chances. The Northampton Saints player made a number of mistakes in possession, made several poor decisions and struggled under the high ball. Not much to improve on then.

Previous results:

2019: England and Scotland drew 38-38 in London
2018: Scotland won 25-13 in Edinburgh
2017: England won 61-21 in London
2016: England won 15-9 in Edinburgh
2015: England won 25-13 in London
2014: England won 20-0 in Edinburgh
2013: England won 38-18 in London
2012: England won 13-6 in Edinburgh

Prediction: It is a very tough one to call after last week. Scotland were impressive while the Red Rose were poor and struggled on their last visit to Murrayfield, but their record is generally very good against the Scots. England by 3.

The teams:

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg (c), 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Nick Haining, 21 George Horne, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Chris Harris

England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Ben Youngs, 23 Ollie Devoto

Date: Saturday, February 8
Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 16:45 GMT
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: James Leckie (Australia)

 

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