‘Fin Smith is Scottish’ – Kenny Logan stirs the pot as Scotland chase history against England side ‘very lucky’ to beat France
Kenny Logan speaks ahead of England v Scotland Calcutta Cup clash.
As Scotland look to maintain their stranglehold over England in the Calcutta Cup, former winger Kenny Logan has told them: “You can beat any side in the world!”
Gregor Townsend’s men head to Twickenham for Saturday’s Six Nations showdown aiming to become the first Scottish side to win five successive Calcutta Cups.
Last year’s 30-21 victory at Murrayfield made it four straight wins against the Auld Enemy for the first time since 1896 and Scotland are unbeaten in their last three visits to the home of English rugby.
Ex-Wasps star Logan, who won 70 Test caps during a distinguished international career, accepts Steve Borthwick’s men go into the game as favourites having beaten France at home last time out.
Hard one to call
Logan, 53, told Planet Rugby: “I’m probably a bit more nervous ahead of this game because we’ve probably only really played half an hour of good rugby, against Italy, in this year’s Six Nations.
“We didn’t play well against Ireland but we’ve got a lot of very good players who will be working hard this week to improve going into the England game.
“That improvement is needed but if Scotland turn up and play to their potential they can beat any side in the world.
“Significantly, this Scotland team know they can beat England at Twickenham, having won there twice in recent years.
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“It’s a hard one to call; England probably go into it as favourites but of course Scotland can win.
“They’re a really good team, can score tries from anywhere on the pitch and are attack-minded but we just need to be more consistent.
“Scotland have a gameplan that works for them whereas England are probably still searching for a gameplan a little bit.”
Borthwick’s men go into the clash with the Auld Enemy on the back of a stirring 26-25 win over France nearly a fortnight ago.
It was the perfect antidote to their opening defeat against Ireland in Dublin.
Yet Logan said: “For all the resources they’ve got, England were probably very lucky to beat France.
“France must have choked up about three tries, but England are as passionate about their country as we are.
“I’ve watched some clips from training this week and they look very focused.
“They’re desperate to get that win back the Calcutta Cup and will feel more confident going into this week’s game on the back of beating France plus the fact they’re at home.”
Saturday’s clash will see Northampton’s rising star Fin Smith start at fly-half with Harlequins’ Marcus Smith at full-back.
Saints playmaker Smith was born to Scottish parents but was born in England and this week declared: “I’m English, I’ve lived in England all my life. I wanted to play for England ever since I’ve been alive.”
His match-up with mercurial Scotland fly-half Finn Russell promises to be an intriguing battle.
Logan added: “Fin Smith is Scottish. He’s obviously going to be a world-class player who has played against Finn Russell a lot, so he knows what Finn does.
“But he will be under a bit more pressure this week because he played well against France.
“I really like Fin Smith, he’s a very good player, and England have an exciting back three but if we put pressure on them they can make mistakes like we all do.
“Marcus Smith hasn’t really been tested yet, but I think he’ll get that from Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe under the high balls.
“Up front, I’m confident Scotland are strong. Our front five is great, the back-row is good, and there’s no reason why we can’t go to Twickenham and win.
Finding consistency
“Scotland have been playing well for the last couple of years; like I said the key thing is finding the consistency.”
Logan knows that in Russell Scotland have a player who can win games on his own with a piece of individual brilliance.
“Finn’s world-class,” said Logan of the Bath fly-half.
“He’s maybe not had his best start to the tournament – against Italy he played alright but he wasn’t brilliant.
“Against Ireland we just didn’t come out of the traps and the players will be frustrated with that, so there should be a backlash on Saturday.
“England’s players will know that Finn can do almost anything to change a game in his team’s favour.”
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