England will be aiming to wrestle the Calcutta Cup from Scotland when they meet in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown at Allianz Stadium. Here the PA news agency looks at five talking points heading into the 143rd meeting between the rivals. When England reeled off eight consecutive victories over the ‘Auld Enemy’ from 2009 to 2017, the obituary for rugby’s oldest international rivalry was being written. But Scotland have turned that dismal streak on its head, losing just once in seven matches including a first win at Twickenham for 38 years. Now it is England who carry the baggage of past failures and they must cast their minds back to 2017 for the last time they prevailed on home soil against Saturday’s visitors.
England enter a tricky fixture with spring in their step after edging France in dramatic circumstances in round two. After almost a year of near-misses against top tier opposition, they finally got over the line to relieve the pressure that had built on head coach Steve Borthwick. The challenge now is to back it up knowing that ending their four-Test losing run against Scotland would propel them back into Six Nations title contention with two rounds remaining.
With Finn Russell passing his concussion tests, a fascinating duel between two British and Irish Lions contenders looms at fly-half. Fin Smith, still only 22, marked his full Test debut against France with a man of the match performance despite making a shaky start and on the evidence of his commanding finish at Allianz Stadium, he will occupy England’s 10 jersey for some time to come. Opposite him will be the favourite to fill the position on this summer’s Lions tour with Russell a playmaker capable of unpicking defences at any moment, even if he has yet to fire in this Six Nations.
Ollie Chessum’s promotion into the second row will be a moment of personal triumph, while also providing England with multiple strengths. Chessum missed the 2024 summer tour Japan and New Zealand because of shoulder surgery and just a few months later he was back under the knife, a knee injury ruling him out of the autumn campaign. Now ready for his first start since last year’s Six Nations, he will give England a crucial extra line-out target as well as high work-rate and mobility around the field. An impressive appearance off the bench against France suggested his fitness issues are behind him.
One figure looms large over England’s recent Calcutta Cup blues – Duhan van der Merwe. The giant wing ran in a hat-trick at Murrayfield last year and 12 months earlier plundered two tries as Scotland prevailed 29-23 at Twickenham, some sensational scores among them. Given space, he has the power and speed to cause havoc and his understanding with Russell is a real threat. “We just gave him the ball and said: ‘Go on, off you go’,” said England’s Ollie Lawrence of his former Worcester team-mate. A likely repeat Lions Test wing, England know he must be stopped.
