Scotland’s dangermen Russell and Van der Merwe loom large for England

Hosts must unlock solutions to the deadly duo when the teams contest the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham on Saturday. No one can say England have not been forewarned. Their recent record against Scotland – one win in their past seven Calcutta Cup encounters – has involved a range of painful indignities but two familiar themes stand out. Their names are Finn Russell and Duhan van der Merwe and, fitness permitting, the deadly duo will be back in harness in London on Saturday.

If Russell has been the deft-fingered architect of many of Scotland’s best moments, Van der Merwe has been the breeze-block destroyer of English reputations in each of the last two years. Who can possibly forget his brace of tries at Twickenham two years ago or, indeed, his hat-trick in the same fixture at Murrayfield 12 months ago?.

Stitch those five scores together and, on their own, they form a highlights compilation any player would cherish. Picking the best in show is almost impossible. The storming break from his own half up Murrayfield’s left touchline before the swallow-dive into the corner? The 60-metre solo effort past five defenders the year before? Or that irresistible late match-winning finish, under intense pressure, in the same game?.

Either way England urgently need to find an antidote. “He’s got pace and power down that edge and if you give him that space he’ll take it,” admits England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick. “What he’s then got is a big left-foot step to try and find another avenue. Fundamentally denying him that space will be very important. You have to be really on the money defensively across the board.”.

Easier said than done when Scotland’s biggest beast is on the rampage. When Van der Merwe, now 29, was playing in the English Premiership with Worcester his clubmates quickly realised that all their pedigree powerhouse needed was regular feeding. “We just gave him the ball, to be honest, and said: ‘Go on, off you go,’” recalls Ollie Lawrence, who will be among those trying to stop him this weekend. “Duhey is a great character. From spending time at Worcester with him, he’s a really good friend and another extremely talented player. He loves throwing people off him.”.

Lawrence, now at Bath, also has first-hand knowledge of the magical patterns Russell can weave when the muse is with him. The fly-half has helped to transform Bath as an attacking force and the 25-year-old Lawrence has been among the grateful beneficiaries outside him. “Sometimes Finn is in his own world and he can make things happen that not everybody else can see. One of his strengths is that he can create something out of nothing. He’s a skill player, he’s got a great passing game and a great kicking game.”.

What Lawrence has now discovered, however, is that Russell also does his homework. Not all that trickery is totally instinctive. “Before I met him I was similar in thinking he was a feel-based player but he sees pictures and understands them because of the analysis he’s done. He can do things off the cuff but he is able to execute things he’s already seen pictures of, that teams have done before. He’s world-class at doing it.” Those sly little offloads out of the tackle can also be deadly. “I’ve been fortunate enough over the last couple of seasons to be on the receiving end of those passes but hopefully there won’t be any of that coming in the opposite direction this weekend.”.

Small wonder, then, that England have been consulting Lawrence, among others, on how best to shut down their nemesis. It does not take a genius to foresee them going hard at the breakdown and set pieces in an effort to slow down Scottish momentum, in addition to heaping pressure on the visiting pied piper. “It is going to be a challenge going up against him but it was the same with Antoine Dupont, another world-class player,” says Lawrence. “If you put pressure on them then you can force them to make errors and that’s the plan on Saturday.”.

Sign up to The Breakdown. The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed. after newsletter promotion. England’s first-up tackling, though, will still need to be substantially better than it has been against Scotland in the recent past. It also cost them against Ireland in Dublin in round one and, in addition to Van der Merwe and Russell, the hosts cannot afford to offer Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn and the sharp-eyed Ben White, another regular thorn in  English flesh, even the tiniest of gaps to exploit.

Lawrence, though, reckons England have learned a lot over the past 12 months about themselves and how best to frustrate Scotland. “Last year’s match was a turning point for us. We were not happy with how we played in that game,” he says. “We have referred to it this week as an example of how we don’t want to play and what we don’t want to look like as a team. And how important it is this week to build on what we’ve done against Ireland and France. Hopefully, we can impose our gameplan on to Scotland and not allow them to come to our home turf and impose theirs.”.