We’ve seen the performances of England over the last 12 months, pushing New Zealand very close, home and away, those could easily have been victories, the South Africa game was close, Australia won in the last minute, and then their start against Ireland.
Among the many questions hanging over the 132nd Calcutta Cup, the hardest to answer might just be exactly how many times you need to beat the English before they stop thinking of themselves as favourites for the next game.
And yet the English have contrived a way to arrive at this fixture, which could yet be a record-breaking fifth defeat, as odds-on favourites with every bookmaker, and on a wash of pundits’ promises about how their forwards are going to “monster the auld enemy”.
Since Gregor Townsend took over as head coach, Scotland have been unbeaten in six out of seven matches, including, count them, the last one, two, three, four in a row.
Gregor Townsend seems to know just what is needed to unravel their Six Nations rivals with a peerless record.
