How can England beat Scotland in the Calcutta Cup?
It may not be a fixture famed for deciding Rugby World Cups, nor a major intra-hemisphere clash, but the Calcutta Cup game between England and Scotland is, and will always be, a date for the diary.
It’s the oldest international match in the world, dating back to the 1870s, and a real grudge fixture between those north and south of Hadrian’s Wall.
And this weekend Scotland will be looking to extend their unbeaten run at Twickenham to four matches, dating back to 2019 – a feat they haven’t achieved before.
One draw and two wins since their last loss at Twickenham is a healthy return for a Scotland side who have never been able to get their hands on the Six Nations trophy.
But in round two, on an occasion when they needed to challenge if they were to win their first championship, Scotland capitulated to Ireland.
And it is for that reason I think England will win this weekend; I just don’t see Scotland recovering from such a psychological blow.
With that in mind, however, there are three crucial areas England need to sharpen up ahead of the Calcutta Cup.
England must target the 10
The first of those is the ability to target the No10. Against France, where Les Bleus admittedly had Matthieu Jalibert instead of Romain Ntamack at fly-half, England didn’t really need to put too much pressure on the half-back combination, but when they did it was effective.
Everything Scotland do well goes through the hands of their fly-half, whether that be Finn Russell or another No10. It allows the Scots to utilise their battering centre partnership and expose opposition wingers to their well-rounded back three options.
England therefore need to use their defensive linespeed to make the 10 sweat, and with it put Scotland on the back foot in the Calcutta Cup.
Calcutta Cup set piece
Next on the list is set piece. Against Ireland, Scotland lost just one of their 14 line-outs while Ireland managed to lose four of their 10. England lost three of their line-outs against France, too, while also losing one of their own scrums.
Scotland can poach at the set piece, while England have shown they can be vulnerable at the scrum and line-out. This could be a crucial factor on Saturday and England will need to be better.
Speed!
Finally, the breakdown is going to be crucial. The speed of ruck and ball presentation converts England from a lethargic outfit into an attacking threat. They dominated France in the tackle zone and enabled Alex Mitchell to pick and choose when and where to attack.
Scotland have an arsenal of options when their No9 can shift the ball from the ruck, so expect this to be a battle in fast attacking ball and slowing tactics when in defence.
England can’t get trapped in the emotion of the Calcutta Cup occasion because they need to end their dire streak against their northern neighbours.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie @OlliePhillips11