Rugby expert Danny Till has picked out a tip for the opening round of Six Nations, England vs Scotland.
England begin the defence of their Six Nations crown with a visit from the “auld enemy” as Scotland travel to Twickenham for the 139th Calcutta Cup fixture.
Owen Farrell will start at fly-half, with Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade forming an exciting midfield duo for the hosts. While the visitors have handed a test debut to Cameron Redpath at inside centre – and they will be hoping his creativity next to Finn Russell can unlock the strong English defence.
Scotland can continue to make life uncomfortable for England
Since Eddie Jones took charge of England, Scotland have been a side who have consistently made life uncomfortable for the men in white.
While England have won three of the five clashes since 2015, their winning totals read as 6, 40, 7 - this rivalry isn’t as one-sided as it initially appears. There was the famous 38-38 draw to close out the 2019 Six Nations, when England blew a 31-7 lead and were rescued by George Ford’s injury time score. Then there was the 2018 clash where Gregor Townsend men produced a stunning display to run out 25-13 winners at Murrayfield. So it certainly hasn’t been plain sailing.
England have had somewhat of an interrupted prep for this tournament. The Saracens players have barely played since December, forwards coach Matt Proudfoot tested positive for Covid-19 (which also meant Jones was self-isolating from the squad for 10 days) and there are some notable absentees including Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Joe Launchbury & Sam Underhill.
Given the concerns about the coherence England will have and the fact Scotland have only tasted defeat by 16 or more points twice in last six visits to HQ - the handicap of Scotland +16 looks well worth taking and is my best bet of the opening weekend.
