By Ollie Phillips
Scotland have not been kind to England in the last couple of years and this weekend’s Six Nations clash at Murrayfield gives the home side the chance of winning a fourth consecutive Calcutta Cup.
But since the tournament expanded to include Italy in 2000, the 12 fixtures in Edinburgh have seen England win six to Scotland’s five.
This weekend the visitors need to focus on four key aspects of their performance if they are to give themselves a shot at winning and keeping their Grand Slam hopes alive.
Bin Scotland 10 Finn
Finn Russell is currently my British and Irish Lions No10. He is the maverick who makes Scotland tick and that’s why England need to contain him.
Their new defensive structure, under Felix Jones, has seen an aggressive line shooting towards attacks and that’s something they’ll need to replicate on Saturday.
Expect big hits on Russell and the use of every trick in the book to keep him away from the ball for as long as possible.
Wide oh wide
Though England’s defensive shape has been pretty good in the opening two rounds, they’ve looked somewhat vulnerable out wide.
Italy and Wales both threatened in the wider channels and that’s something that Scotland – with the likes of Duhan van der Merwe – will be keen to exploit.
It’ll therefore be paramount that the defensive line moves as one and closes down any opportunities early while also denying Scotland the chance to kick in behind the aggressive defence.
This is where containing Russell and protecting the wider channels come as one – and a positive attempt at that will do huge favours for England.
England heave
England and Scotland have the two worst scrum winning percentages (60 and 58.82 respectively). To put that into context, Wales have 63 per cent while Italy and Ireland have over 80 per cent; France sit pretty on 100 per cent success.
This part of the game is going to be crucial on Saturday and getting the upper hand on Scotland at the scrum will provide the away side with a platform in which to attack, or kick penalties. Scrum time will be a momentum shifter in this match and handling quality in open play when on the up or down at the set piece could prove decisive.
Kill the buzz
Many players, especially Englishmen, agree that Murrayfield is one of the most hostile atmospheres in rugby.
Their rendition of Flower of Scotland, where the second verse is belted out a capella, and their hatred towards Saturday’s opponents creates one almighty cauldron of hate.
England must silence the crowd and keep them quiet throughout the match because a Murrayfield mob baying for blood will do Steve Borthwick’s men no favours.
It’s set to be a corking round three up in the Scottish capital, and England just need to get the job done. Simple really.
Former England Sevens Captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development behavioural change and executive coaching support. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn @OlliePhillips11
