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Scotland captain John Barclay feels England are “massive favourites” for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield.
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Holders England have won their first two Six Nations matches as they aim to become the first team to win the tournament outright three years in a row.
Scotland have not beaten the ‘auld enemy’ for a decade and Barclay knows they will have their work cut out in Edinburgh this weekend.
“They’ve obviously won their first two games [against Italy and Wales], two quite different games, won in different fashions,” said the back-row forward.
“They are one of the best teams in the world, their record is fantastic. They come here as massive favourites.
“They are a quality side with the quality players throughout. It’s a big challenge for us to stop them.”
England beat Wales last time out and Barclay was given a debrief by some of his Scarlets team-mates during the break between international matches.
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He added: “I went into the club on the week off and just had a little chat with some of them [Scarlets’ Wales contingent] but the footage is there for you to see their strategies.
“They [Wales] gave away two penalties in the whole game – I don’t know if that’s ever been done before, that disciplined.
“They had a very clear strategy, a few calls here or there and the game could have gone the other way.”
