England can't afford another false dawn against Scotland – Andy Goode

England need to prove they don’t have a mental block when it comes to facing Scotland and take advantage of momentum being in their favour for once.

The Scots come to Allianz Stadium on the back of a dispiriting 11^th consecutive defeat to Ireland, whereas England finally have something to build on in the form of a one-point victory over France.

It doesn’t matter how that win came about, it snapped a horrible, unprecedented run of seven consecutive defeats against fellow Tier one nations and now England need to back it up or it’ll be another case of one step forward, two steps back.

The win over Ireland last March proved to be a false dawn and the same cannot be allowed to happen this time around with a Six Nations title still to play for, a Calcutta Cup on the line and a broader point to prove around the style of play and direction of travel for this side.

Scotland have every right to be confident, they’re looking to beat the Auld Enemy five times on the spin for the first time ever, but that recent record provides just as much motivation for England and the visitors don’t look in quite as good a shape as in the past few years.

The absence of Darcy Graham is a blow but it’s Sione Tuipulotu who leaves the biggest hole and it is England who have the more settled side ahead of this one with only Ollie Chessum coming in with the aim of sorting out the lineout issues.

The back row is the most interesting area of selection because in the four defeats England have suffered they’ve probably been guilty of trying to take advantage of the perceived lack of power in the Scottish side but that has played into Scottish hands.

The selection of Tom Curry and Ben Earl on the flanks presents a different problem to the visitors and they have a dual role of using their footwork to get over the gainline and, perhaps more importantly, slowing Scotland’s ball down.

We know Finn Russell and his outside backs want fast ball to play with, they have the quickest average ruck speed in the tournament so far, and frustrating them by slowing it down is one of the keys to winning this one.

The recent games have generally been tight and Scotland have produced moments of magic in attack to come away with the win. This England team on paper is geared towards speed and conjuring some moments of brilliance of their own.

They have to be allowed to do that, of course, and you’re not going to produce too much fluid attacking threat with the slowest average ruck speed in the competition so I expect that to be ratcheted up a notch.

I still think Marcus Smith has been dealt a raw deal by being moved to full-back, being one of England’s better players and not the issue for the team’s problems. With that said Fin Smith seized his chance with both hands against the French and the number 10 jersey is his to lose now.

On the few occasions I’ve chatted to Fin, I’ve come away feeling he’s got an old head on young shoulders and that maturity and stability is possibly better suited to what Steve Borthwick is asking of his fly-half.

It’ll be a big day for him with his dad being Scottish and Gregor Townsend having spent a bit of time trying to convince him to compete with Russell for the Scotland number 10 shirt but he’s a Warwick boy and will be concentrating on his own game.

His main job will be ensuring England take the game to Scotland and impose themselves on the opposition because they can’t just hope to stay in the fight and grind it out as that approach has backfired on them in previous years.

The likes of Duhan van der Merwe, Huw Jones and Blair Kinghorn will be licking their lips if that happens and we might see history repeating itself but momentum is massive in sport and I just feel it’s with England this time around.

Marcus Smith didn’t have his best game against France but this game could be tailor-made for him to be at his buzzing, bouncing, hair-flicking best, with Fin Smith providing the steady hand on the tiller.

I’m sure Russell will test the defence with the variety of his kicking game a bit more than he does against some other opponents, as well as using his long and short passing game, so England need to cut off his options.

Scotland like to attack the 13 channel so Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade will have to do a better job of identifying the threats than they have in the past but we want to be talking about England’s attack in the pubs and living rooms across the country on Saturday night.

I’ve been wrong for the past four years backing England through patriotism and believing they should be lifting the Calcutta Cup every year based on the previous 30 years of history and the resources at their disposal but this feels different.

It may only be a gentle breeze but it feels like there is finally a wind in England’s sails, the pressure valve has been released just slightly and there is an opportunity to continue building a bit of momentum.

It can’t be another false dawn.