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'You can tell how the English think of the Scottish': Tom Jordan
By PA
Tom Jordan is relishing the prospect of his first away appearance for Scotland coming in what he expects to be a frenzied Calcutta Cup showdown at Twickenham.
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The versatile Glasgow back has won six caps, having made his debut against Fiji in November, but all of them – four in the autumn and the first two games of this year’s Guinness Six Nations against Italy and Ireland – have been at Murrayfield.
New Zealand-born Jordan, who can operate at stand-off, full-back and centre, is expected to retain his starting place for the trip to bitter rivals England a week on Saturday after an encouraging start to his Test career.
“From all the (Calcutta Cup) games I’ve watched and even the last few years when a lot of my mates have played for Scotland down there and done really well there, you can tell how the English think of the Scottish,” said the 26-year-old.
“I’m sure the atmosphere will be amazing there and obviously they’re coming off a big win (over France). It’ll be exciting to get down there. I’m sure all the boys will be looking forward to it.”
Scotland suffered a chastening 32-18 defeat against the Irish on Sunday and Jordan believes having a fallow week will be of benefit to his side as they regroup ahead of their bid to make it five wins in a row over England, who will be buoyed by their dramatic 26-25 victory over Les Bleus.
“I think it’s good we’ve got the weekend off to sort of refresh and get the bodies right, so we should be flying into the game next week,” said Jordan. “I think it’s just about getting back on the horse, fixing up what we need to and we go again.
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“Speaking probably as a fan at this moment, because I haven’t experienced it myself, it’s probably going to be pretty hostile.
“I’m sure England will be pretty keen to get one on us, so you could imagine how they’ll prepare for that game. I’m sure they’ll have a bit more sting in their tackles, for sure. It’ll be very physical as there’s obviously a lot to play for, for both teams.”
Both Calcutta Cup contestants have won one of their opening two championship matches and Scotland hooker Ewan Ashman admits his side face another test of their resolve to ensure they bounce back from their Irish setback.
“There’s no dancing around it, it’s a huge game,” said the 24-year-old Edinburgh forward. “It certainly is for us and I’m sure they’ll be targeting this one as well. There’s a huge amount to play for.
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“We have to bounce back from Sunday. It will test the resilience of the team. They’ll be absolutely flying after their last result so it’ll be a real test for the boys.
“You don’t need any added motivation. We need a result down there. It’ll show the character of the boys, how we respond to the Ireland defeat.”
Ashman will be hoping to regain his starting place for Twickenham after dropping to the bench for the opening two matches, with Edinburgh colleague Dave Cherry getting the nod for the Italy and Ireland matches.
“All I can do is control my performances,” said Ashman. “I just try and make as big an impact as I can every week. I try and get my hands on the ball and perform at set-piece. I just control the controllables and see what happens.”
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Interesting a New Zealander passing comment on how the English view the Scots. He’s better placed commenting on how the Kiwi’s view the Scottish!
I may be the wrong person to give an opinion on this since I'm half Scottish but I'm a bit bemused by Jordan’s comment about the way the English view the Scots. For sure there are stereotypes but I don't think the English have much animosity towards the Scots which is pretty good going considering how raw the hatred is in the other direction. Which is true for most countries that hate us, we don't tend to reciprocate that animosity to nearly the same degree. I realise the English carried out historical atrocities across the world and maybe we're just detestable by nature so I can't blame anyone for disliking us.. but personally I don't know many people who have expressed much negative sentiment about any of the other 6N countries. Maybe it would surprise the Scots, Welsh, Irish and French to learn that we really don't hate you nearly as much as you hate us… or maybe you already know that and hate us anyway, I don't know! 😁
We don’t hate you . We hate the media who constantly big up England. There’s 5 other nations in the competition and England should be the favourites as they have more players , rugby is about respect.
England pundits (and some fans) are talking about 'charging' for 6 Nations Titles. This implies a 4 try bonus point victory over Scotland. Scotland have won the last four matches and the last try bonus for England was the draw in 2019.
One win doesn't make England a great team and one loss doesn't make Scotland a poor team. Like France, expectation might undo England. Scotland are ready and preparing for a dogfight, England are preparing for the rubber stamping of a glorious new era. Scotland need to stay in this one and the Chariot wheels will fall down the usual hole.
Scotland will raise their game, because this is your world cup final. It’s why you don’t win anything. All you care about is beating England.
It’ll be a tough contest to be certain, but having seen how England stayed in the game last weekend, I have a feeling the Calcutta Cup will be coming home to Twickenham.
As per usual, presuming how people feel. Obviously, you have some baggage about England which is a shame. No one is saying that the result on Saturday has made England a great team or Scotland's result making Scotland a bad team. But if it makes you happy, OK.
I'm sure some England fans are getting carried away but this is going to be a tough match, Scotland always raise their game against us. I doubt those inside the England camp are expecting to rubber stamp anything given what a poor record we've had against Scotland of late. This is an opportunity for England to build some momentum and right some wrongs against a good Scottish side. There won't be any complacency from the players and coaches. They will be chomping at the bit to get stuck in, especially with the Lions on the horizon.