Scotland's Everest, but just another game for England – Andy Goode

A lot of people are talking up Scotland’s chances of beating England this year and it might well be their best opportunity for a while but it’s been 10 years since it happened and I’m expecting another England victory on Saturday.

Scotland are going to bring real passion and energy and will try to play at a pace they think England won’t be able to cope with but, seeing how this England team have trained up close, they can cope with anything Scotland throw at them and have that extra bit of experience that is key in international rugby as well.

I played in a couple of Calcutta Cup clashes and won both of them, so have happy memories of it as a contest, but have seen the animosity that can be shown by fans north of the border as well.

I remember once landing up in Edinburgh on a Thursday and having stones thrown at the England team bus on the way out of the airport and even having one bloke, who was completely inebriated, pull his pants down and moon at us from a bus stop.

Some Scots really do detest the English, mainly for historical reasons I think, but it tends to be a one-way street from what I’ve seen and we don’t really reciprocate that hatred. From a rugby perspective, it’s generally just another game for England and Wales is a more intense rugby rivalry for me.

This is the one that Scotland really raise their game for though. This is their Everest and I’ve no doubt they’ll step up emotionally and physically to a level they’ve not reached for a while.

People still talk about when they beat us up at Murrayfield with the Grand Slam on the line back in 2000 in Sir Clive Woodward’s era but that was 18 years ago. Most of this England squad were still in primary school then and Marcus Smith had only just had his first birthday!

Scotland have been playing really well at Murrayfield recently and have won eight of their last nine Tests there but none of those have been against England. In fact, they haven’t beaten England for a decade since 2008.

So, Joe Marler is exactly right when he said this week that “Scotland talk Murrayfield up as a hostile and tough place to go but it is just another place to go and play rugby”. England haven’t lost on their last four visits there and there’s no fear factor at all within this squad in terms of going to Edinburgh.

In terms of the match itself, managing the game under pressure will be key and Finn Russell has proved to be a bit of a loose cannon at fly half recently. He’s either the best player on the pitch or the worst. There isn’t much in between and unfortunately for him it’s been the worst in the opening couple of rounds of the tournament.

England will target him in the same way they did Rhys Patchell in the Wales game as he has a similar ability to cut defences open. They both have a mercurial quality but you can get at them if you close the space down, slow the axis down between nine and ten and put a lot of pressure on them.

As a fly half, if that’s happening, you do have to vary your depth to give yourself more time. If you continue to try to take on the gain line every time rather than shifting the point of contact, then you’re in trouble.

He’s up against Owen Farrell this weekend, who might be playing inside centre but is in charge of managing the game for England. He understands the need for that variation and they don’t come much more consistent in international rugby than him.

A lot of it is experience and Farrell has almost double the number of caps that Russell does, as well as having a really good relationship with George Ford alongside him, so it’ll be a big challenge for Russell to combat that.

Greig Laidlaw’s goal-kicking was world class on his return to the side against France and he was given the man of the match award but I don’t think he did anything outstanding and picking him almost goes against all of the principles that Gregor Townsend has as a coach because of the tempo he wants from his teams.

Russell’s form means Laidlaw’s inclusion is essential to bring some control but they will lose a bit of pace as a result and it does affect the way they play.

England didn’t set the world alight in attack against Wales, far from it, but they did score 61 points against Scotland last year. People talk about Scotland’s threats in attack but I still think England pose the greater threat on balance.

They will want to impose their attacking game on Scotland and have the weapons to do so but games are normally won and lost up front and they will feel that having 50 scrums against Georgia last week will give them the edge in the set piece against a Scotland scrum that is underpowered because of injuries.

England haven’t played that well this season but they have won 24 out of 25 Tests under Eddie Jones. The top teams win when they’re playing ugly and then rip teams to pieces when it all clicks.

It remains to be seen whether it all falls into place against Scotland or whether that doesn’t happen until France, Ireland or South Africa in the summer but they have the tools to win however the game pans out and I think it’ll be a 15-point margin of victory for England on Saturday.