- Steve Borthwick’s men need to prove France win was no ‘flash in the pan’
- Nicol says Finn Russell and Duhan van der Merwe will strike fear into English hearts
Former Scotland captain Andy Nicol insists the pressure is all on England ahead of tomorrow’s seismic Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham.
Steve Borthwick’s men go into the match as huge favourites after beating France a fortnight ago, while Gregor Townsend’s side lost to Ireland.
The Scots have won four on the bounce against the Auld Enemy and will look to claim a fifth straight victory in the fixture for the first time in their history.
But Mail Sport columnist Nicol believes it’s the home side who will be feeling the heat as they seek to show an expectant English public their win over Les Bleus wasn’t a flash in the pan.
‘Scotland were blown away against Ireland,’ admitted Nicol, who lifted the Calcutta Cup as captain in 2000. ‘There’s no doubt they need a significant improvement from that performance.
‘England have been improving for a while, going back to the autumn and in their first two games of this Six Nations against Ireland and France. But they are far from the finished article. It was a brilliant win against France, but it could also have been very different.
England squeezed past France on their last outing but have yet to prove they’re the real deal
Finn Russell poses with the spoils of victory last year and will feature at Twickenham
Nicol reckons Scotland have a solid chance if England play as they did against the French
‘I think there’s huge pressure on England. They’ve got to back it up after beating France. If they don’t, they’ll be back to square one and that result will look like a flash in the pan.
‘Scotland will have no fear going to Twickenham. If England’s defence coughs up as many chances as they gave France, I expect Scotland will punish them.’
Scotland have been boosted by fly-half Finn Russell being passed fit to play after a horrible clash of heads with Darcy Graham in the Ireland game.
Along with Duhan van der Merwe, Russell has terrorised England in recent years — and Nicol believes that combination could hold the key once again.
Duhan van der Merwe has scored FIVE tries in his last two matches against England
‘Duhan has scored some brilliant tries against England,’ said Nicol. ‘He got a hat-trick last year and also scored one of the greatest tries in Calcutta Cup history at Twickenham two years ago.
‘England will know those two players can hurt them at any given moment. In this fixture, Russell and Van der Merwe have been England’s nemesis.
‘The way Russell plays and controls the attacks opens up space for Van der Merwe. This fixture brings out the best in them and I hope we see more of it on Saturday.’
