Gregor Townsend has admitted that the Calcutta Cup clash with England remains Scotland’s biggest game of the season.
But the under-fire head coach has dismissed claims that his team are incapable of raising their game to the same level when they face other opponents.
Former England lock Courtney Lawes turned up the heat on the Scots when he claimed in a newspaper column this week that they only ever turn up for one game a year.
Lawes insisted: ‘Scotland only play well because it’s England, that p***** me off. It strikes me as a major weakness in Scotland’s psyche’.
Scotland have dominated the Calcutta Cup during Townsend’s reign, lifting the trophy on six of the past eight occasions.
But he is under huge pressure after a dismal defeat to Italy in Rome last weekend saw Scotland’s Six Nations campaign get off to the worst possible start.
Townsend is under pressure to pick up a win after losing to Italy in the Six Nations opener
The Scotland head coach says that the Calcutta Cup clash is his team’s biggest game of the season
‘The last two performances or last two results against Italy and Argentina have been disappointing,’ said Townsend, who has once again left out Duhan van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn.
‘It opens up opportunities for criticising the team, criticising the coach. I get that. It’s not good enough from our perspective. We didn’t win those games and we’re hugely disappointed for our supporters. That’s what we’re working to rectify.
‘This is huge on Saturday. It’s our biggest game of the season, it always has been.
‘It’s even more important on the back of a defeat, a disappointing defeat. We know our supporters are behind us as they always are and we’ll need their energy at the weekend.
‘To win a game like this you have to raise your game, which we have. And we’ve raised it in other games. But this is one where we’ve been really proud of the performances over the years.
‘Even last year I thought was arguably up there with the 2023 performance. It’s the best I’ve seen from the team.
‘It didn’t lead to a win. But we know what we need to do and it’s being as accurate as possible. Playing close to your best and being a quality team.’
Finn Russell will once again be the man Scotland look towards for a spark against England
Pressed specifically on Lawes’ comments, Townsend replied: ‘He’s got his opinion. He obviously wasn’t at the All Blacks game [in the autumn] or he wasn’t at other games. We played very good rugby.
‘We know we have to raise our game for this team like we have to raise a game for most teams now because their quality sides we’re up against.’
Townsend has made four changes on the back of last weekend’s dismal defeat to Italy in Rome.
Ewan Ashman drops out due to a neck injury and is replaced by George Turner at hooker. Townsend insisted that was a fitness call, and not a reflection of Ashman’s lineout woes last week.
Pierre Schoeman, Grant Gilchrist and Matt Fagerson also miss out, with Nathan McBeth, Gregor Brown and Jamie Ritchie all coming into the side.
For the first time since 1998, there are no Edinburgh players in a Scotland starting XV.
Townsend has also retained a five-three split on the bench, despite it being a clear mistake last week in monsoon conditions in Rome.
The head coach also resisted the temptation to recall Van der Merwe, who has scored five tries in seven matches against England. Kinghorn remains another high-profile absentee.
Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones formulate a plan to beat England
‘Ewan Ashman being injured is a blow for him,’ added the head coach. ‘He’s been one of our best players over the last couple of seasons.
‘It was obviously a big decision not involving Grant this week. He has been excellent in this fixture.
‘I can count on one hand the players who have given more in this jersey over the last 10 years.
‘But the team we’ve selected, we feel players can make a really good impact at the start of the game.
‘But also as we go into that final quarter, we understand that Test rugby is a 23-man game and we’ll be using the bench this week because we know England are going to do that.’
