Calcutta Cup 2018

BT Murrayfield, KO 4:45 GMT and IST-1. Live on TV3 and BBC 1. Live Radio on BBC 5 Live





The oldest International Trophy in the World, no less. Writing shamlessly stolen from the Daily Telegraph mainly as a time saver

Scotland

Gregor Townsend has kept faith with the players that beat France by naming an unchanged team. Townsend has rewarded the starting XV that bounced back from an opening defeat against Wales in the Six Nations with a hard-fought win over France by giving them the chance to prove themselves against title favourites England. Finn Russell - one of five Lions in the side - retains his place at fly-half despite a disappointing campaign to date and man-of-the-match Greg Laidlaw will once again line up alongside him at scrum-half against Eddie Jones' back-to-back winners.

The major changes for Scotland come on the bench, with Townsend's pack options bolstered by the return to fitness of WP Nel after a broken arm, while Tim Swinson also returns to the match-day 23 after injury. Glasgow centre Nick Grigg has been rewarded for his man-of-the-match display against Cheetahs last Friday with a place on the bench for the Murrayfield fixture.


England Nathan Hughes will start at number eight when England's NatWest 6 Nations title defence resumes against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. Hughes has recovered from the knee ligament damage sustained on club duty for Wasps in December and is thrust straight into the back row in the absence of Sam Simmonds, who featured against Italy and Wales. "Nathan Hughes has worked hard on his fitness. I've never seen him in better physical condition, so we are looking forward to him playing," head coach Eddie Jones said.

What are they saying?

Jamie George on Owen Farrell:

"I was at his first international appearance in 2012. I was randomly at a 21st birthday, but I was in the stadium when we won 13-6 - it was a thriller. That was a great experience for me, Murrayfield is an amazing stadium and a great experience to watch one of my mates get their first cap. "We grew up together and started playing together when we were 14. We're really good mates - I'm an usher at his wedding - but we were different when he first came down to Saracens. "He was a big lad from Wigan and I was a posh guy from Hertford, but we soon hit it off.

"I'm very lucky to work with him day in, day out. It's his maturity that's the main thing that he's worked on. He'd say himself that he was pretty raw when he first started international rugby but the way he's developed as a leader and as a player... he's shown that he's one of the best players in the world. "He's constantly evolving his game. He himself says that he's a 10 but when he plays at 12 he picks incredible lines. It's another string to his bow."

David Denton: It's very exciting. When you're injured, you're not sure what your future will be or what clubs you'll be at.

"So the opportunity for me to go to Leicester and sign a three-year deal was big for me. I can settle down with the club and really dig my roots in. It's been a great month and I'm grateful. I learned how quickly things can change in professional sport. All of a sudden, you've been injured for a bit and out of favour with the national team, I wasn't sure what I was doing club-wise - and then for me to get a run of games together, get back playing for Scotland and then sign a long-term deal with a huge club like Leicester was great. Now beating England would definitely add to it. That would be amazing."

Gregor Townsend The players put a huge amount of effort into our win over France. They found a way to win and kept attacking the opposition up until the final whistle. England are the No 2 side in the world and have shown a very good level of consistency in the past couple of seasons. Taking on England is going to be a huge challenge and we are well aware that only our very best will be good enough in this fixture."

What are the betting odds?

Scotland win - 12/5
England win - 4/11
Draw - 25/1
What is our prediction?


Recent visits to Murrayfield have been tight affairs but England are due a first-rate performance after struggling to put Wales away.

Their Predicted score: Scotland 16 England 29 Mine is for a better away win; Scotland 18, England 35 and for peace to break out in singing and dancing....