EDINBURGH — Maro Itoje has called on England to be aggressive and “attack the game” in their Six Nations clash with Scotland on Saturday.
England will attempt to win at Murrayfield in Edinburgh for the first time in six years in a match that is shaping as a crucial one for both sides, with the hosts under pressure — having lost to Italy last week and the visitors chasing a first title since 2020.
Calcutta Cup matches always bring fireworks and spring a few surprises. Scotland have had the better of recent exchanges, winning four of the last six.
However, England will enter Saturday’s game as favourites and Itoje wants his side to play like it. “I want us to be aggressive, accurate, play with confidence. Saturday is going to be a very physical game,” Itoje said.
“Every time we play them and every time we play them up here it’s always a physical game. I just want us to be confident; I want us to be the aggressors and take pride in how we play.”
Murrayfield is always a hostile environment for England, with gamesmanship and mind games a plenty sure to come from opposition players and fans. Pre-match bust-ups in the tunnel, scuffles on the pitch and scintillating moments of rugby are all part and parcel of the historic rivalry.
As England chart a course which they hope will lead to a Six Nations title and ultimately success in next year’s World Cup, Itoje conceded moments like winning in Scotland are important milestones for a good side that wants to become great.
“These games, all the games through the Six Nations, but this game in particular is extremely important, because they all build towards your experiences,” he said. “They all become reference points for the team, and you can — and this is win or lose — learn, and you have that experience, and you can refer back to that experience.
“Obviously, we’re going to out there on Saturday to win, and I believe this team is capable of winning, but it’s a really important part of our journey.”
Finn Russell can make you look ‘stupid’
While Scotland’s backline, even with the omission of the familiar back-three of Duhan van der Merwe, Blair Kinghorn and Darcy Graham, can strike from anywhere, England will need to nullify fly-half Finn Russell in particular.
However, England haven’t formulated a plan specifically to close him down.
Assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth, who worked with Russell on last year’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, said: “Like any game it is never trying to shut one guy down is the route.
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“How many coaches, particularly defence coaches, have gone in with a Finn Russell plan and been made to look pretty stupid straight away? So that’s not something we have done in that regard.
“It is a how do we stop Scotland and what they can do. We know the danger they have out wide and what guys in the middle produce.”
Russell’s lack of accuracy from the kicking tee arguably cost Scotland another victory at Twickenham last year and with his side under considerable pressure heading into the clash, he will be out to make a statement on Saturday.
‘They mean a lot’
It’s one of the most anticipated matches in the rugby calendar. Steeped in both rugby and political history, the encounter is one that carries significant weight for both sides. They are often scrappy, tense affairs and while they don’t always provide the most aesthetically pleasing rugby, it makes for thrilling occasions, nonetheless.
“I think there are few things in the mix there. Weather issues, you’ve always had over the years, days like we’ve got now [sleight and snow],” Wigglesworth said.
“And then because they mean a lot, when these Test matches get tight, they tend to stay quite tight.
“No one really has got away which makes a team chase a bit more or loosen up a bit more. The one where Scotland came back [from 31-0 down to draw 38-38], that would be an example of a game where one team gets away and the other comes back but there have not been too many of those but it’s probably the nature of the games, they’ve been tight, so they’ve stayed tight.”
