SCOTLAND coach Vern Cotter has insisted that his team’s strategy in tomorrow’s Calcutta Cup match will be about a lot more than merely stopping England from playing.
England will go into the match with the incentive of equalling the All Blacks’ record of 18 consecutive Test victories, and have selected a squad with the apparent aim of bludgeoning Scotland into submission from first to last. But Cotter, whose team for the game shows only one change from the line-up that began the win against Wales in their last Six Nations Championship outing, made it plain that his men will seek a victory through their own merits, not only by stifling their opponents.
“We don’t like the idea of going down there just hoping to win,” the coach said. “We like to construct and build a victory. That’s what this week is about. The players are very keen to do that.
“England haven’t lost for a long while, and we’re playing them at home. They’re a very competitive team and they’re obviously playing for something that’s important to them, and they’re playing on a field that’s important to them. There are a number of reasons why we know this will be a hard game.”
The sole change made by Cotter, as expected, sees Hamish Watson start at openside in place of the injured John Hardie, while another Edinburgh player, the uncapped Cornell du Preez, comes onto the bench as back-row cover. Although Sean Maitland has been passed fit after missing the Welsh game, Tim Visser retains his place on the left wing after an impressive showing in that match. The only other apparent doubt was second-row forward Richie Gray, but he has been passed fit.
“Richie couldn’t train for two days, but it was nice to be able to pick him alongside his brother as it’s good to have those combinations,” Cotter explained. “We’ve been developing through this Six Nations, so it’s one change and Cornell comes onto the bench. He’ll get an opportunity to challenge their bench, which will be a game within a game.”
The talismanic Billy Vunipola has been named among England’s replacements, having only played once since returning from injury. Cotter believes that his opposite number, Eddie Jones, will use the back-row forward and other substitutes in an attempt to overpower Scotland.
“I think his philosophy is: ‘Scotland will come down here and throw everything in it - we have a stronger bench, we’ll finish the game’, Cotter said of Jones. “That’s a scenario that seems fairly clear. It’s up to us to stop that.
“So we don’t want to use energy unnecessarily. We want to stop things quickly. We have to be smart with the ball, then hopefully we can hold them when they make that surge at the end. We will have enough power in our legs. Our bench players are very aware of England’s strategy, and our boys are keen to impress.”
France are the one team so far to have attempted simply to flatten Scotland with relentless attacking, and, while the size of some of their players makes England just as formidable a physical challenge, Cotter expects a more measured type of game from them. “They will offload only when they’re very comfortable. They’re more of a percentage-based team, a power-based team.
“They have momentum surges, which is obviously something they’ve developed in their scenarios at training. So we need to stop them as quickly as possible, before they get front-foot ball, where they’re very dangerous.
“The key is to defend as early as possible so they don’t get that surge that comes after several phases going forward. Defensively, it will be a tough old game – but we’d like to think we can do something with the ball, as well.”
Scotland (v England at Twickenham, tomorrow, 4pm): S Hogg; T Seymour (both Glasgow), H Jones (Stormers), A Dunbar (Glasgow), T Visser (Harlequins); F Russell, A Price; G Reid, F Brown, Z Fagerson (all Glasgow), R Gray (Toulouse), J Gray (Glasgow), J Barclay (Scarlets), H Watson (Edinburgh), R Wilson (Glasgow). Substitutes: R Ford, A Dell, S Berghan (all Edinburgh), T Swinson (Glasgow), C du Preez (Edinburgh), H Pyrgos (Glasgow), D Weir (Edinburgh), M Bennett (Glasgow).
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